Review of Scream, Pretty Peggy

"Scream Pretty Peggy" was an ABC Movie of the Week broadcast Nov. 24, 1973, combining the talents of Hammer screenwriter Jimmy Sangster (permanently relocated to Hollywood) and American International director Gordon Hessler, at the helm for "The Oblong Box," "Scream and Scream Again," "Cry of the Banshee," and "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Legendary Grande Dame Bette Davis, no stranger to Hammer in a pair of Sangster productions, "The Nanny" and "The Anniversary," is not the top billed star here, Sian Barbara Allen the not very endearing Peggy, whose insistent ways get her a part time job as housekeeper in the Hollywood Hills mansion of Bette's often inebriated Mrs. Elliot, living alone with her renowned sculptor son Jeffrey (Ted Bessell). A more unexpected arrival proves to be more problematic, Charles Drake as the father of the film's first murder victim (Tovah Feldshuh in her debut role), said to have left weeks earlier but seemingly vanished without a trace (he shows up after dark and meets the same fate, stabbed to death by a woman with long blonde hair). The unsurprising revelation that Jeffrey's missing sister Jennifer is secretly living in a room above the garage is less obvious with the acknowledgement that she is certifiably insane, one final twist in the closing moments preceded by one unforgivable cheat. Shopworn material can be overcome by strong performances and direction, the main weakness its unappealing lead actress, Allen making a far stronger impression opposite Patty Duke in "You'll Like My Mother," somewhat hapless as a wannabe artist suffering from misplaced hero worship. Ted Bessell is well cast in a different kind of role than he played on THAT GIRL, and the incomparable Bette Davis delivers more than expected with her stock character, both restrained and frightened.