With a perceptive and ‘lacerating’ script by Harold Pinter, based on Penelope Mortimer’s acclaimed novel, Jack Clayton’s emotionally searing 1964 drama The Pumpkin Eater takes an unhappy marriage apart with surgical precision.
Anne Bancroft won a Bafta and an Oscar nomination as Jo Armitage, the inward looking mother of eight who dotes on her children, while Peter Finch excels at playing her philandering third husband, film screenwriter Jake (Peter Finch).
A landmark in 1960s British cinema, The Pumpkin Eater boasts sublime cinematography by Oswald Morris (Fragment of Fear) and a wonderful score by Georges Delerue (Le Mépris). Its excellent supporting cast includes James Mason (as Finch’s bitter old pal), Sir Cedric Hardwicke (superb in his final screen role), Richard Johnson, Maggie Smith and Yootha Joyce.
Indicator/Powerhouse presents the film with a HD re-master on Blu-ray (a world premiere), limited to 3000 copies, featuring the following special features…
SPECIAL FEATURES: • Selected scenes commentary with historian Neil Sinyard • Jeremy Mortimer on Penelope Mortimer: the author’s son gives a fascinating biographical overview of her life and work • Camera operator Brian West on The Pumpkin Eater • Dinah and Fergus: actors Frances White and Fergus McClelland on their roles as children in The Pumpkin Eater • Original theatrical trailer • Image gallery • New and improved English subtitles • Exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Melanie Williams, an archival interview with art director Ted Marshall, extracts from Penelope Houston's 'Keeping up with the Antonioni’s’ article, contemporary reviews, and film credits.
