A wealthy London banker, his wife, his mistress, and his family and servants all get into hijinks when they swap birth-control medicines in an effort to deceive each other.A wealthy London banker, his wife, his mistress, and his family and servants all get into hijinks when they swap birth-control medicines in an effort to deceive each other.A wealthy London banker, his wife, his mistress, and his family and servants all get into hijinks when they swap birth-control medicines in an effort to deceive each other.
Roy Beck
- Hospital visitor
- (uncredited)
Ivor Dean
- City Banker in Taxi Cab
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe last of five movies in which Deborah Kerr and David Niven appeared together.
- Quotes
Gerald Hardcastle: Well, Ted, you can take it from me that in the entire history of this world no man never yet had any pleasure out of a woman without having to pay it for.
- Crazy creditsThe opening titles are a sequence of Cupid, the god of desire, battling an army of sentient birth-control pills.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Crime Scene: The Perfect Hunting Ground (2021)
Featured review
How could anyone mistake a birth control pill for an aspirin or vitamin?!
The main idea behind "Prudence and the Pill" is one that doesn't make sense to me. While birth control pills might have looked VERY different in the UK in the 1960s, all the ones I've seen look absolutely nothing like aspirins or vitamins--which are much, much larger. So how could people be replacing another person's birth control pills with aspirins without anyone realizing it?
This 1960s sex comedy stars Deborah Kerr and David Niven...both of which made quite a few sophisticated sex comedies in the 1950s and 60s (such as the horrible CASINO ROYALE, BEDTIME STORY and THE GRASS IS GREENER). In this film, Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle have an open marriage and both have their lovers. In addition, Mrs. Hardcastle's niece (Judy Geeson) is sleeping with her boyfriend. However, someone is messing with these ladies' birth control pills and soon complications ensue.
Like most of the sex comedies of the era, this film talks a lot about sex (or, more rightly, INSINUATING a lot about sex) without really showing or saying much at all. Racy stuff for the time...very tame stuff when seen today. So, while it portrays folks who have affairs and premarital sex, it's done with 60s sensibilities--being both extremely broad-minded AND old fashioned at the same time.
So is this any good and is it worth seeing? Well, at least for me, no especially. I might have enjoyed it had it just been more interesting, made more sense or made me laugh. Plus, and I guess this makes me sound very prudish, but I thought the Hardcastles were a pathetic couple...and I really didn't care one bit about what happened with them. What was a kooky sex romp back in the day now just seems dated and sub-par despite the big-name stars in it.
This 1960s sex comedy stars Deborah Kerr and David Niven...both of which made quite a few sophisticated sex comedies in the 1950s and 60s (such as the horrible CASINO ROYALE, BEDTIME STORY and THE GRASS IS GREENER). In this film, Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle have an open marriage and both have their lovers. In addition, Mrs. Hardcastle's niece (Judy Geeson) is sleeping with her boyfriend. However, someone is messing with these ladies' birth control pills and soon complications ensue.
Like most of the sex comedies of the era, this film talks a lot about sex (or, more rightly, INSINUATING a lot about sex) without really showing or saying much at all. Racy stuff for the time...very tame stuff when seen today. So, while it portrays folks who have affairs and premarital sex, it's done with 60s sensibilities--being both extremely broad-minded AND old fashioned at the same time.
So is this any good and is it worth seeing? Well, at least for me, no especially. I might have enjoyed it had it just been more interesting, made more sense or made me laugh. Plus, and I guess this makes me sound very prudish, but I thought the Hardcastles were a pathetic couple...and I really didn't care one bit about what happened with them. What was a kooky sex romp back in the day now just seems dated and sub-par despite the big-name stars in it.
helpful•97
- planktonrules
- Sep 11, 2016
- How long is Prudence and the Pill?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,570,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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