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''Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly'', released as ''Girly'' outside the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, is a 1970 British
horror-comedy
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...
film. The film originated as a dream project for renowned cinematographer-turned-director
Freddie Francis
Frederick William Francis (22 December 1917 – 17 March 2007) was an English cinematographer and film director. He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer. He started his career with British films such as Jack Cardiff's ''Sons and L ...
, who wanted the opportunity to direct a film over which he had complete creative control, instead of working on assignment from a studio (as was the case with his previous directorial efforts). Francis teamed with writer Brian Comport to build the movie around
Oakley Court
Oakley Court is a Victorian Gothic country house set in overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and is currently a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed bu ...
, which Francis had used for exterior shots in previous films. The script was based on a two-act play by
Maisie Mosco entitled ''Happy Family'', which was later adapted into a novella by screenwriter Brian Comport as "Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly". Though the film fared poorly in British cinemas, it enjoyed a brief but successful run in North America before going on to achieve status as a
cult film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...
.
Plot
Four individuals live in a secluded
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
in the English countryside, where they engage in an elaborate role-playing fantasy called ''The Game.'' In The Game, each individual assumes the role of a member in a "happy" family, completely subsuming his or her individual personality to the point that each individual is known only by the identity he or she is playing: Mumsy (the mother,
Ursula Howells
Ursula Howells (17 September 1922 – 16 October 2005) was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television.
Life and career
Howells was born in London, the daughter of composer Herbert Howells, ...
), Nanny (the
nanny
A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
,
Pat Heywood
Patricia Heywood (born 1 August 1931 in Gretna Green, Dumfriesshire, Scotland), is a Scottish character actress who has appeared in stage productions, films and television. She is married to Oliver Neville, the former principal of the Royal Acad ...
), Sonny (the son, played by
Howard Trevor), and Girly (the daughter,
Vanessa Howard
Vanessa Howard (born Vanessa Tolhurst, 10 October 1948, Shoreham-by-Sea, United Kingdom – 23 November 2010), later known as Vanessa Chartoff, was a British film actress and professional backup singer.
Early life
Howard was orphaned by the age o ...
). The Game is built around a set of strictly enforced yet ill-defined rules, the principal one of which is "Rule No. 1: Play the Game."
As a part of The Game, the teenaged Sonny and Girly regularly venture to more populated areas, where the pair use Girly to lure men back to the manor house. Once there, the men are dressed like schoolboys and forcibly indoctrinated into The Game, assuming the roles of "New Friends." Those who refuse are "sent to the Angels"—a euphemism for being ritualistically murdered in scenarios built around playground games, which Sonny routinely records on a 16mm movie camera so that the family can later enjoy the resultant
snuff film
A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...
.
One night, Girly and Sonny stake out a
swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...
party, where they encounter a male prostitute (
Michael Bryant) and his latest client (
Imogen Hassall
Imogen Hassall (25 August 1942 – 16 November 1980) was an English actress who appeared in 33 films during the 1960s and 1970s.
Early life
Named after Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'' heroine, she was born in Woking, Surrey, to a financially comf ...
). An instant attraction develops between Girly and the man, who convinces his client to accompany the siblings for a night of carousing. Girly and Sonny take the couple to a playground, where they murder the woman by throwing her from a large slide. The next morning, Sonny and Girly convince the
hungover man that he murdered the woman after a night of heavy drinking, and convince him to return to the manor with them. The prostitute—rechristened "New Friend"—is outfitted in schoolboy clothes and subjected to an indeterminate period of torment "playing the game," during which he is repeatedly presented with his client's body as a reminder that the family has incriminating information about him.
After Mumsy makes sexual overtures to New Friend one evening, he gets the idea to turn the family against itself. New Friend's plot succeeds, as he creates sexual jealousy between the women after first sleeping with Mumsy and then Girly. Sonny, left out of the sexual politics, petitions to have New Friend "sent to the angels;" in a moment of panic, Girly bludgeons him to death with an antique mirror. Chastising Girly for creating a mess, Mumsy dismisses Sonny as "naughty" and orders a visibly shaken New Friend to bury Sonny beneath a drained fountain on the manor grounds, which is already populated by makeshift gravestones bearing the numerical identities assigned to dispatched "friends."
Nanny, jealous that she is the only female member of the household left out of New Friend's attentions, attempts to murder Mumsy with acid-tipped needles, but the attempt fails when it is inadvertently interrupted by New Friend. Girly, realising that Nanny has set her sights on New Friend, hacks Nanny to death with an axe and cooks her head for use in baked goods.
Rather than turn on one another, Mumsy and Girly declare a truce, deciding to "share" New Friend by alternating which days of the week each woman will be permitted to have sex with him. The two women agree, though ponder what will happen should either of them ever become bored with New Friend, with Girly declaring it as an inevitability. Overhearing the women's conversation, New Friend retrieves—and hides—Nanny's acid tipped needles before settling into Mumsy's room, smiling.
Production
The film began as a dream project for Freddie Francis, a renowned cinematographer who had made the transition to directing at the beginning of the 1960s. Though he had numerous directorial credits to his name, each of these had come to him on commission from a studio, and Francis had long dreamed of making a film over which he had complete creative control. Over the course of his career, Francis had shot several exterior scenes for films at
Oakley Court
Oakley Court is a Victorian Gothic country house set in overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and is currently a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed bu ...
, but long lamented the fact that neither he nor any other director had ever had the opportunity to film inside the building; in putting together his project, Francis decided that his film would be set in and around Oakley Court, with the script tailored to the building's unique landscaping and architecture.
Having never written a film himself, Francis hired writer Brian Comport to craft a screenplay, with the only condition being that the story had to be built around Oakley Court. Trying to come up with ideas, Francis and Comport attended the production of an
off west end
Off West End refers to theatres in London which are not included as West End theatres. The term is a relatively recent one, coined after the similar American term "off-Broadway" (though without the same strict definition). It is usually used synony ...
play entitled "The Happy Family," written by
Maisie Mosco, then a
radio play
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
wright for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The play—itself influenced by
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...
's ''
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
''We Have Always Lived in the Castle'' is a 1962 mystery novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It was Jackson's final work, and was published with a dedication to Pascal Covici, the publisher, three years before the author's death in 1965. T ...
'' and Tennessee Williams' ''
Baby Doll
''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play '' ...
''—concerned a woman recently forced to undergo a
hysterectomy
Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. It may also involve removal of the cervix, ovaries (oophorectomy), Fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and other surrounding structures.
Usually performed by a gynecologist, a hysterectomy may b ...
by her abusive husband, who shortly thereafter left her for a younger woman. Having gone insane, the woman—redubbed "Mumsy"—forces her two children and her maid to join her in an elaborate role-playing game in which young societal drop-outs are welcomed into the family as new "children" for Mumsy. Both men thought that the play—which was overtly sexual and dealt explicitly with
incest
Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...
, lesbianism, and
sadomasochism
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
—was "terrible," but agreed that it was an excellent tipping-off point for a story that would take place at Oakley Court. Little of the play's storyline would survive into Comport's script, beyond the names of the principal characters and the basic premise of an isolated family engaging in a deadly role-playing game.
Owing to the film's origins as a stage production, Francis largely filled out the cast with experienced stage performers who had made the transition to film, such as Ursula Howells, Pat Heywood, and Michael Bryant. The zookeeper whom Sonny and Girly harass in the film's opening sequence was played by
Michael Ripper
Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor.
He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gough ...
, a regular in
Hammer Horror
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...
films whom Francis knew from his time working for the studio. Howard Trevor, who played Sonny, had only a single prior screen credit, on an episode of the anthology series ''ITV Playhouse;'' ''Girly'' would prove to be his only film role. Vanessa Howard, who had also gotten her start on ''ITV,'' was a relative newcomer who had starred in four films prior to ''Girly;'' she performed so well that it was decided in post production that she would become the centerpiece of the film's marketing campaign, with the intention of turning the film into a
star vehicle
In the motion picture industry, a star vehicle (or simply vehicle) is a film written or produced for a specific star, regardless of whether the motive is to further their career or simply to profit from their current popularity. It is designed to ...
for her.
Reception
''Girly'' was produced amidst a backlash against indecency in the British media, brought about in part by the production of more overtly sexual films targeted towards the
mods and
Swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...
. Media watchdogs latched onto a scene in the opening minutes of the film in which Girly suggestively sucks Sonny's finger after accepting a piece of candy from him. The scene was the result of Comport's having toyed with the idea of carrying over incest themes from the play, in which Sonny and Girly are explicitly engaged in a sexual relationship. Comport ultimately decided against this, deciding it was more thematically appropriate to the film to imply incest but never confirm it. Though the scene is the only implication of incest in the film, it came to be the film's definitive moment in contemporary media reviews.
Coincidentally, ''Girly'' was released concurrently with ''
Goodbye Gemini
''Goodbye Gemini'' (also released as ''Twinsanity'') is a 1970 British psychological horror film directed by Alan Gibson and starring Judy Geeson, Michael Redgrave, and Martin Potter. Based on the novel ''Ask Agamemnon'' by Jenni Hall, it conce ...
'', about a mentally imbalanced young man sexually obsessed with his sister. The two pictures created a
moral panic
A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...
amongst British media watchdogs, and were held up as indicative of the state of the British media. Due to this backlash, few theatres wished to screen the film following its
West End premier.
In an attempt to recoup losses, the film was rebranded for release in the United States, where
exploitation films
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
were enjoying moderate success. Retitled simply ''Girly,'' the film's advertising campaign was retooled to be built exclusively around Vanessa Howard, removing all of her costars from the film's posters. The film performed surprisingly well, even achieving a positive writeup in ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''.
Legacy
The film's failure at the British box office led to Vanessa Howard's decision to retire from acting in 1972; at the time of her decision, she was unaware of the film's success in America, and remained uninformed for some time. Despite the film's financial failure, Francis maintained for the rest of his life that it had been his best work, and his personal favourite of all the films he made.
The film disappeared from cinemas in America and England for several years. The film was subsequently released to VHS in North America (again under the title of ''Girly''); copies proved difficult to obtain in the United Kingdom, as the organizers of a Freddie Francis film festival in 2004 were unable to turn up a print or VHS copy of the film to screen. Around 2006, bootleg copies of the film began to surface on the internet. Shortly thereafter,
Salvation Films
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
Salvation Group is a UK-based media company, specialising in exploitation film and alternative music. The company's original name and current trading name is Redemption Films. The Salvation Group was dissolved in Nov ...
announced that they had obtained the rights to release Girly on DVD. The release entered
development hell
Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
, with Salvation promising the film's upcoming release on its website for the next three years. In the interim, Freddie Francis died, eliminating hopes of a potential director's commentary. Salvation ultimately sold their rights to Scorpion Releasing, who recorded an interview with writer Brian Comport and obtained an old radio interview with Francis regarding the film to be included as special features. Vanessa Howard, having learned of the film's cult status, agreed to record a commentary for the DVD; however, Howard was terminally ill at the time, and ultimately proved too weak to participate. The DVD was released on 30 March 2010, with remastered audio and video. Vanessa Howard died in October 2010, seven months after the film's release.
In 2012, Tightrope Theatre of Portland, OR, re-adapted the screenplay back into stage format and mounted what is purported to be the world premiere stage production of "The Happy Family". Production dates were 11 May through 9 June 2012, at Tightrope Theatre's performance space in southeast Portland. The adaptation was done by Elizabeth Klinger, and the production was directed by James Peck. The cast included award-winning actors, including Jamie Rea, Rebecca Teran, David Cole, Elizabeth Klinger and Zachary Rouse. The production's stage manager was Lizz Esch Brown.
A complete set of English 'Hearing Impaired' subtitles for the movie, to accompany the recently released (but unsubtitled) DVD, was placed in the public domain in February 2013.
In 2015, an event was held at Oakley Court to pay tribute to Vanessa Howard and the production of the film. The event included the dedication of a memorial bench in Howard's memory, a trip to some of the film's shooting locations, and a dinner themed around the Family's meal with New Friend. In attendance was horror journalist Preston Fassel, the author of a biography on Howard that appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of Screem Magazine; Fassel answered questions regarding the film's production and Howard's life.
Influence
Modern film critics have speculated that the film was a possible influence on
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
's 1980 film ''
The Shining'', for a scene in which Sonny chases one of the "friends" with an axe, hacking through the panel of a door and exposing his face to the room's occupant. Although a visually similar scene appears in the much earlier film, ''
The Phantom Carriage
''The Phantom Carriage'' ( sv, Körkarlen, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lag ...
'', the scene predates the "Here's Johnny" sequence in ''The Shining'' by over a decade.
British Horror Films: Mumsy Nanny Sonny and Girly
/ref>
References
*
*
External links
*
*
Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly
English SDH SDH may refer to:
Science, medicine and technology
* Serine dehydratase, an enzyme
* L-sorbose 1-dehydrogenase, an enzyme
* Succinate dehydrogenase, an enzyme
* Shubnikov–de Haas effect
* Social Determinants of Health, economic and social condi ...
subtitle set (for use with commercially released DVD)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny And Girly
1970 films
1970s comedy horror films
1970s black comedy films
British comedy horror films
British black comedy films
British serial killer films
Films directed by Freddie Francis
Films about nannies
Films set in country houses
Films set in England
1970 comedy films
1970 drama films
1970s English-language films
1970s British films