The Pumpkin Eater (1964)

The Pumpkin Eater
Directed by Jack Clayton
Written by Harold Pinter from a novel by Penelope Mortimer
1964/UK
Romulus Films
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,/ Had a wife but couldn’t keep her;/ He put her in a pumpkin shell/ And there he kept her very well. – Nursery rhyme [/box]

Powerful performances anchor a story of marital breakdown.

Jo has eight children from three marriages.  Six are living at home with her and husband Jake.  Only one of the children is his but Jake apparently takes the chaotic household in stride.  Something tells Jo that all is not well and she becomes suspicious of the relationship between her live-in friend Philpot (super-young Maggie Smith) and Jake.

Unspoken tension in the marriage is pushing Jo to the point of nervous breakdown.  Then she finds herself pregnant again and the tension erupts into fireworks.  With Cecil Hardwicke in his final film as Jo’s father and James Mason as a wronged husband.

I enjoyed this for the performances but did not understand the dynamics of the relationship too well.  The film includes a nice Georges Delerue score and beautiful cinematography by Oswald Morris.

Anne Bancroft was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress.