Our Mother's House
| Our Mother's House | |
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| Directed by | Jack Clayton |
| Produced by | Jack Clayton |
| Written by | Jeremy Brooks and Haya Harareet, based on the novel by Julian Gloag |
| Starring | Dirk Bogarde |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | MGM |
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Release date
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July 1967 |
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $800,000 |
Our Mother's House is a 1967 British drama film, directed by Jack Clayton. It nominally stars Dirk Bogarde (who only appears in the film's second half) and principally features a cast of seven juvenile actors, including Pamela Franklin, Phoebe Nicholls and Mark Lester, with popular British actress Yootha Joyce in a supporting role. The screenplay was written by Jeremy Brooks and Haya Harareet, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Julian Gloag.
The seven Hook children, whose ages range from five to fourteen, live in a dilapidated Victorian house in suburban London. The older children help to care for their invalid single mother, whose chronic illness has led to her to convert to fundamentalist religion and refuse all medical help. When their mother dies suddenly, the children realise that they may be split up and sent to orphanages, so they decide to conceal their mother's death and carry on with their daily routine as if she were still alive. They secretly bury their mother in the back yard at night, and convert the garden shed into a shrine to her, where they periodically hold seances to communicate with her spirit.
The eldest child, Elsa, takes charge. The children make excuses for their mother's absence to their neighbours and teachers, claiming that the doctor has sent her to the seaside for her health, and they dismiss their abrasive housekeeper, Mrs Quayle. The children realise they can support themselves after Elsa discovers that younger brother Jiminee can convincingly forge their mother's signature, enabling them to cash the trust fund cheques that arrive for her each month, and they also discover that their mother has left over £400 in her savings account.
Some of the children suggest contacting their estranged father, but the idea is rejected by Elsa, who has been indoctrinated with her mother's bitter contempt for her shiftless ex-husband. When oldest brother Hubert discovers that Elsa knows their father's contact address (a letter arrives which Elsa tears up in front of Hubert), Hubert suggests that they get in touch with him, hoping he will help them. Elsa dismisses the idea and throws the address away, but when she leaves the room Hubert recovers it. For the next six months, the children carry on an outwardly normal life, although conflict arises when Gerty innocently takes a ride on a stranger's motorbike.
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