"Our Mother's House is a 1967 British drama thriller film directed by Jack Clayton. It nominally stars Dirk Bogarde (who only appears in the film's second half) and principally features a cast of seven juvenile actors, including Pamela Franklin, Phoebe Nicholls and Mark Lester, with popular British actress Yootha Joyce in a supporting role.
"Our Mother's House was the second of five collaborations between Clayton and noted French composer Georges Delerue, who had written the score for Clayton's The Pumpkin Eater (1964). Sixteen years after making Our Mother's House, Clayton and Delerue reunited for Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), but that production was troubled, with the studio (Disney) forcing Clayton to replace Delerue's original music (which was considered too dark) with a new score by James Horner. Delerue composed the music for Clayton's last two projects: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987) and the TV movie Memento Mori (1992). - Wikipedia.
OK, living in Canada I was obsessed with this title in the mid-70's. A few copies, mostly mono but a few stereo, were released by the Canadian MGM licensee, Quality Records of Canada. The title was cancelled in the USA, possibly because Delerue's previous MGM score THE 25th HOUR did not sell well and was way over-pressed. Copies of even the mono OUR MOTHER'S HOUSE were listed for sale for $200-$250 by dealers such as Recollections. I use to take the family on a record-hunting expedition on my holidays, driving all over southern Ontario looking for copies...but nothing. In 1978 I organized a write-in campaign (title now owned by Polydor) and they received around 20 letters and agreed to re-release the stereo LP. However about the same time some individual in the USA released an unauthorized mono copy which was widely distributed to various soundtrack dealers. So the title was no longer in demand. I've always liked it because it's melodic and melancholic--two favorite qualities I look for in soundtracks. On the CD, I found that if you spread the left and right channels to the max, you can hear the delicate instrumentation a little better...
Georges Delerue score is truly Beautiful and Lovely.
A truly hidden treasure until…Steven Spielberg and his 12 Composers temp Our Mother’s House and Bam..The Color Purple.
I remember there was some consternation about Quincy Jones "ripping off" Delerue's theme, the account of which was covered in -- of all places -- People Magazine. (I had a copy of that issue, but my mom threw it out. )
Spileberg often used Delerue's music in the temp (Hook and Twilight Zone: The Movie most obviously), but Delerue reportedly didn't appreciate someone else cribbing "mon musique". Apparently Spielberg -- who admired Delerue -- made it up to the composer by inviting him to work on Amazing Stories.
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