Family Plot (1976)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

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.

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...