Every year, obsessively domineering matriarch Mrs Taggart gathers round her the members of her family to celebrate her anniversary. But, it is not a time for celebration, more an occasion for all the bottled-up frustrations and hatred to bubble to the surface – and heaven help any one of them who has ideas for the future which do not fit in with Mother’s plans!
Production Details
A Hammer Film production presented by Associated British Pathe Limited and released through Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited (UK) and Twentieth Century-Fox (USA)
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
From the stage play by Bill MacIlwraith
Title music played by The New Vauderville Band
RCA Sound Recording
Made at the Elstree Studios of Associated British Productions Limited, Herts, England
Technicoior 95 mins
Filming Began: 15th May 1967
UK Release: 18th February 1968
Studio:
Elstree Studios of Associated British Picture Corporation, Hertfordshire
Location:
Chantry, Barnet Lane, Elstree, Hertfordshire – Exterior of Mrs Taggart’s house
Stills from film
Click an image for enlarged slideshow
Cast & Crew
Red = Uncredited
Crew | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Assistant Boom Operator | Peter Margrave | 8 | 8 | ||||||
Assistant Director | Bert Batt | 37 | 25 Apr 1930 | 6 Nov 2011 | 81 | 13 | 13 | ||
Assistant Stand-by Props | Mickey Pugh | 24 | 1944 | 01.01.1944 | 80 | 3 | 3 | ||
Camera Operator | Gerry Anstiss | 39 | 27 Apr 1928 | 20 Feb 1999 | 70 | 1 | 1 | ||
Continuity | June Randall | 40 | 26 Jun 1927 | 18 Jan 2015 | 87 | 6 | 6 | ||
Director | Roy Ward Baker | 51 | 19 Dec 1916 | 5 Oct 2010 | 93 | 8 | 8 | ||
Director of Photography | Harry Waxman BSc | 55 | 3 Apr 1912 | 24 Dec 1984 | 72 | 3 | 3 | ||
Draughtsman | Terry Ackland-Snow | 24 | 12 Dec 1943 | 12.12.1943 | 80 | 1 | 1 | ||
Editor | Peter Weatherley GBFE | 38 | 1930 | Sep 2015 | 85 | 15 | 15 | ||
Electrician | Danny Eccleston | 22 | Feb 1946 | 01.1946 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
Hairdresser | A.G. Scott | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Make-up | George Partleton | 59 | 21 Jan 1909 | 17 Oct 1992 | 83 | 6 | 6 | ||
Make-up | Ben Nye | 61 | 12 Jan 1907 | 9 Feb 1986 | 79 | 1 | 1 | ||
Make-up | Hugh Richards | 48 | 1920 | 19 Dec 1981 | 61 | 1 | 1 | ||
Musical Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/philip-martell/# | 60 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
Painter | Michael Finlay | 19 | 23 Apr 1948 | 23.04.1948 | 76 | 1 | 19 | 20 | |
Producer | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/jimmy-sangster/# | 40 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 | 2 | 67 | |
Production Designer | Reece Pemberton | 55 | 14 Mar 1912 | 1977 | 64 | 1 | 1 | ||
Production Manager | Victor Peck | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Recording Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/aw-lumkin/# | 55 | 1 Feb 1913 | 25 Oct 1985 | 72 | 30 | 30 | ||
Screenplay | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/jimmy-sangster/# | 40 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 | 2 | 67 | |
Second Assistant Director | Christopher Neame | 25 | 24 Dec 1942 | 12 Jun 2011 | 15 | 9 | 24 | ||
Set Dresser | Michael Ford | 39 | 11 Jun 1928 | 31 May 2018 | 89 | 1 | 1 | ||
Sound Editor | Charles Crafford GBFE | 51 | 27 Jul 1916 | 12 Nov 1977 | 61 | 4 | 4 | ||
Sound Recordist | Les Hammond | 59 | 6 Jun 1908 | 8 | 8 | ||||
Supervising Editor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/james-needs/# | 48 | 17 Oct 1919 | 4 Feb 2003 | 83 | 110 | 1 | 111 | |
Third Assistant Director | Paddy Carpenter | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Wardrobe | Mary Gibson | 13 | 13 | ||||||
Cast | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Construction Worker | Ralph Watson | 32 | 20 Jan 1936 | 20 Jun 2021 | 85 | 1 | 1 | ||
Construction Worker | Albert Shepherd | 32 | 1936 | 10 Jul 2019 | 83 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Construction Worker | Johnny Rossi | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Construction Worker with Cap | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/fred-wood/# | 46 | 26 Oct 1921 | 25 Jan 2003 | 81 | 19 | 19 | ||
Dancer in Club | George Holdcroft | 5 | 5 | ||||||
Florist | Sally-Jane Spencer | 19 | 10 Jul 1948 | 10.07.1948 | 76 | 1 | 1 | ||
Headwaiter | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/arnold-diamond/# | 52 | 18 Apr 1915 | 18 Mar 1992 | 76 | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
Henry Taggart | James Cossins | 34 | 4 Dec 1933 | 12 Feb 1997 | 63 | 5 | 5 | ||
Karen Taggart | Sheila Hancock | 34 | 22 Feb 1933 | 22.01.1933 | 91 | 1 | 1 | ||
Mr Bird | Timothy Bateson | 41 | 3 Apr 1926 | 15 Sep 2009 | 83 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
Mrs Taggart | Bette Davis | 59 | 5 Apr 1908 | 6 Oct 1989 | 81 | 2 | 2 | ||
Police Officer | Jeff Silk | 42 | 23 Dec 1925 | 19 Oct 1999 | 73 | 3 | 3 | ||
Shirley Blair | Elaine Taylor | 24 | 17 Oct 1943 | 17.10.1943 | 80 | 1 | 1 | ||
Terry Taggart | Jack Hedley | 38 | 28 Oct 1929 | 11 Dec 2021 | 92 | 4 | 4 | ||
Tom Taggart | Christian Roberts | 23 | 17 Mar 1944 | 26 Dec 2022 | 78 | 1 | 1 | ||
Waiter | Pat Judge | 45 | 17 Mar 1922 | 19 Feb 2008 | 85 | 1 | 1 | ||
Waiter | Gerry Judge | 56 | 20 Jun 1911 | 13 Sep 1986 | 75 | 1 | 1 | ||
Waiter bringing cake | Philip Johns | 6 | 6 |
Original Poster
Click to enlarge
Footnotes
Roy Ward Baker was brought in to replace the original director Alvin Rakoff, with whom Bette Davis apparently found it impossible to work.
Character actor James Cossins also appeared for Hammer in The Lost Continent (1968), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) and Fear in the Night (1972).
Sally-Jane Spencer played Reggie Perrin’s daughter, Linda, in the BBC TV series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Perrin.