Picture Mommy Dead
Following the mysterious, fiery death of her mother (Zsa Zsa Gabor), young Susan Shelley (Susan Gordon) sustained a mental breakdown and found herself rooming at the local convent while her father, Edward (Don Ameche), went off jet-setting with his new girlfriend, Francine (Martha Hyer). Three years later, a now-broke Edward arrives to take Susan back to the family mansion and, before long, Susan is forced to confront ghosts of the past and finally recall in vivid detail the events that transpired on the night her mother died.
Director Bert I. Gordon made a name for himself by turning out sci-fi b-movies about giant, mutated creatures (“The Amazing Colossal Man,” “Earth Vs. the Spider,” “Village of the Giants,” “Empire of the Ants,” etc.). “Picture Mommy Dead” was a departure from that formula, and one that he felt passionate about. Bert decided the family mansion had to be a character unto itself, and he personally traveled the country looking for a location. Ironically, he ultimately found the house nestled off Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
“The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, in your stomach and out your mouth…”
Greystone had already made appearances in such notable films as “House of the Damned” and Bette Davis’s “Dead Ringer” and “Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte,” and it was later seen in “Ghostbusters,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “The Big Lebowski,” “X-Men,” “Spider Man” and numerous other films. By the time filming commenced on “Picture Mommy Dead,” the city had just purchased the estate, and Gordon obtained the rights to film there – but the house was unfurnished. Somehow, Gordon finagled a deal to rent the furnishings from late newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst’s 28-room New York City apartment. Most of the artwork that adorned the walls belonged to star Martha Hyer, who was a noted art collector.
Named Greystone, the mansion has a sordid history of its own. It was constructed from 1926-28 by an oil magnate as a gift for his son, Ned Doheny. In September 1928, Ned moved into the mansion with his wife and their five children. A few weeks later, Ned’s secretary of 15 years, Hugh Plunkett, was devastated when his wife divorced him. From all accounts, Plunkett’s mental status rapidly deteriorated and Ned tried his best to console his friend, ultimately letting Hugh room in the mansion. Four months after Doheny took up residence, he was murdered in Greystone by Plunkett, who then turned the gun on himself. Exactly what transpired between Doheny and Plunkett in that Greystone bedroom on February 16, 1929 remains a mystery to this day.
Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was an explosion of horror films starring aging actresses whom had been shunned by Hollywood when their looks began to fade. The plan was that “Picture Mommy Dead” would be a vehicle for then-52 year-old Hedy Lamarr (whose last film was 1958’s “The Female Animal”), with her starring as the titular Mommy. Unfortunately, Lamarr had a problem with shoplifting, and she was arrested in Los Angeles’s May Co. department store for allegedly attempting boost an $86 pair of slippers. ($86 for a pair of slippers in 1966?!) This was the first of several shoplifting arrests for the actress, though she was ultimately acquitted. In late January 1966, Gordon announced to the press, “"I have no intention of abrogating my agreement with her.” However, on February 2, Gordon sent a car to pick her up for filming and discovered Lamarr had checked into a hospital for “nervous exhaustion.”
“The only remaining scenes are those in which she (Miss Lamarr) appears,” Gordon told the associated press on February 4th, when it was announced Zsa Zsa Gabor would be filling her role. “I have great admiration for Miss Lamarr as an actress and as a woman, but with a million-dollar budget, the people financing the picture will not allow me to gamble further on possible delays.”
“"I was doing everything they wanted me to do,” retorted Lamarr. “I posed for stills. I went to a press conference. I tried my best… Should one day's sleep upset them that much? Don't you think a life is more important than technicalities?" In December, Lamarr filed a $499,000 lawsuit against Gordon and Berkeley Productions for breach of contract. No idea what happened with that.
“Picture Mommy Dead” is essentially a stage play in the guise of a film. It’s slow, talky, and 16 year-old Susan Gordon sleepwalked through the movie acting like a 9 year-old who had discovered the joys of her parents’ drug stash. But these flaws are simultaneously the film’s greatest strengths. It takes a lot of time for the movie to unfold, during which you get to know the characters and understand their motivations. And if Susan had behaved like an average 1960s 16 year-old, the story wouldn’t work at all.
Although she’s not the top-billed star, Martha Hyer owns the movie. She turns in such a wonderful, nuanced performance as a spoiled, self-centered, gold-digging bitch that you truly believe she is her character. Similarly, Don Ameche gave his henpecked, potentially unlikable character a lot of depth which clearly wasn’t written on the page. Maxwell Reed devours the scenery as Zsa Zsa’s sinister, scarred, bird-lovin’ cousin. Gabor, who was plopped into the cast at the zero hour, gives a typically vapid Zsa Zsa performance, but she has a very minor amount of screen time, so it works. The weakest link is drunkard character actor Wendell Corey as the executor of Zsa Zsa’s will, who slurs his (overly abundant) dialogue as if he had a belly full of booze and a mouth full of shit.
As a p.s., this is a film that would wonderfully translate into a stage musical. I mean, in addition to the full version of “The Hearse Song,” I can practically hear such instant classics as “Leave My Mother’s Things Alone,” “I’m Speakin’ English” and “That Girl Should Be Institutionalized.” “Carrie the Musical,” eat your heart out. So if there are any playwrights reading…
Susan Gordon, Don Ameche and a crew member look on as the bedroom goes up in flames
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DOWNLOADS
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Unfortunately, as of 2012 there has yet to be a nice, remastered print of the film released. It was issued on VHS in the ‘80s by Charter Entertainment. There were two different VHS releases by Charter with identical cover art: one version is dubbed in SP and the other in inferior SLP speed. Buyer beware! The original running time cited in the press materials was 88 minutes. The same running time is cited on the VHS release, but the print included only runs 82 mins.
The tape appears to be the source for a double-feature DVD issued by EastWest Entertainment in 2005, which paired the movie with a dubbed, truncated print of the 1972 Spanish schlocker “Murder Mansion” (should pint out that there’s better prints of that film floating around). This would lead one to believe the film is in public domain, but it should be noted that bargain-bin DVD companies often mistakenly issue films that are still under copyright.
A soundtrack album has never been issued in any format.
Original Press Book
Vintage Newspaper Articles
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LINKS
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