Picture Mommy Dead (1966)

Teenaged Susan Shelley is released from an asylum where she's been confined after the shock suffered over the fiery death of her glamorous socialite mother. Her father has a new wife, who ... See full summary »

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writer:

Robert Sherman (screenplay)

Stars:

Don Ameche, Martha Hyer, Susan Gordon

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Don Ameche	...	Edward Shelley
Martha Hyer	...	Francene Shelley
Susan Gordon	...	Susan Shelley
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Jessica Flagmore Shelley
Maxwell Reed	...	Anthony Flagmore
Wendell Corey	...	Lawyer Clayborn
Signe Hasso	...	Sister René
Anna Lee	...	Elsie Kornwald
Steffi Henderson	...	3rd Woman at Estate Sale
Kelly Corcoran	...	Little Boy at Estate Sale
Paulle Clark	...	1st Woman at Estate Sale
Marlene Tracy	...	2nd Woman at Estate Sale

Storyline

Teenaged Susan Shelley is released from an asylum where she's been confined after the shock suffered over the fiery death of her glamorous socialite mother. Her father has a new wife, who has only married him for the money left to him by Zsa Zsa. Susan is still haunted by her mother's memory, and her stepmother is conspiring with her lover, Maxwell Reed, to trick the troubled girl to lead them to Zsa Zsa's missing diamond necklace.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | necklace | doll | hawk | painting | 

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Taglines:

El terror vivido! Por ojos Inocentes! (Mexico lobby card).

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in April 1966.

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Quotes

Francene Shelley: A killer, isn't she.
Anthony Flagmore: We are all killers, one way or the other, I suppose.

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Connections

Referenced in Timesweep (1987)

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Soundtracks

The Hearse Song
(uncredited)
Performed by Susan Gordon

User Reviews

"The Past is Like a Tiger, and No Matter How You Pet It or Pretend That It's Tame One Day It Will Turn..."

If I'd missed the start and hadn't caught the director credit, I would have taken this for the work of William Castle rather than sci-fi and horror specialist Bert I. Gordon briefly venturing into 'Psycho'/'Baby Jane' territory. The production values are in fact rather more impressive than one would have got with Castle. Greystone, the Beverly Hills mansion in which most of the action takes place is well served by Ellsworth Fredericks's elegant photography, which gives the film the feeling of an Italian 'giallo' (complete with spooky close-ups of dolls, portraits and various childhood relics) produced as a glossy sixties TV movie. Unfortunately, shorn of Castle's gimmicks Gordon's direction manages to be even more pedestrian than Castle's would have been; and fails utterly to energise a talky script in which things are constantly spelled out through dialogue rather than conveyed visually.

In an interesting cast of has-beens, Ameche is wasted as the heroine's weak and corrupt father; but as the ghastly stepmom - who having already maxed out hubby's nest egg is now making absolutely no secret of her desire to have her stepdaughter committed so she can gets her mitts on HER inheritance too - Martha Hyer rises to the challenge of convincingly playing a wife even more high maintenance than her predecessor Zsa Zsa Gabor must doubtless have been. (If she hadn't been busy at the time making 'Green Acres', it would have been interesting to see Zsa Zsa and her sister Eva in the role played by the not dissimilar Hyer squaring up against each other in the same movie.) Signe Hasso pops up ominously in a nun's habit, Wendell Corey is obviously drunk (he died from cirrhosis of the liver two years later) but enjoyably intimidating as the family lawyer; as is Maxwell Reed, who does justice to some wonderfully fruity dialogue as a male Miss Danvers. Anna Lee's role as a family friend promises to be nicely bitchy too, but she unfortunately disappears almost as soon as she appears.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 1969 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Picture Mommy Dead

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bert I. Gordon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1