Sob a Sombra da Outra

Francesca Kinsolving (Patty Duke) is having the kind of "bad day" that makes you want to slap yourself viciously for ever thinking that you had one. Only a few weeks ago, she found out her soldier husband was K.I.A. in Vietnam, and now she is HUGELY pregnant, with the baby due in...oh, about five minutes from yesterday! With no family of her own, she remembers her hubby's promise that when they got a chance to visit his family in upstate New England, she would really take a shine to them and they to her. Especially his dear, sainted mother.

So, off she goes, not letting anything get in the way of her visit (except maybe that monstrous belly); even an impending blizzard that is well on the way by the time she arrives.

But speaking of blizzards, isn't it lovely that Francesca gets a glacial welcome from her hubby's iceberg of a monster mother, Mrs. Kinsolving (Rosemary Murphy), who definitely seems a lot more put-out than pleased to see her? Oh, and then there's Kenny (Richard Thomas), her alleged "brother-in-law," whose personality not only makes Peter Lorre look like Brad Pitt, but seems to be a little too close to Mama for comfort. And please welcome to the mix Kenny's "sister" Kathleen (Sian-Barbara Allen), who is, shall we say in the spirit of remaining PC, "special?" Put them all together in a big old house during a dire winter storm out in the middle of nowhere, and you've got yourself one cracking good W.I.P thriller!

YOU'LL LIKE MY MOTHER was based on a popular novel of the decade written by Naomi Hintze, with a screenplay by Jo Heims (whose script for the Clint Eastwood vehicle PLAY MISTY FOR ME is the whole reason why Glenn Close was even able to HAVE a "fatal attraction.") TV vet Lamont Johnson does a great job ratcheting up the suspense at an unbearably slow and steady pace, as Our Heroine discovers that her extended "family" is not at all what it seems, and that she has to somehow get herself and her child out of harm's way with virtually no one to help her, before "something REALLY BAD happens," as it always does in such thrillers.

As audiences these days have become bloodthirsty gorehounds, who like their screen sacrifices freshly squeezed and slashed, and right often, MOTHER might be too slow and stately, from a more "genteel" time when the term "nail-biting" didn't refer to a shot to the chops with an industrial-strength nail gun. Patty Duke as Francesca shows without a doubt that talent does travel through the genes (which is likely where sons Sean and Mackenzie Astin got most of theirs from), stage and screen vet Murphy crackles as Mom, and then up-and-coming actress Allen gives a poignant and startling performance as the feeble sister who really is a lot more "special" than anybody realizes.

But the biggest treat on hand is Richard Thomas. Here, he sinks his teeth into a completely demented pre-"Waltons" performance that will leave you gasping, especially those fans of the gently rural show who thought they "knew" who John-Boy was. Turns out...naaaawwww, you DIDN'T! (Heh-heh!)

MOTHER comes highly recommended for those who enjoyed W.I.P. movies like DEAD OF WINTER, (which bears a striking resemblance to MOTHER) or WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, (the Carol Kane original, not the obnoxious remake.) In fact, it would make a great Saturday night double-feature with either.

Oh, and contrary to popular belief, MOTHER was NOT originally a T.V. movie. Considering it's over thirty years old, that's a forgivable mistake, since that's where most people see it now. This was yet another great theatrical effort that came out of Bing Crosby Productions (!!!) during that time period, when they cranked out the hits like the original versions of WALKING TALL, (in which Murphy co-starred with Joe-Don Baker), WILLARD and of course its sequel, BEN.

When her Army husband is killed in combat, a pregnant Patty Duke travels to the remote Minnesota home of his family, whom she's never met, for a visit. Meeting with icy acceptance from mother-in-law Rosemary Murphy and stranded by a blizzard, Duke begins to discover terrifying--and deadly--secrets about her husband's family.

I wish had known about this film before I had been in Duluth many years ago. The movie was shot in the Congdon Mansion, and it would have been fun to visit the building, even if I was not allowed inside.

Well played, Scream Factory, for giving this one a release. I had not heard of it, and based on the few IMDb reviews, it seems I am not alone. Despite being a Universal film, it seems to have been very understated, with few "names" attached. Was it made for TV originally? I am surprised by how well the protagonist takes her situation -- a more modern version would have her being terrorized.

Duke, Harris, and Thomas are well worth watching for their understated performances in this moody character study. Director Johnson elicited a range of nuances and power from Duke that no other director has been able to achieve. Harris is spellbinding as a woman for whom bitterness is a highball and acrimony is champagne.

Despite what a few other reviewers have noted, this movie was a. Not a made for TV "movie of the week" and b. Not filmed in the "woods of Minnesota". The Glensheen Mansion is in the eastern part of Duluth, nestled in amongst other mansions built around the turn of the last century by the "robber barons" who made their fortunes in lumber, railroads or other enterprises of the times.

I happened to be in St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth when this movie was filmed in early 1972 and we had a celebrity guest on our floor at the time. Every morning an entourage would parade down the hall to visit Patty Duke, to include her dog and numerous hangers-on. Patty Duke was hospitalized at the same time for a "nervous condition". Read her bio and you will understand what that means in English.

The movie was OK, but a real treat for people who knew about the mansion because that was long before it became open to the public. The movie was made about five years before Mrs Congdon and her night nurse were savagely murdered. That event could also have made for a very interesting movie itself.

"You'll Like My Mother" is reminiscent in terms of subject matter to the British, Hammer-produced thriller "Die! Die, My Darling", as both movies deal with a recently widowed women acquainting their mothers-in-law only after the husbands' deaths and almost literally ending in hell. And since "Die! Die, My Darling" was such an absorbing and creepy little thriller; I really wanted to check out this movie as well, particularly because this is an "Americanized" 70's version with exploitation undertones and complementary raw atmosphere. Francesca, eight months pregnant and widowed since seven months as she lost her husband Matthew when his plane crashed in Vietnam, travels all the way up to Matthew's parental house to pay an unannounced visit to his mother. From the very first minute, Mrs. Kinsolving turns out to be hateful and cynical person who hasn't got the slightest intention to get friendly with Francesca or the baby. But there's more, as Matthew mute and mentally underdeveloped sister Kathleen – whom Francesca never heard about before – seems petrified of the mother and slips bizarre little newspaper clippings into her hands like she's trying to warn her about something sinister. With the snowy weather getting worse, Francesca and her unborn child are trapped in a mansion with a potentially very dangerous psychopath. "You'll Like My Mother" is a very tense and unnerving 70's thriller with a solid script that gradually becomes more convoluted through effective twists and a couple of powerful moments that are simultaneously disturbing and saddening. Particularly halfway through the movie, the story becomes unusual and nightmarish (all comparisons with "Die! Die, My Darling" abruptly end at that point as well) and you'll need a very strong nerve system to make it through some of the sudden twists. This movie is another perfect example to show you don't necessarily require a big budget to deliver a spine-chilling thriller. "You'll Like My Mother" contains no special effects or particular gimmicks, but thrives exclusively on dreary atmosphere and offbeat plotting. It's an incomprehensibly underrated 70's highlight with great acting performances (Patty Duke is sublime as the mother in distress) that urgently needs a much wider audience.