Our Mother's House

Seven children live in a large house in London. When their mother dies they bury her in the garden and tell nobody. The reason is simple: they do not want to be separated and they do not want to go into care. They run the house themselves, keep drawing their mother's money, and go out to the shed in the garden to talk to her. Then the father who disappeared years ago turns up at the door. Jack Clayton directs, with Dirk Bogarde as the father and Pamela Franklin and Mark Lester among the children. It is adapted from Julian Gloag's novel. The man Bogarde plays is not the rescuer the children are waiting for. The film takes its time showing how the order they built between themselves cracks.