Our Mother's House (1967)

When their ill mother dies, the Hook children bury her at night in their garden and keep on living as if everything were normal, so that they will be able to stay together as a family. The oldest of the seven children, Elsa, takes command but she does listen to their thoughts, especially those of the oldest brother. They work together well but not without some disagreements. To get advice from their late mother, the family gathers together for "Mother Time" and Elsa channels their mother's advice to her siblings. The children work pretty well together to do a good job of managing the house, finances, school, cleaning, shopping, cooking etc. After a while, their mother's husband, Charlie Hook, appears and he takes charge, with varying reactions from the seven children.

Criminally under - rated,cinematographer/director Mr Jack Clayton created some excellent intelligent atmospheric films that lovers of British cinema look on with special affection.His 1967 "Our mother's house" is a fine example of his sensitivity with child actors and his flair for looking beyond the obvious in casting his adult roles.Mr Dirk Bogarde,for instance,might not have come immediately to mind for the role of a feckless working - class Londoner,but Mr Clayton knew exactly what he was capable of,and Bogarde's performance so moved Signor Visconti that after watching "Our mother's house" he chose him for the life - changing "Death in Venice". Children are seldom the helpless,adult - dependent creatures they are often taken for.Perforce they can be resilient,resourceful and strong. Failing to notify the authorities about the death of their mother,the Hook children hope to escape the dreaded "Orphanage"(much more likely to be put "in care" - probably a fate even worse)and keep the family together. Unfortunately their absent father turns up and threatens their familial security. His profligate behaviour eventually alienates them all with a truly shocking result. Claustrophobic,alternately gloomy then harshly - lit,"Our mother's house" is a film about children for adults. Uniformly well - acted,it is dominated by Mr Bogarde who steals it effortlessly without ever seeming to.He upstages nobody,doesn't appear until 45 minutes into the film,but brings about such a change of direction as to leave one breathless.It is a brilliantly selfless performance that deserves to be far better - known. I unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone looking for some British movie a bit outside the box.

This was on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) a few days ago, and after all the great comments I saw about this movie, I didn't hesitate to tape it on DVD. It wasn't what I had expected in the least, and until Dirk Bogarde turns up, it's quite an average movie. But it definitely does improve after that.The general gist of the film is that seven children who fear the orphanage bury their mother in the garden after she dies of illness, so that no one will find out. For the next 30 minutes, the film revolves around how the children survive on their own, and how they support each other (one of these methods being 'mothertime', where they have séances in the garden as they try to contact their dead mother). Then Dirk Bogarde turns up, and he claims to be their father. Most of the children take to him immediately, but the eldest doesn't, and this leads to all sorts of complications for the family, leading up to the climax (which is actually the best thing about this film).The film, when you look at it closely, is, in fact, quite good. It's got a good storyline, good acting, and great scenery. If you're looking for a horror flick, look elsewhere, but if you're looking for a subtle, well acted melodrama, then look no further!Definitely worth a viewing!

Not many people know that Our Mother's house is owned by TCM. If you go to there web site you can vote to have it released on DVD. You can also ask them to show it on television. They will forward it to their programming department. You can vote on many movies on TCM to be released on to DVD. When they get enough votes they forward this to their distributors.You can even vote for films not owned by TCM because they work with the AFI. The American Film Institute. You can also vote for The Third Secret or other movies to be released. Please take the time to vote for Our Mother's House to be released on DVD. They will only allow one vote per computer!