Pumpkin Eater, The (1964)

The Pumpkin Eater (1964), directed by Jack Clayton.

If you want to be one of the cool kids, you have to get ahead of the crowd and discover -- or make -- the trends before everybody else knows about them.

For movies, that means finding titles or people that art labels like Criterion or Twilight Time should be covering, but aren't yet.

As my attempt at coolness, I offer you: The Pumpkin Eater. (As in "had a wife and couldn't keep her"). That Sony produces this on their DVD-R line indicates they see small demand or value in it, but it is the sort of title I would expect a boutique label to pick up if they can.

[Years later: Shout Factory brought this to Blu-ray in 2020. See how influential I am?]

Anne Bancroft is on her third husband and has a large set of children (I couldn't keep track of them, neighbor kids confuse the household). She would be happy but her husband cheats on her and she starts breaking down. A shrink suggests she feels guilty about sex unless she's having babies. She's skeptical, and so am I. Her problem is the husband.

Many fine features:

• Excellent performance by Bancroft, and a fine ensemble.

• Memorable scenes: her quiet breakdown in a department store, and being accosted by a certifiable crazy woman at the hairdresser.

• James Mason is remarkably slimy as a cheated-upon man who gets his revenge by spoiling the happiness of the innocent.

• Gorgeous, inventive camera work.

• Georges Delerue score, both seductive and despairing.

• Photographed by the great Oswald Morris.

I came to this because it was mentioned on a Twilight Time commentary track. I enjoyed Jack Clayton's work in The Innocents (1961) and it's fun to pursue lesser-known directors to see what you can find.

The image is excellent for standard definition. Even in the high def world, DVD can sometimes surprise you. It's especially surprising to find this quality on a MOD DVD-R product, which usually have only minimal care or restoration.

No subtitles, and I missed them.

Later available on Blu-ray, but my thumbnails are from the DVD.