Scream, Pretty Peggy (TV 1973)

A sculptor hires young college girls to take care of his elderly mother and his supposedly insane sister, both of whom live in the old family mansion with him.

Director:

Gordon Hessler

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster, Arthur Hoffe

Stars:

Ted Bessell, Sian Barbara Allen, Bette Davis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ted Bessell	...	Jeffrey Elliot
Sian Barbara Allen	...	Peggy Johns
Bette Davis	...	Mrs. Elliott
Charles Drake	...	George Thornton
Allan Arbus	...	Dr. Eugene Saks
Jessica Rains	...	Girl in Office
Christiane Schmidtmer	...	Jennifer Elliot
Johnnie Collins III	...	Student
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Agnes Thornton

Storyline

A sculptor hires young college girls to take care of his elderly mother and his supposedly insane sister, both of whom live in the old family mansion with him.

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Plot Keywords:

sculptor | college | murder | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'ombra di Jennifer

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Tovah Feldshuh.

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Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: Scream, Pretty Peggy (1997)

User Reviews

SCREAM PRETTY PEGGY (TV) (Gordon Hessler, 1973) **1/2

Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster must have felt vindicated with this made-for-TV effort since his influential TASTE OF FEAR aka SCREAM OF FEAR (1961) script for the famed British horror stable had always been likened to Alfred Hitchcock's even more seminal PSYCHO (1960) – which this apes to a considerable extent – when it had owed so much more to Frenchman H.G. Clouzot's classic suspenser DIABOLIQUE (1955)! Linking the film under review to yet another popular title in the Grand Guignol vein, i.e. Robert Aldrich's much-imitated WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962), is the casting of an ageing Bette Davis – though, coming at the tail-end of the cycle, she is only allotted "Guest Star" status here…even if the legendary actress contrived to appear in 4 more similar outings before she was out! The third notable name in the credits is that of director Hessler, who had helmed a quartet of stylish and entertaining genre pictures at AIP. This was his first official bow to the small-screen where, by and large, he would thrive for the rest of his career – curiously enough, Hessler's movie debut was yet another DIABOLIQUE-inspired chiller, namely CATACOMBS aka THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T DIE (1965; which I have immediately opted to acquire)! Anyway, SCREAM PRETTY PEGGY is a decent shocker with a plot that keeps one watching despite not being hard to figure out: Davis was basically playing herself – domineering and with a fondness for the bottle (if Sangster's own accounts in the Audio Commentaries for her two vehicles at Hammer are to be believed!). Unfortunately, however, bland Ted Bessell is no Anthony Perkins, while heroine Sian Barbara Allen is a bit too-good-to-be-true!

Events kick-off with a murder outside the garage of a remote country estate perpetrated by what appears to be a blonde-haired madwoman melodramatically wielding a knife, followed by an advertisement at a nearby school for a house-keeping job at that very residence – one Allen is eager to take on, even though the rate is well below the minimum wage (which she then persuades Bessell to increase). Davis is not keen on having another girl around so soon but, hampered by advancing age, booziness and, eventually, a broken leg, she soon realizes that opposition to Allen's buoyancy (and, apparently, greater ability to cook) is pretty much futile! The latter and the old woman's son actually hit it off well since he is a sculptor of modest fame, while she is an art student. Allen is particularly drawn to life-size figures of demons he has molded which, of course, ultimately reveal a terrible secret! The past comes back to haunt the household in the form of the murder victim's father who became worried and went to look for the girl at her last-known address. Before long, he too is missing…though Allen discovers his spectacles near the garage door and his own car parked inside! Besides, she sees the killer herself when the garage door keeps banging during the night on account of the wind and the latter ascends from the room above to close it firmly! When querying about her, she is told that that girl is Davis' daughter and Bessell's sister who was supposed to have gone away and got married but who is mentally unstable and they have hidden her away rather than being committed! The naïve Allen determines to befriend her, but she gets a lot more than she bargained for...

As I said, the plot is too familiar for the twist not to be obvious, as is the identity of the person to finally put the killer to rest but, for what it is, the trim 73-minute picture is entertaining and features enough embellishments (spunky heroine, indomitable matriarch, victims ingeniously disposed of) to counter a basically hackneyed formula.