An action-packed slog

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The Pumpkin Eater, for which Ann Bancroft won a Golden Globe and received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination, is an example of how she could dramatically dominate a film. This film, based on Penelope Mortimer's novel, is energized by Harold Pinter's enigmatic screenplay, beautifully photographed by Oswald Morris, and expertly directed by Jack Clayton. Peter Finch, James Mason, and Maggie Smith, round out a great cast. As the film opens we see a well-dressed, but extremely depressed woman, Jo Armitage (Ann Bancroft), entering her house. She seems totally alone. Her isolation is apparent as she lets a telephone ring without answering it. As she looks out from her lofty tower (an old Dutch-style windmill, without its blade-like arms, that had been restored as part of her house), we see a split screen (double exposure) showing us her thoughts from the time when she first met her husband, Jake (Peter Finch). This split screen cues us into a flashback that will make up the bulk of the film. I love this shot because it simulanteouly shows us Jo's present- day depression (shown on our left side) and blends it with images of the formerly happy and laughing Jo (shown on our right side). Not only is there chiaroscuro in the image but there is also chiaroscuro when one compares Jo's present mood with that of her past.As we enter the flashback, we see Jo living in a restored barn with her second husband, Giles (Richard Johnson), and her seven children. There, she meets one of Giles' friends, Jake Armitage (Peter Finch). She eventually leaves Giles for Jake. He marries her in spite of her brood of children, accepting both the 'zoo and the zookeeper' as her father, Cedric Hardwicke, puts it. Jo's father wants to give Jake a 'fighting chance' of succeeding, so he offers to pay for having the two eldest sons shipped off to boarding school and putting a deposit down on a modest London flat for Jake and his ready-made family. As Jo becomes pregnant with Jake's child, he goes on to become a successful and wealthy film writer. Since his work takes up much of his time, Jo becomes empty and unhappy. Jake asks one of his co-workers, Philpott (Maggie Smith), to live with them for a while and help Jo in caring for the children. But, Philpott is not much help, and Jo doesn't understand why she is staying with them. After Jo accuses Jake of having an affair with Philpott, Philpott leaves them. Also, Jo doesn't feel comfortable with Jake's film-related crowd and stays home with the children rather than accompanying him to filming locations or going to the required social parties. Jo wants Jake to herself, but that isn't possible with his work; Jake 'n Jo continue to co-exist in quiet desperation. One day while shopping at Harrod's, Jo publicly breaks down. Jake has Jo start psychotherapy and she eventually becomes better. The sessions with her psychiatrist, Eric Porter, are revealing, but not overstated in this Pinter screenplay. One evening, Jo decides to invite Jake's working friends to a party. However, she feels alone, isolated, among her own guests. One obnoxious guest at the party is Bob Conway (James Mason). Conway--who declares his distrust of 'professionals' and prefers to be called a 'craftsman'--is married to a film actress, Beth (Janine Gray). The social (professional) link between Beth and Jake is Jake's film writing. When Jo becomes pregnant again, Jake asks her to have an abortion and sterilization. (He wants to someday be free to travel, have fun, and not always be thinking about caring for another new child—to be able to start out all over again). He has Jo's doctors approve the medical procedures based on her psychological and medical condition. Jo learns to live with this until she finds out, from Bob Conway, that HIS wife is pregnant, but not by him—by Jake.Aside from the great acting, directing and photography, I think that this is a very good film in that it is often able to show emotions WITHOUT the use of words. It is not always easy to show what depression actually 'looks like, 'but this film captures it quite well. It also captures isolation, manipulation, and panic in a way that I have never seen done so well before. Priceless!

Jo Armitage (Anne Bancroft) seems to be losing it while her husband Jake (Peter Finch) is unable or unwilling to help. In flashbacks, Jake is shown to be her third husband after having several children. She continues to have children with Jake. Jake sends Jo to a psychiatrist. He suggests that Jo wants to sanctifies sex by reproducing. While Jake is a good provider, she suspects him of improprieties. After getting pregnant, the psychiatrist and Jake suggest getting an abortion and sterilization. After the operation, things are going great and then Bob Conway (James Mason) brings evidence that Jake is cheating with his wife.The title refers to the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Jo is a perplexing character. She is struggling but she is not crazy. It is an interesting character but I am of two minds about it. It allows Bancroft to do some good acting but it is also hard to fully invest in her. There is an attempt at surrealism with the cigarette smoke going backwards. Maybe more of that surrealism would allow the audience to feel her troubled mind.

That Anne Bancroft was a looker. What an incredible face! Her face is the star of this movie about a severely depressed woman who used her children as a buffer between her and life. After having fallen in love at first sight with her third husband, she spends the next two hours of the film suspecting him, accurately, of adultery, and alternatively adoring and despising him. There are chilling hints of how she got to be this way -- her mother and father have no respect for psychological boundaries. They walk all over their every-hair-in-place, privileged daughter as if she isn't even there. And she never says a word. The movie ends on a particularly depressing note. She and her husband -- despite a recent slug fest over his having impregnated the smarmy James Mason's young wife -- are back together in the bosom of their large family. Ain't no way this truce is gonna last, and that's the tragedy of it all. Definitely a compelling film. I couldn't wait to see how it turned out. But it doesn't add up to much -- like many modern romances? And why DID they title this film as the did? That's the biggest puzzler of all.

This script was obviously written by a philandering script writer. Anne Bancroft's character is having a perfectly enjoyable life until her husband moves one of his many girlfriends into their home with 6 of their 8 children. His constant philandering is thrown in Bancroft's face and she's the one who is sent to the shrink for hating the fact that she feels stuck with this pig. Her depression is blamed on her for having so many children. Hey Moron, this was pre-birth control pills and most families were this size. And when the shrink bandages her up and gets her back on her feet, the creep knocks her up again. Now she's really portrayed as an evil witch for letting that happen. The creep, realizing that the shrink can't fix his latest f-up, sends her to the MD to get her uterus ripped out. That'll teach her. The only reason I kept watching this tripe was for Bancroft's performance. Only she could've made this piece of crap even slightly palatable. The ending was laughable and just proved that this was written by a male script writer with absolutely no talent and total self-absorption.