Our Mother’s House (1967)

Our Mother’s House
Directed by Jack Clayton
Written by Jeremy Brooks and Haya Harareet from a novel by Julian Gloag
1967/UK
IMDb link
First viewing/YouTube rental

[box] Tagline: The children’s story that is not for children…[/box]

So fantastic to find a sleeper like this.  And with my beloved Dirk Bogarde to boot!

Mother bore seven children, now ranging from about three to sixteen.  She is a religious fanatic, does not believe in doctors, and has evidently been bedridden for some time.  The house is a poor one but very well ordered.  When mother dies, the children, fearing they will separated or sent to an orphanage, bury her in the backyard.  They get along pretty well by forging mother’s monthly welfare checks and sticking to her rules.  The rules are sometimes harsh.

When one of the girls gets sick and the others refuse to get her medical care, a brother reaches out to mom’s estranged husband Charlie (Bogarde).  Charlie moves in and vacillates between loving playmate and debauched opportunist.  I’ll end the plot summary here.  With Pamela Franklin and Mark Lester among the children.

I thought this was pretty great. I don’t think I’ve seen Bogarde play a Cockney before but he knocks it out of the park as usual.   The film has some of the  haunting feeling of Clayton’s earlier The Innocents (1961).  The mixture of childhood merriment and impending doom is handled extremely well.  Also includes a good Georges Delarue score. Recommended.

Trailer – spoiler