Figure 1.-- The film "Our Mother's House" is about the seven children of an invalid mother. When the mother dies, the eldest girl tries to keep them together as a family unit. The boys wear a variety of outfits, including shorts and sandals. Mark Lester played the stuttering Jiminy and stood out in the film. His performance led to his getting the role of Oliver.

The film "Our Mother's House" is about the five children of an invalid mother. When the mother dies, the eldest girl tries to keep them together as a family unit. Eventually the no-good dad returns. There are four boys, Hubert, Dunstan, Jiminee, and Willy. The boys wear a variety of outfits, including shorts and sandals. The oldest is about 13. Mark Lester played the stuttering Jiminy and stood out in the film. One reader reports that Louis had a good singing voice. The film is set in London. There are long sequences shot out in the lake at Crystal Palace in South London. Dirk Bogarde played a particularly effective rogue dad! It is quite a dark but touching film. Jack Clayton directed this offbeat film and Mark made a big impression on the film maker that was to play big dividends. Claytom was the one who recommended Mark to Carol Reed, the result was, of course was "Oliver!".

Filmology

"Our Mother's House" is a difficult film to classify. Psychological drama" or "suspense" film works well enough. It is quite a dark but touching film. The film score is also very effective. Jack Clayton directed this offbeat film and Mark made a big impression on him which was to play big dividends in Mark's career. The result was, of course "Oliver!" (1968).

Setting

This 1967 film is set in contemporary London. Most scenes take place in a brown brick, two-story Victorian home. There are long sequences shot out in the lake at Crystal Palace in South London. A reader writes, "I was reading on your website about a Dirk Bogarde film, "Our Mother's House", and I can add some information for you because I was in the film as an extra - VERY briefly! The scenes of the Hook children's school were filmed at my own school, St Leonard's C of E Primary at Chelsham, near Warlingham, in Surrey. Our school uniform was grey trousers, jumpers, cardigans and pinafore dresses, or red cardigans and jumpers, and white shirts (boys and girls), and grey and red diagonally-striped ties (again, for boys and girls). Boys socks were grey, girls socks were white. We were supposed to wear black shoes, but we seldom did, especially in the summer." [Samuels]

Cast

The main characters are the Hook family. There are seven, four boys and three girls, children who (appear) to range from about 5-15 years in age. Elsa and Diana are the oldest, followed by Hubert (the children called him "Hugh"), Dunstan, Jiminee, Gerty, and Willy. Their mother, Violet, is deathly ill and their father, Charlie, is absent as the film begins. Most of the children played in only one film, like Louis Sheldon Williams (Hugh), or just a few, not very well known others. Two of the child stars are rather well known to this day. Pamela Franklin, who played Diana. She received good reviews for her performances in this and several other films. It was her character who killed the father in the film. She had quite a distinguished career as a child actor, appearing in films like "The Innocents" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie". She appeared in quite a few American television shows as well. Mark Lester played the stuttering Jiminy and stood out in the film. He went on to play in "Oliver!" and some other films from the late-60s and early 70s. One reader reports that Louis had a good singing voice. The boy who played Dunstan, John Gugolka, also appeared in the musical version of "Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1969), playing Sutterwick Jr., the boy that Chips will not allow to play in the junior tennis final as the class has a detention. Dirk Bogarde played a particularly effective rogue dad!

Plot

The film "Our Mother's House" is about the five children of an invalid mother. When the mother dies, the eldest girl tries to keep them together as a family unit. When their mother dies, the seven Hook children bury her in the garden of their home. They tell no one that she has died and try to go on living at their home. They tell any one who asks that their mother has gone to a sanitorium by the sea for health. The children are able to pay the bills thanks to Jiminee's talents as a forger. He signs their mother's name to her pension checks, and the bank, understanding that their mother is ill, cashes them for the children. By day the children go to school and keep house. At night, though, they huddle together in their mother's bedroom to watch as Elsa conducts a seance. She rocks in her mother's favorite rocking chair to contact their mother's spirit for guidance. The forgeries and seances work more or less for a little while. When Gerty becomes seriously ill, however, Hugh tells Elsa that they need to ask their father to come home. Elsa will have none of it; their mother once told her that their father is a "beast." Hugh wrote secretly to their dad, though, asking him to come back. Things began to go badly for the kids. One day, the children take in a runaway from their school. The teacher suspects that the Hook children are sheltering the boy, and she pays them an unexpected visit at home. She confronts the Hook children about their mother's absence and is on the verge of learning the truth, when in walks Charlie, their dad, to pull them back from the fire! All the little Hooks, except Elsa, are thrilled to see him. For a time things go well. Charlie seems a bit of a rogue, but the kids need him there in order to stay in their mother's house. Otherwise, they'd be scattered among foster homes or placed in an orphanage, a fate they want to avoid. Charlie definitely put some badly needed fun in their lives. They play, they go places together, and Charlie looks to be a good dad. When Charlie learns that Jiminee can forge his mother's name like a pro, he soon goes through his wife's savings to the last three pounds! He's quite a womanizer, too. In need of more "capital" as he puts it, Charlie puts the house on the market. The children don't find this out until an estate agent shows up with prospective buyers. They demand the truth from Charlie, and he gives them a flimsy story that the children don't accept. Flying into a rage, Charlie tells them that they aren't even his children. He was married to Violet, but she was promiscuous; each child has a different father. One day, Violet turned to religion, and Charlie just walked out on them. Elsa can't bear to hear her mother blasphemed like this. The Father also threatened to send the children to an orphanage. She strikes Charlie a mortal blow on the head with a poker from the fireplace. At the film's conclusion the children have apparently buried Charlie and walk together down the sidewalk past their house. The children decided to "turn themselves in" and that is where they are going in the last scene.

Costuming

The boys wear a variety of outfits, including shorts and sandals. The children's clothing looked authentic for its time. Throughout the film, the older boys wore longsleeve sweaters (jumpers), light colored shirts, and cord or flannel short trousers with knee socks. Their shoes were usually black lace-ups, but in one scene, Hugh, who looks about twelve or thirteen, wore single strap brown sandals. The boys jumpers were generally a medium gray. Their trousers and knee socks were either gay or tan. In some scenes they also wore dark gray overcoats and knit caps with a striped design. The youngest boy wore bib front overalls. longs, and a light colored shirt. The girls wore light colored blouses, and over them a single-piece gray short-sleeved top and skirt. I think in America these were called "jumpers." The girls also wore gray knee socks and black lace-up shoes.

Sources

Samuels, Penny. E-mail message , July 28, 2009.