The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968)

Harriet Blossom, the lonely wife of a workaholic brassiere manufacturer, breaks her sewing machine and ends up in bed with the repairman, a mechanic from one of her husband's factories. The... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph McGrath

Writers:

Josef Shaftel (short story), Alec Coppel (play),

Stars:

Shirley MacLaine, Richard Attenborough, James Booth

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shirley MacLaine	...	Harriet Blossom
Richard Attenborough	...	Robert Blossom
James Booth	...	Ambrose Tuttle
Freddie Jones	...	Det. Sgt. Dylan
William Rushton	...	Dylan's assistant
Bob Monkhouse	...	Dr. Taylor
Patricia Routledge	...	Miss Reece
John Bluthal	...	Judge
Harry Towb	...	Doctor
Sandra Caron	...	Pet shop assistant
Sheila Steafel	...	Pet shop saleslady (as Sheila Staefel)
Frank Thornton	...	Factory manager
Barry Humphries	...	Art dealer
John Cleese	...	Post Office clerk
Bruce Lacey	...	Musketeer

Storyline

Harriet Blossom, the lonely wife of a workaholic brassiere manufacturer, breaks her sewing machine and ends up in bed with the repairman, a mechanic from one of her husband's factories. The man, Ambrose, is supposed to leave during the night but Harriet finds him the next day still hiding in the attic. Harriet lets her new lover stay in the attic for years, managing to keep it all secret from her husband and from the detectives investigating the sudden disappearance of a certain Mr. Ambrose Tuttle.

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Plot Keywords:

disappearance | breast enlargement | surrealism | buxom | breasts growing | 

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Taglines:

The Years Big Put-On...And Take-Off Too!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

M

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Felicidade da Senhora Blossom

Filming Locations:

Taplow Goods Shed, Taplow, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is (loosely) based on a real incident. In the late 1910s and early 1920s, Dolly Oesterreich kept her lover, Otto Sanhuber in the attic where he lived for many years. Her husband Fred ran a company that made aprons. Otto even moved with the couple from Milwaukee to Los Angeles to stay above his lover. Unfortunately, the real story doesn't have the happy ending of the movie.

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Goofs

When Mrs Blossom meets Mr Tuttle they play a game of snooker. The last ball potted is shown, a green ball. In snooker the last ball is always black. There is no reason that they were not playing according to the rules.

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Connections

References Zulu (1964)

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Soundtracks

"The Way That I Live"
Lyrics by Norman Newell
Music by Riz Ortolani
Performed by Jack Jones

User Reviews

Gloriously Groovy

This movie is about color, rhythm, blossoms, visual wit, vibrant states of mind love, and being in love all over the place. And wonderfulness. No one since Charles Laughton has made faces as amazingly as the great Freddie Jones does here as the inspector. The level of film-making is the absolute top. In its own very different way, it is as well scored, composed, and photographed as a David Lean film, or something archly impressive like that. Quintessence of film art, really. But this movie couldn't be more unlike those movies. A visual equivalent of a great 60s pop music love song. The Beatles movies are less like Beatles songs than this tripped out valentine. An Overwhelmingly warm charming and dreamy psychedelic love trip. This movie hugs you and takes you to a place called nice.

Cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth (2001) and a great score by Riz Ortolani, and New Vaudeville Band (those guys who did "Winchester Cathedral") were used perfectly in the soundtrack.

Patricia "Hyacinth" Routledge and John Cleese add to the fun.