You'll Like My Mother is a 1972 film based on the Naomi A. Hintze novel and directed by Lamont Johnson

Lamont Johnson

Lamont Johnson was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards....

. It stars Patty Duke

Patty Duke

Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...

, Rosemary Murphy

Rosemary Murphy

Rosemary Murphy is an American actress of stage, film, and television.Murphy was born in Munich, Germany, the daughter of American parents Mildred and Robert D. Murphy, a diplomat...

 and Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas (actor)

Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...

, and was filmed in Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

 at the Glensheen Historic Estate

Glensheen Historic Estate

The Glensheen Historic Estate is a historic mansion on Lake Superior owned by the University of Minnesota Duluth. Glensheen sits on of lake front property, has 38 rooms and is built in the Jacobean architectural tradition, inspired by the Beaux-Arts styles of the era. The mansion was...

. In 1977 the Glensheen Mansion became the site of the infamous murders of mansion owner and prominent heiress Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse.

Cast

• Patty Duke
  Patty Duke
  Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
  
   as Francesca Kinsolving
• Rosemary Murphy
  Rosemary Murphy
  Rosemary Murphy is an American actress of stage, film, and television.Murphy was born in Munich, Germany, the daughter of American parents Mildred and Robert D. Murphy, a diplomat...
  
   as Mrs. Kinsolving
• Richard Thomas
  Richard Thomas (actor)
  Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...
  
  as Kenny
• Sian Barbara Allen as Kathleen
• Dennis Rucker as Red Cooper

Synopsis

In this psychological thriller, a very pregnant Francesca (Patty Duke) travels from Los Angeles to Minnesota to meet her late husband's mother, Mrs. Kinsolving, whom she has never met before. Mrs. Kinsolving (Rosemary Murphy) is cold to Francesca, questions whether she is actually pregnant with her son's baby, and tells Francesca she wants nothing to do with her or her baby in the future. It soon becomes clear that Francesca cannot leave that night as a blizzard has made the roads impassable. Francesca is forced to stay in the Kinsolving mansion for a few days. She soon begins to suspect that something is amiss due to inconsistencies in information between what her late husband (Matthew) told her and Mrs. Kinsolving's statements to her. While Matthew never mentioned he had a sister, Mrs. Kinsolving claims that the mentally challenged and non-verbal Kathleen (Sean Barbara Allen) is Matthew's sister. After Mrs. Kinsolving retires for the night, Francesca sneaks around and discovers in the family bible that Matthew's mother (Maria) died the day Matthew was killed in the Vietnam War, that Mrs. Kinsolving is actually Maria's sister, Katherine, who is Kathleen's mother and the mother of Kenny (Richard Thomas), a serial rapist and murderer who is hiding somewhere in the Kinsolving mansion. Francesca goes into labor, but Mrs. Kinsolving refuses to call for an ambulance. She sedates Francesca heavily. When the baby is born, Mrs. Kinsolving announces it is dead and hands the baby over to Kathleen to bury. That night, Kathleen rouses Francesca and takes her to the attic where she finds Kathleen has hidden her baby in a picnic basket. The baby is very much alive. Mrs. Kinsolving, suspecting Francesca is sneaking around the mansion, locks her in her room. Kathleen is able to locate the key to the room and unlocks it, allowing Fracesca to care for her baby. One night, Francesca secretly spies the unsuspecting Kenny who is hiding in the basement laundry. She overhears his conversation with Mrs. Kinsolving, and it is menacing. Meanwhile, Mrs. Kinsolving discovers that the family bible has been opened to the page detailing the date of Maria Kinsolving's death. Mrs. Kinsolving informs Kenny that Francesca knows Maria is dead, but does not think she is aware that Kenny is hiding in the mansion. The next morning, Mrs. Kinsolving announces that the blizzard has cleared enough for a driver to take Francesca into town to take the bus back to Los Angeles. At breakfast, the driver arrives--and it is Kenny. Francesca quickly tells Mrs. Kinsolving that she left her gloves in her third floor room and she needs to retrieve them. Instead she gets her baby from the attic, hides the baby under her coat and flees the mansion. However, Mrs. Kinsolving spots Francesca running away and yells for Kenny to get her. He takes chase and Kathleen notices. Francesca sees Kenny is quickly gaining ground, and she darts into the carriage house in an attempt to elude him. He locates her, they struggle, and he knocks Francesca unconscious. The baby slips from under her coat. Kenny smiles sadistically and covers the crying baby's face with his hand. Suddenly, Kathleen sneaks up behind him and stabs him in the back with a pair of scissors. The film ends with Mrs. Kinsolving cradling her dead son as Kathleen and Fracesca, holding her baby, look on and help arrives.

Reception

You'll Like My Mother opened quietly in October 1972. The film was well-received by critics and was a modest box office success.