The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Shirley MacLaine, Richard Attenborough and James Booth.

The film is loosely based on the real-life story of Walburga Oesterreich, who kept her lover Otto Sanhuber in the attic for a decade beginning in 1912.

[citation needed] Robert Blossom is a brassiere manufacturer and workaholic who secretly longs to be a musician, conducting imaginary orchestras in his home during his spare time.

By night, Harriet supplies Ambrose with Teach Yourself books, allowing him to transform the attic into an elaborate living space, as well as providing him with the education he missed in the orphanage.

On the eve of Robert's retirement, Detective Dylan returns, announcing that he has solved Ambrose's disappearance and that he believes Harriet is keeping her secret lover "Juan" in the attic.

Though both the fantasy inserts (with their allusions to the screen's great lovers) and the gaudy stylistic mixture of Assheton Gorton's designs pay devious tribute to a rich past heritage, this remains as sadly undigested as the Pinter-ish element in the plot.

"[5] In his review in The New York Times, Howard Thompson called the film "roguish, restrained and absurdly likable, with a neat climactic twist.

"[6] Variety described the film as "a silly, campy and sophisticated marital comedy, always amusing and often hilarious in impact ... although basically a one-joke story, [the] idea is fleshed out most satisfactorily so as to take undue attention away from the premise.

"[7] Time Out New York called the film a "coarse comedy which looks a little like Joe Orton gone disastrously wrong ... any sparks in the script or performances are ruthlessly extinguished by atrocious direction.