Dulcima

Dulcima (1971)

Dulcima, treated as a drudge by her family, becomes a housekeeper to Parker, a curmudgeonly widower living in drunken disarray on a neighbouring farm. When she sees the amount of money he has stashed around the place, Dulcima is happy enough to indulge his growing desire for her, and a strange, yet mutually beneficial, relationship develops. But a handsome young gamekeeper, newly arrived on a nearby estate, also catches Dulcima's eye...

Date of release
1971-12-01
TMDB
7.3 / 10 (15)
Runtime
1h 38m
Genres
Drama
Director
Frank Nesbitt

Casting

Interesting facts

Dulcima is a 1971 British drama film directed by Frank Nesbitt starring John Mills and Carol White based on a story by H.E. Bates. The story revolves around a love triangle: a farmer, his housekeeper and the handsome neighbour.

Production

The story was taken from a novella of the same name by H. E. Bates which was published in the 1954 collection The Nature of Love. The Canadian television film Dulcima (1969) was based on the same novella, with the setting transferred to a small town in Ontario.

Film rights were obtained by Frank Nesbitt who had directed a number of documentaries, written scripts, directed two budget dramatic features (Do You Know This Voice?, Walk a Tightrope), and worked as an assistant director on expensive films.

In 1969, Bryan Forbes was appointed head of production at EMI Films. He was keen on promoting new filmmaking talent and financing a slate of inexpensive films. Forbes read a copy of Nesbitt's script for Dulcima and agreed to make the movie, asking John Mills to star and Nesbitt to direct.

The female lead went to Carol White, best known for Cathy Comes Home and Poor Cow.

The bulk of the movie was shot on location on a farm, over the summer in and around Minchinhampton and Tetbury in Gloucestershire. There was also some shooting at Elstree Studios. Filming started on 15 June 1970 and took six weeks. Shooting was plagued by rain.

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