Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writers:

Brian Comport (novel)
Brian Comport (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 February 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror

Tagline:

Everyone is dying to meet girly.....

Plot:

A wealthy, fatherless British clan kidnaps bums and hippies and forces them to participate in an elaborate role-playing game in which they are the perfect family; those who refuse or attempt escape are ritualistically murdered.

Plot Keywords:

Nanny | Mini Skirt | Killer | Female Nudity | Insanity

Cast

Vanessa Howard	...	Girly
Michael Bryant	...	New Friend
Ursula Howells	...	Mumsy
Pat Heywood	...	Nanny
Howard Trevor	...	Sonny
Robert Swann	...	Soldier
Imogen Hassall	...	Girlfriend
Michael Ripper	...	Zoo attendant
Hugh Armstrong	...	Friend in No. 5

Also Known As:

Girly (USA)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:16 | USA:R | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Oakley Court, Windsor Road, Oakley Green, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Brigitte

Trivia:

Based on the play "Happy Family."

Quotes:

Girly: Nasty Nanny is no good! Chop her up for fire wood! When she's dead, boil her head, make it into gingerbread!

Blacker-than-black comedy!

This is one extraordinary movie, certainly one of the most successful (and vicious) black comedies ever made. It reminds one of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and SPIDER BABY; perhaps they even borrowed from this film's source play. The four main characters, Girly, Mumsy, Nanny and Sonny appear to be the world's most outlandishly dysfunctional family. Or, perhaps, they are a fully-functioning family, a well-oiled unit of bliss and harmony. Until invaded by outside forces, these fab four carry on as a perfect unit, completely devoted to each other, oblivious to society's conventions, comfortable in their assigned roles. It is true that they are all mad, homicidally mad. But their individual madness meshes perfectly within the dynamic of the group, creating a flawless mass madness, murderously anti-pathic to outsiders, gleefully sheltered in full and irretrievable denial, hopelessly lost in their quaint yet bizarre rituals and misanthropic agenda. (Just like a real family, one might quip!) It is telling that there is no father figure present (maybe they killed him to emancipate themselves from societal oppression), and it seems that the strangers they kidnap, torture and murder could all easily be called surrogate daddies. The "mother", Mumsy, is clearly head of this diseased household, with Nanny her obedient familiar (and possible lover), and the two children, playful assassins. "Girly" is a most bizarre creature, a delusional young woman who dresses like a slutty little schoolgirl, and sleeps in a crib. Indeed, Girly's mental age seems to fluctuate between 2 and 12, between infancy and the cusp of pubescence. She and Sonny, a cruel and bloodthirsty boy, embrace the whole experience of childhood as some giant, hedonistic freedom-land. "Girly" is theoretically sexual, with her heaving chest, come-hither look and freakish mini-skirts, but due to her mental imbalance and murderous impulses, she is not in the least bit sexy. She looks, rather, like the devil mocking teenage sexuality. She is hideous, revolting, flitting about the countryside, teasing us with her blood-stained knickers, indulging her bizarre appetites at every whim. One might be tempted to call this film the dark side of The Addams Family, but the similarities are superficial. Though the Addamses were subversive ideologically, and decidedly counter-culture, they were gentle, silly, harmless, even impotent. Girly's family is no such thing. They are dyed-in-the-wool man-haters, and single-minded killers. The film is both shocking and distressing, as the viewer is sucked into the family's warped sensibilities and terrifyingly insular world view. After a time, the viewer even fears for his psychological balance, so seductive is the family's strict adherence to their personal code of warped ethics. GIRLY is an uncanny film, not merely because it paints a vivid picture of memorable eccentrics, but because it illustrates the disturbing fragility of sanity, and the absolute subjectivity of morality. Spooky stuff.