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 | religious fanaticism | screaming girl | bird in a cage | brother sister relationship | 

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Taglines:

We know a secret -- We won't tell. For if we tell, We'll go to hell.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1967 (UK)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie marked the second of five collaborations between Director 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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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 The Cement Garden (1993)

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Soundtracks

Recess
Written and Performed by Georges Delerue Et Son Orchestre

User Reviews

Creepy little piece of work.

I saw this about 14 years ago in a stroke of luck ( a local TV station had picked up a print, and my mother, suspense thriller buff that she is, decided to tape it), and the film has stuck with me ever since. It's not your typical horror film, and has more of a tragic element which was so very common to films of the genre in this particular era. The dark and dirty imagery only serves to enhance the premise, and the shrine the Hook children build to their mother is downright creepy. The children do a very decent job of portraying children ( something that is increasingly rare these days) and Dirk Bogarde does a fantastic job of portraying their scumbag father. And to boot, we've got a heavy incest theme going on. If you can get a hold of this one, go for it: it's very much of its time, but the opportunity is well worth any trouble.