Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.
Production
The modernist glass house as predatory character.
Acting
Hywel Bennett's shifty charm masks genuine menace.
Direction
Gilliat's last film flirts with Hitchcockian unease.
Director
Sidney Gilliat
Hayley Mills
Ellie Thomsen
Hywel Bennett
Michael Rogers
Britt Ekland
Greta
Per Oscarsson
Santonix
George Sanders
Andrew Lippincott
Aubrey Richards
Dr. Philpott
Patience Collier
Miss Townsend
Peter Bowles
Reuben
Lois Maxwell
Cora
David Bauer
Uncle Frank
Helen Horton
Aunt Beth
Windsor Davies
Sgt. Keene
Walter Gotell
Constantine
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Britt Ekland filmed this between 'Get Carter' and 'The Wicker Man' — her 1972 was impeccably chaotic. The glass house was a real building near Torremolinos, Spain.
Agatha Christie reportedly hated this adaptation of her 1967 novel, possibly because it leans harder into Michael's erotic obsession with wealth than her original. The film's flop helped kill the 'Christie psychosexual thriller' subgenre she'd accidentally spawned.
GB
