University of Virginia Library

'My Mother' Mystery Movie Mesmerizes

By CYNTHIA GOODRICH

"If you don't maintain
artistic control of your work,
the producer of a movie based
on it may distort it beyond
recognition. But in 90 minutes,
I feel the production of my
book was very good. It held
together well in a nice
transition." These were Mrs.
Naomi Hintze's feelings about
the movie based on her book,
You'll Like My Mother that
will open in Charlottesville at
the Paramount Theatre this
evening.

The movie starring Patty
Duke and Richard Thomas will
be preceded by a champagne
reception in the theater lobby
at 8:00 p.m. for Mrs. Hintze.
The proceeds of this reception
and showing will go to the
University of Virginia Hospital
Auxiliary.

Mrs. Hintze has been a
resident of Charlottesville for
the past eight years. She was
brought here when her
husband was appointed
Chairman of The United Givers
Fund. Her book, You'll Like
My Mother was written in
1969 and published the
following year. It is a story of a
Vietnam war widow who is
pregnant and goes to her
mother-in-law's house to have
the child. The mystery
develops there as she is trapped
in the house by a flood,
changed to a snowstorm in the
movie.

The first script of the movie,
Mrs. Hintze disliked, but the
problems were "nicely worked
out with consideration for my
suggestions." The characters
were almost as they were
originally conceived by Mrs.
Hintze. The major change
observed in the movie was the
elimination of much of the
build-up of the plot seen in the
book. "This is due to the
condensing of the book into a
necessarily limited time factor"
she remarked.

Mrs. Hintze recalled how she
was first informed about the
potential of her book for the
movies. "I got a letter from my
agent in New York first telling
me of all the possibilities for it,
and in the next paragraph
telling me that this could all be
just 'pile in the sky'
information."

The book, a
"Book-of-the-Month Club"
novel, has won the Edgar
(Allen Poe) Award in the first
mystery category bestowed by
The Mystery Writers
Association of America. The
movie, which opened in New
York in October, has received
good reviews from "Variety"
and "The San Francisco
Chronicle."

A second book by Mrs.
Hintze, The Stone

Carnation, will open as a
movie in January. It will be
directed by Michael Ritchie,
who was the director of The
Candidate.

The Stone Carnation was
written by bits and pieces of
Mrs. Hintze's early life. She
recalled, "At home, a young
girl was bitten in a cemetery by
a dog, and buried between two
mattresses. I saved the
information surrounding the
occurrence to use for later
work." This has been the way
she has written for a career–by
collecting small bits of
mysterious information which
could hopefully be used later
in her works. "You find that
you use everything you write
down," she observed. "If
something intrigues you, it
works itself into your book."

Working as a writer and a
housewife could present
problems, but Mrs. Hintze's
husband and children have
been extremely helpful. Her
husband and children have
been extremely helpful. Her
husband does the marketing
and cooking. "Harold is a great
cook," she quipped.

Mrs. Hintze's major concern
with the Thursday reception is
for the University Hospital
Auxiliary. She is especially
interested in the Davis Ward
where she does volunteer work.
"These people need someone
to talk to, not just a patient,
but a friend," she said. "Many
students have been very helpful
by giving their time and talents
to the hospital." She also
remarked that there is always a
need at the Hospital for
volunteers in almost any
capacity, from secretarial work
to companionship.

Another of Mrs. Hintze's
interests is in The Virginia
Center For Creative Arts,
which is a foundation trying to
raise money for writers who
hold regular jobs, and write in
their spare time. "The center
provides a quiet place to work.
It is a colony for writers."