Film Review
Alfred Hitchcock's last film has an obvious demob happy feel to it,
almost as if the director had planned that this was to be his
swansong. Only someone with an estate agent's regard for
veracity would have the crystal balls to put
Family Plot in the same league as
the Master's earlier triumphs, but it is still worth watching - a gleefully tongue-in-cheek parody of previous Hitchcock
thrillers, in which the director gives free reign to his scurrilous
sense of humour.
Hitchcock's idea of comedy is, admittedly, something of an acquired
taste and not all of his jokes hit their mark. The
seemingly endless barrage of sexual innuendos in the first part of the
film quickly becomes tedious, almost to the point that you start to
wonder whether the film's real title isn't
Carry on Hitching. And then
there is Barbara Harris... Overall, Ms Harris gives great
entertainment value but there a few scenes where she gets a little
carried away and sends the film way off the scale of the
silly-o-meter. Her mad psychic act is only marginally less
irritating than an evil harpy scraping her fingernails down a
blackboard whilst performing an Abba tribute number. Fortunately,
these are the intermittent low points in what is generally an
entertaining and rather stylish film.
Family Plot is based on Victor
Canning's novel "The Rainbird Pattern", adapted by Ernest Lehman, who
had previously scripted the Hitchcock classic
North by Northwest
(1959). The music was scored by John Williams (his only
collaboration with Hitchcock), shortly after he won fame for his now
iconic score for Steven Spielberg's
Jaws
(1975). Williams would later work on some of the biggest films of
the '70s and '80s, including
Close
Encounters of the Third Kind (1977),
Star Wars (1977) and
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Although Hitchcock had far more freedom with the casting for
Family Plot than in many of his
previous films, he still had some difficulties getting the actors he
wanted. Initially, Hitchcock was keen to hire Al Pacino for the
part of George, but, unwilling to pay the actor's exorbitant fee, he
had to lower his sights. He ultimately settled on Bruce Dern, who
had appeared in a flashback sequence in an earlier film,
Marnie (1964).
William Devane was Hitchcock's preferred choice for the part of the
charmingly villainous Adamson, but when this actor was unavailable he
cast Roy Thinnes (better known as David Vincent in the popular sci-fi
TV series
The Invaders) in
his place. When Adamson later became available, early in the
shoot, Hitchcock hired him and sacked Thinnes, necessitating a re-shoot
of several scenes. Hitchcock never liked to re-shoot a film
unless he had to, and so Thinnes appears briefly in a few scenes in
long shot.
Once he had completed work on
Family
Plot, Hitchcock intended to make another film entitled
The Short Night. However, early
in the pre-production stage of that film, he became concerned over his
declining health and made up his mind to retire from filmmaking.
He died four years later, within a few months of receiving his
knighthood. Since his death, Hitchcock's reputation has grown to
the point where he is now the most well-known filmmaker in
history. His work is greatly admired by critics and film
historians, his technique has inspired countless film directors, and
his films continue to bring pleasure to millions across the
world. Not bad going for the son of a greengrocer from the East
End of London.
© James Travers 2008
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Next Alfred Hitchcock film:
The Pleasure Garden (1925)
Film Synopsis
Anxious to find an heir for her vast fortune, the aged Miss Julia
Rainbird hires psychic Blanche Tyler to track down her long-lost
nephew. For the past four decades, Miss Rainbird has been gnawed
by guilt for forcing her sister to give away her illegitimate baby son
to avoid a family scandal, but no one seems to know his whereabouts
today. With the help of her cabbie boyfriend George, Blanche
discovers that Miss Rainbird's nephew was brought up by a couple named
Shoebridge, who perished in a fire in 1950. The adopted son
mysteriously disappeared and now, twenty-five years later, is a crooked
jewel dealer who goes by the name Arthur Adamson. Assisted by his
glamorous partner Fran, Adamson kidnaps important dignitaries and
ransoms them for expensive jewels. When he learns that Blanche
and George are making inquiries into his murky past, Adamson deduces
that they are amateur sleuths who intend to expose his criminal
activities. He has no choice but to kill them...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.