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What's the Matter With Helen?

Play trailer Poster for What's the Matter With Helen? R 1971 1h 41m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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55% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
After their sons are convicted of homicide in a highly publicized trial, Midwesterners Adelle (Debbie Reynolds) and Helen (Shelley Winters) begin receiving threatening phone calls and decide to begin their lives anew in Hollywood, Calif. They open a dance school for young girls, and, while the business succeeds, their troubles continue. Helen becomes dangerously neurotic and increasingly clings to Adelle, who longs to marry the wealthy parent (Dennis Weaver) of one of her students.

Critics Reviews

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Tom Milne Financial Times 03/19/2020
I wouldn't exactly claim What's the Matter With Helen? as a masterpiece, but I haven't enjoyed myself so much in months. Go to Full Review
Nigel Andrews Sight & Sound 02/12/2020
What's the Matter with Helen? provides considerable pleasure -- not least in the performances of Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters as the heroines, and Michael MacLiammbir's scene-stealing, histrionically sinister drama teacher. Go to Full Review
Eric Henderson Slant Magazine 04/20/2005
2.5/4
The layers of pastiche that fuel What's the Matter with Helen? multiply like Shelly Winters's titular character's fat white rabbits. Go to Full Review
Dilys Powell Sunday Times (UK) 03/17/2020
Agnes Moorehead as an Aimee McPherson-type gospeller contributes some happy moments; and with Luclen Ballard's evocative camerawork to help the nineteen-thirties setting, a hideously enjoyable time is had by all. Go to Full Review
Richard R. Harmetz Los Angeles Free Press 01/10/2020
The adrenalin flows, the audience gasps but [director Curtis] Harrington ends up with a good, not an excellent horror movie. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 04/17/2009
C+
The same thing that's wrong with Helen, is what's wrong with this pic%u2014it's too loony to be taken either seriously or humorously. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tim S Jul 24 Thoroughly entertaining film. It pulls you in. Great performances from Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds. Interesting plot twists and turns. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 27 Failure in 1 hour and 41 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Daniel C. M Feb 23 Great production value and acting with a fine story, though it's buried in 100-different layers of camp, which, at a certain point, starts to devolve from a positive attribute to a bad one. See more Blobbo X @Blobbo Dec 17 No one better Shelley Winters when come act bonkers. Good cast, fair plot and direction. (Maybe deserve more stars, Blobbo feel down.) See more Dave S 11/10/2022 When Adele (Debbie Reynolds) and Helen (Shelley Winters), the mothers of two boys convicted of murder, leave smalltown Iowa to start a new life in Los Angeles, they find that their troubles have not been left behind. What's the Matter with Helen? is part mystery, part thriller, and, strangely enough, part musical. The production values are decent, Winters hams it up as only Winters can and Reynolds does a decent enough job tagging along as her sidekick, but the movie is ultimately dragged down by the inclusion of far too many scenes and shots that simply don't need to be there, most of them dance numbers to show off Reynolds' considerable dance skills or children tap dancing their way into the hearts of the audience. It's not all bad, but it is all weird. See more 06/08/2017 I liked this movie. It has a Hitchcock, Tales From The Crypt Kind of vibe. See more Read all reviews
What's the Matter With Helen?

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Movie Info

Synopsis After their sons are convicted of homicide in a highly publicized trial, Midwesterners Adelle (Debbie Reynolds) and Helen (Shelley Winters) begin receiving threatening phone calls and decide to begin their lives anew in Hollywood, Calif. They open a dance school for young girls, and, while the business succeeds, their troubles continue. Helen becomes dangerously neurotic and increasingly clings to Adelle, who longs to marry the wealthy parent (Dennis Weaver) of one of her students.
Director
Curtis Harrington
Producer
George Edwards
Screenwriter
Henry Farrell
Distributor
United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Filmways Pictures
Rating
R (Some Violence/Bloody Images)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 30, 1971, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 5, 2006
Runtime
1h 41m
Sound Mix
Mono