Picture Mommy Dead

1966

Action / Drama / Horror / Thriller

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 52% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 52% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 827 827

daughter stepmother relationship fire nun necklace painting murder

Plot summary

Susan Shelley is released from an asylum where she's been confined to after the shock suffered over the fiery death of her mother. Her father has a new wife, who has only married him for the money left to him by his dead wife. Susan is still haunted by her mother's memory, and her step-mother is conspiring with her lover to get the troubled girl to lead them to her mother's missing diamond necklace.

Director

Bert I. Gordon Photo
Bert I. Gordon

Top cast

Wendell Corey Photo
Wendell Corey as Lawyer Clayborn
Jeffrey Sayre Photo
Jeffrey Sayre as Estate Sale Guest
Don Ameche Photo
Don Ameche as Edward Shelley
Martha Hyer Photo
Martha Hyer as Francene Shelley
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay 2160p.BluRay
763.95 MB
1204*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds ...
1.39 GB
1792*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds 3
3.72 GB
3840*2160
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Doylenf 5 / 10

Traumatized girl returns to the scene of the crime after released from a convent...

PICTURE MOMMY DEAD had the potential to be more than a little potboiler. Photographed handsomely in Pathe color amid elaborate settings, its look is far beyond that of the average programmer.But two things defeat it: an absurd plot and a dreadful performance by Susan Gordon in the central role as the traumatized victim of a horrible murder scene.The adults are a little over-the-top in performing--especially Don Ameche, Martha Hyer (looking very glamorous), and Maxwell Reed. No doubt they knew the melodramatic material was so overly meller that it didn't matter much. Hyer at least is convincing as a greedy woman who has only one objective: to get her hands on as much estate money as possible after the death of the girl's wealthy mommy and especially a glittering diamond necklace.Zsa Zsa Gabor flits about once in awhile when flashbacks permit the girl to remember a few events as they unfolded in the past. She's every bit the glamorous creature she always set out to be, and mercifully is not burdened by too much dialog.Most surprising is that this wasn't photographed in low-budget style in B&W. Instead, the sharp color photography puts it on a higher level than the script would suggest.The story lacks credibility as it goes along, becoming more and more improbable by the time it reaches a predictable conclusion.Summing up: Watchable, but hurt by a central performance that is cringe worthy.
Reviewed by JasparLamarCrabb 4 / 10

Horrible/Brilliant

If Bert I. Gordon directed a masterpiece, it would have to be this. Not only does it have the best cast of all his schlock operas, it has the best plot. Little Susan Gordon (Bert's daughter) is released from a "convent" three years after her mother's mysterious death to find dad Don Ameche(!) married to her one time governess (Martha Hyer). Hyer and her creepy ex-lover rekindle their romance while trying to eliminate both Ameche and Gordon. Gordon meanwhile is menaced by hallucinations of her mother (Zsa Zsa Gabor). Ameche appears to be taking this all very seriously and Hyer plays her sultry vixen bit to the hilt. Gabor has virtually no dialogue. The once great character actor Wendall Corey has a very outlandish cameo has Gabor's lawyer. It's horrible, but by director Gordon's standards it's brilliant.
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