Flowers in the Attic (film)

Infobox Film
name = Flowers in the Attic


image_size =
caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Jeffrey Bloom
producer = Sy Levin & thomas Fries
writer = Novel:
V.C. Andrews
Screenplay:
Jeffrey Bloom
narrator = Clare Peck
starring = Louise Fletcher
Victoria Tennant
Kristy Swanson
Jeb Stuart Adams
music = Christopher Young
cinematography = Gil Hubbs
editing =
distributor =
released = 20 November 1987
runtime = 93 min
country = United States
language = English
budget =
gross = $15,151,736 (USA)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id =

Flowers in the Attic is a 1987 movie starring Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, and Jeb Stuart Adams. It is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by V. C. Andrews. Despite the success of the book on which it is based, the movie was poorly received by both critics and fans. Richard Harrington, writer for the Washington Post, called it “slow, stiff, stupid and senseless”. The movie has also been criticized by fans for drastically altering the plot in order to avoid the more controversial elements of the book. [Citation | last = Harrington | first = Richard | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Flowers in the Attic | date = November 23 | year = 1987 | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/flowersintheatticpg13harrington_a0aa76.htm
accessdate = 2007-01-05]

At one point Wes Craven was scheduled to direct the film, and he even completed a screenplay draft. This did not come to pass, however, and Jeffrey Bloom ended up with writing and directing duties.

Plot

Like the novel on which it is based, the film follows the story of four children - teenagers Chris and Cathy and 5-year-old twins Cory and Carrie - who, after the sudden death of their father, travel with their mother Corinne to live with her wealthy parents. It emerges that the grandfather is dying, and the extraordinarily cruel grandmother informs the children that their father and mother were related and they are the product of sin. The grandfather does not know the marriage produced children, and Corinne's only hope of securing an inheritance is to keep the four a secret. To that end, they are shut up in the mansion's attic for what they think will be a short period. The film focuses on the children's ordeal as shut-ins, but gradually it is revealed that, offscreen, Corinne (at her mother's abusive insistence) has lost interest in them and has been fixed up with a wealthy local lawyer in order to start a new family and abandon her children. She even allows the grandmother to poison the children slowly with arsenic, causing little Cory to die. Eventually, the remaining three children break out of the attic. In a departure from the novel, they leave their hiding place just as Corinne's second marriage is about to begin; in a climactic fight, they accidentally kill her before leaving the house forever.

Cast

*Louise Fletcher as Olivia Foxworth (Grandmother)
*Victoria Tennant as Corrine Dollanganger (Mother)
*Kristy Swanson as Cathy
*Jeb Stuart Adams as Chris
*Ben Ryan Ganger as Cory
*Lindsay Parker as Carrie
*Marshall Colt as Christopher Dollanganger (Father)
*Nathan Davis as Malcolm Foxworth (Grandfather)
*Brooke Fries as Flower Girl
*Alex Koba as John Hall, the butler
*Leonard Mann as Bart Winslow
*Bruce Neckels as Minister
*Gus Peters as Caretaker
*Clare Peck as Cathy (narrator)
*V. C. Andrews as Window-washing maid (uncredited)

Differences between the book and movie versions

*In the movie, Chris and Cathy are much older than they are in the book at the beginning of their ordeal.
*The film is set in the late 1980s, while the book takes place in the 1950s.
*The children are held captive for only one year in the movie, versus three and a half years in the book.
*Cathy's ballerina statue was smashed in the movie by the grandmother while in the book, Cathy didn't bring it along.
*There is no sexual tension or incest between Chris and Cathy in the movie, whereas it was a major theme in the latter part of the book.
*The mother receives thirty-three lashes and an extra 15 more in the book, where in the movie, she receives only 17, the number of years she was married to Christopher Sr.
*In the movie, the grandmother knocks out Cathy by shoving her from behind and slapping her in the face before cutting most of her hair off, whereas in the book, she orders Chris to cut it off, but he doesn't, so she sneaks into the room at night, drugs her, then pours hot tar on her head.
*The children receive only a few gifts in the movie; in the book, they are given many gifts, including a TV set.
*Cathy and Chris didn't interact with the grandfather in the book, whereas in the movie, they were grabbed by the grandfather.
*The children don't steal money before they left Foxworth Hall in the movie, whereas in the book they stole money and valuables prior to their departure.
*In the book, Cory is not immediately buried in the hall by the Grandmother- it is revealed in the second book (Petals on the Wind) that the mother sealed Cory's remains away deep in a secret room of the house. The smell of death could still be detected 12 years later, and was discovered by Cathy when she returned to the house for her revenge.
*In the book the mother married Bart Winslow during their imprisonment while in the movie she was attempting to get married at the end, but is stopped by the surviving children.
*The mother doesn't die in the book as she does in the movie. She dies in the third book, trying to save Cathy from a fire.
*In the film the mouse Cory kept was named Fred, while in the book its name was Mickey.
*In the Film the Children and Corinne arrive during the bright day, whereas in the Novel they arrive before the sun even rises
*In the film, the grandmother wears a black dress and constantly holds her bible. In the book, the grandmother wears a gray tafetta dress and doesn't hold her bible constantly.
*In the book, Bart Winslow has a mustache but in the movie, he has long hair and is clean-shaven.
*Also in the film, vicious German Shepherd guard dogs protect Foxworth Hall. In the book however, due to her father's rules, Corrine tells her children that no pets (including guard dogs) were allowed at the mansion.

References

Citation
last = Harrington
first = Richard
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Flowers in the Attic
date = November 23
year = 1987
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/flowersintheatticpg13harrington_a0aa76.htm
accessdate = 2007-01-05in the book no one sees the family coming however in the movie the butler John sees them in.

External links

*
* [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671729411 Amazon.com: "Flowers in the Attic" (novel)]
* [http://www.theattichq.net/ "The Attic: Campaign for a remake of Flowers in the Attic" (novel)]
* [http://castlehillfunctions.thetrustees.org/"Castle Hill--The Crane Estate"]