Our Mother's House (1967)

When their deeply religious mother dies, the seven Hook children bury her in the garden and continue life as normal. Then their absent father, Charlie, reappears...

Director:

Jack Clayton

Writers:

Jeremy Brooks (screenplay by), Haya Harareet (screenplay by)

Stars:

Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Leclere, Pamela Franklin

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dirk Bogarde	...	Charlie Hook
Margaret Leclere	...	Elsa (as Margaret Brooks)
Pamela Franklin	...	Diana
Louis Sheldon Williams	...	Hubert
John Gugolka	...	Dunstan
Mark Lester	...	Jiminee
Phoebe Nicholls	...	Gerty (as Sarah Nicholls)
Gustav Henry	...	Willy
Parnum Wallace	...	Louis
Yootha Joyce	...	Mrs. Quayle
Claire Davidson	...	Miss Bailey
Anthony Nicholls	...	Mr. Halbert
Annette Carell	...	Mother
Gerald Sim	...	Bank Clerk
Edina Ronay	...	Doreen

Storyline

When their deeply religious mother dies, the seven Hook children bury her in the garden and continue life as normal. Then their absent father, Charlie, reappears...

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Plot Keywords:

cutting hair | orphaned | screaming girl | bird in a cage | brother sister relationship | 

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Taglines:

The Year's Biggest "Thrill-In"

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie marked the second of five collaborations between doirector Jack Clayton and noted French composer Georges Delerue, who had previously written the score for Clayton's The Pumpkin Eater (1964). After an interval of sixteen years, they reunited for Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), although the production was troubled, with Disney forcing Clayton to replace Delerue's original music (which was considered too dark) with a new score by James Horner. Delerue composed the music for Clayton's last two projects, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987) and Screen Two: Memento Mori (1992), which was televised a month after Delerue's death.

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Goofs

In the subsequent shots after the mother dies at the beginning, the position of her head changes three times and her mouth changes from closed to partially open.

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Quotes

Charlie Hook: When your mother died, I mean, what happened about the funeral?
Hubert: There wasn't one. We buried her in the garden.

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Connections

Referenced in Life Itself (2014)

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Soundtracks

Charlie Burns Mother's Pictures
Written and Performed by Georges Delerue Et Son Orchestre

User Reviews

Superb

Very spooky and genuinely disturbing film, that completely avoids all the stereotypical "shock values" in favor of a purely psychological chiller that relies on its script and actors to get over instead. Of particular note are the children in this film, all of whom lack the pre-groomed and pre-prepared feel of some child actors and instead give a superbly realistic performance. Dirk Bogarde is surprisingly good in his role as a gold-digger, and his unforced interaction with the kids only adds more depth.

Another of this movies strong points is that it provokes thought more from insinuation than actions, leaving a lot open to the interpretation of the viewer. Different people will see different "things" when viewing this! Highly Recommended old classic that deserves a viewing.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Our Mother's House

Filming Locations:

Chichester Road, Croydon, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmways, Heron Film Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1