Flowers in the Attic (film)

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Flowers in the Attic
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeffrey Bloom
Produced by	Sy Levin & thomas Fries
Written by	Novel: V.C. Andrews Screenplay: Jeffrey Bloom
Narrated by	Clare Peck
Starring	Louise Fletcher Victoria Tennant Kristy Swanson Jeb Stuart Adams
Music by	Christopher Young
Cinematography	Gil Hubbs
Release date(s)	20 November 1987
Running time	93 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Gross revenue	$15,151,736 (USA)

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.^[1]

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.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Differences between the book and movie versions
4 References
5 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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 as a punishment from 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 16 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.