Our Mother's House

"The children's story that is not for children..."

1967 1h 45m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 52

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Seven children bury their mother and hide her death - until their long-lost father returns.

“The children's story that is not for children...”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Dirk Bogarde
Charlie Hook
Margaret Leclere
Elsa (as Margaret Brooks)
Pamela Franklin
Diana
Louis Sheldon Williams
Hubert
John Gugolka
Dunston
Mark Lester
Jiminee
Phoebe Nicholls
Gerty (as Sarah Nicholls)
Gustav Henry
Willy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jack Clayton
Writers: Jeremy Brooks, Haya Harareet
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

59 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jack Clayton, shot by Larry Pizer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tom Priestley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dirk Bogarde and Margaret Leclere and Pamela Franklin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The children's story that is not for children...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0062089 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jack Clayton directs. Larry Pizer behind the camera. Georges Delerue scores. Tom Priestley cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
259 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Jack Clayton, shot by Larry Pizer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Tom Priestley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Dirk Bogarde and Margaret Leclere and Pamela Franklin carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The children's story that is not for children...".
8IMDB entry: tt0062089 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 52 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "london, england", "sibling relationship", "based on novel or book", "loss of loved one".

The technical file

Cinematography: Larry Pizer
Original score: Georges Delerue
Editing: Tom Priestley
Makeup / hair: Bill Lodge
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Status: Released
Budget: $800,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Our Mother's House (1967)

Also by

Jack Clayton

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-03-08
★ 8/10
Go Away, Go Away, Go Away! Our Mother’s House is directed by Jack Clayton and adapted to screenplay by Jeremy Brooks and Haya Harareet from the novel of the same name written by Julian Gloag. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Brooks, Pamela Franklin, Louis Sheldon Williams, John Gugolka, Mark Lester and Yootha Joyce. Music is by Georges Delerue and cinematography by Larry Pizer. When seven youngsters are left orphaned by the death of their bedridden mother, they decide to keep her passing quiet case they get split up and sent into orphanages. The youngsters prove to be quite resourceful and tick along nicely, that is until one of the boys brings a friend home to live with them; just as the children’s estranged father appears on the doorstep. At first glance it seems material ripe for an Ealing Studios piece, a whimsical fable of adorable youngsters taking on the world in trying circumstances, Our Mother’s House is a far cry from such a thing! It’s a creepy off-kilter film of some considerable class, containing psychological insights into seven children adapting and improvising in life by creating their own new order. The results are both enlightening and frightening. They have a weekly séance type of set-up where they believe they are talking to their dead mother, they administer their own punishments and forge their own cheques! But of course this self sufficient life can’t possibly last… Children of the beguiled. Once their supposed father Charlie (Bogarde brilliant) arrives on the scene, the applecart is well and truly upset. He evokes a number of different passions in the children, good and bad, but he seems a genuine guy, however, both Charlie and the children have new colours yet to be revealed, and once out in the open all will form the potent and dramatic last quarter. The child actors are excellent, well guided by Clayton (The Innocents), who manages to bring out the various states of emotional confusion upon the death of the mother. Joyce in a rare serious role is good “Cougar” foil for Bogarde, Delerue’s music is very much in tune with the weird feel to the plotting, and Pizer’s photography really hits the psychological assistance markers, being particularly striking in the finale as the door to Hades is opened. Clayton and Bogarde were never happy with the finished film, but that's no marker to the quality on show here. It’s all a bit implausible of course, but very rarely does the pic disappoint. 8/10

Production companies