Family Plot (1976)

The greatest movie ever made..!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

"Murder can be fun", said Hitchcock to the then-rising composer John Williams, unsure about the use of playful theme for ominous situations. Well, after watching "Family Plot" again, I would say that anything handled by Hitchcock can be fun. And it is not surprising that the original novel titled "The Rainbird Pattern" saw its dark material turned into a lighthearted comedy by Ernest Lehman's inspired writing and Hitchcock's wicked sense of humor, in the same vein than "To Catch a Thief" and "The Trouble With Harry". And I think this says a lot about a fascinating mix of self-confidence and humility that -I guess- only experienced directors can demonstrate at the twilight of their career. And I'm convinced that it took the two 60's misfires "Torn Curtain" and "Topaz" to put Hitchcock on the right track again and allow him to make movies that would be more fitting swan songs. So Hitchcock was back to his roots (in every meaning of the word) with the wonderful "Frenzy", a thriller certainly not devoid of macabre humor. Indeed, who can ever forget the villain's struggle to get his pin off the hand of his last victim, hidden in a bag of potatoes, and the whole action set in a moving truck? Frenzy was a legitimate thriller but its darkly comedic undertones worked as the perfect transition to a more relaxed and upbeat "Family Plot", definitely a comedy, with a good balance of thrills and suspense.The film starts in a wealthy elderly woman's house, Blanche Tyler, a psychic in trance, tries to communicate with the woman's sister, using different voices, howling, screaming, giving such an over-the-top performance we suspect she belongs to the fraudulent side of the business, but it takes some great acting to perform the bad one, and Barbara Harris, whenever she's in that state, is a delight to watch, she'd be even funnier in a similar scene later with her boyfriend. The comedy is integral to the film's appeal because the opening is extremely talkative and provides a vital flow of information and Harris' lively and funny performance catches our eyes, and inevitably our ears and our mind.So, it all comes down to the woman asking Blanche to find her sister's illegitimate son given for adoption, so she can clear her conscience and allow him to inherit her fortune; in exchange, Blanche will receive ten thousand dollars (and I just love Harris' cute response when she tries to pretend that money doesn't matter). Blanche is a small-time fraud and her boyfriend George is a cabdriver and wannabe actor, so the reward means a lot. But what an unlikely, non-glamorous, goofy yet charming couple to lead a Hitchcock film! Still, the chemistry between them, with all the talks about the 'plot', sex and their job, feels genuine and real.There is another couple though in the film, more in-line with the classy and icy correctness we're used to deal with Hitch. A jeweler (David Levane) and his girlfriend Fran (Karen Black) specialized in kidnapping dignitaries and rich figures, leaving them up in exchange of precious gemstones. They hide their victims in a cellar and are so professional they make impossible any identification. The first transition from Blanche and George to Arthur and Fran is abrupt and disconcerting (although creatively done) but once we get it that the film centers on the two couples, the pros and the small-time crooks, we know where the story is going, two plots coming across each other, in other words: a confrontation.The thrill in "Family Plot" is to see these couples getting closer to each other, and even play a sprinkled-sprinkler game when George's lousy attempt to pass a lawyer raises the suspicion of Adamson's former accomplice (he's obviously the lost heir, the only way the two plots would converge). So the cat and mouse's role are reversed and Fran and Arthur spy on George and Blanche, thinking they want the reward for their capture. Which would lead to the first life-threatening sequence with a high-speed descent in a mountain road, and as much I enjoyed it, I can't get over the hilariously distorted face of George, crushed under Blanche's shoe, while she tries to climb her way out of the vehicle.Just like the plot swings back and forth between two couples that couldn't have been more different, it does the same thing with thrills and comedy and the result is savorous and entertaining. Hitchcock also provide some pretty memorable moments: Adamson delicately taking a lint off a cop's suit, Fran putting parsley in the hostage's plate, a dazzling aerial view on a cemetery and a great kidnapping scene in a church where a bishop is taken away without any of the people reacting. Adamson knew that church-people are so polite and inhibited they wouldn't react, and we believe him. This level of confidence echoes Hitchcock's, he doesn't go to intricate and lengthy extremes to get a specific job done. And only Hitch can get away with it.This is a film for the fans, his cameo doesn't bother to show his face and yet everyone immediately recognizes him, this is why his last cameo is one of his most inspired. Hitchcock have built so much confidence that only he could conclude such a film with a climax relying on something that a child could have done, but knowing the childish Blanche and her slow-witted boyfriend, it could work. And although the film wasn't intended to be the last, it couldn't have had a better final shot than a wink at the camera. Hitchcock always did movies with the audience in mind, it's all natural to end with what a friendly farewell to those whose emotions he toyed with for half a century.

Well as most people would say...they just don't write screenplays like this anymore. But for good reason. When you invest the better part of two hours in watching a suspenseful film unfold and the five main characters show us who they really are we look forward to a strong film ending. Instead, what we receive for an ending is unfortunately below par for an Alfred Hitchcok directed film. Please don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed this film and it is well worth watching even a second time as the performances of the top five characters certainly did not disappoint. William Devane is a standout in the dual role as the missing heir Edward Shoebridge and as his hidden identity as high stakes con man named Arthur Adamson, a well dressed jewellery store owner. His partner in crime is the mysterious blonde wig and six inch high heels wearing femme fatale' named Fran. These two high priced grifters who make a great living kidnapping wealthy people and holding them for ransom in their secret basement fortress indicates that they are shrewd and tactful in planning their kidnappings and reaping the rewards for diamonds as their preferred ransom payment.William Devane and Karen Black play polar opposite to the other two low class grifters played by Barbara Harris as Blanche Tyler who eeks out a living as a spiritualist bringing back the voices of the dead for living family members who get suckered in to this old con game. Her boyfriend is a Taxi cab driver named George Lumley played superbly by the great character actor Bruce Dern. Now George will do just about anything for Blanche so when Blanche tells George she has a rich client that is trying to find a bastard nephew birthed 40 years ago by her now deceased sister and there is 10 grand in it if they find him we immediately assume that George will play the part of the missing heir Edward Shoebridge to claim the reward money of 10 grand. Instead George laces up his private gum shoes and goes on an expedition to try and locate this missing heir named Edward Showbridge. George does not exactly find Edward Shoebridge but he finds the next best thing. George finds a guy named Joseph Maloney played very well by then 38 year old Ed Lauter.As the plot becomes more complex the comedy relief kicks in between Blanche and George arguing amongst themselves how far they should go to recover the 10 grand reward. In the meantime the high class grifter team of Arthur Adamson (William Devane) and Fran (Karen Black) continue kidnapping high profile wealthy clients with well thought out plans that leave nothing to risk for their big rewards.As the low class grifters Blanche and George continue to get closer on to the heels of their missing heir Edward Shoebridge (alias Arthur Adamson) Arthur and his childhood friend Joseph Mahoney develop a plan to get rid of these two low lifes Blanche and George for good. There is a scene where Blanch and George get baited by Joseph Maloney to meet him out in the remote highway roadway diner for $200 and for that price Joseph Maloney will divulge how they can locate the missing heir Edawrd Shoebridge. The meeting though never transpires and Blanche and George leave the roadside diner empty handed and very disappointed. Little do they know that their vehicle has been tampered with and the next two minutes takes George who is driving and Blanche who is hilariously hanging on to George for dear life as he attempts to take the long and winding hilly roads without killing the two of them. This scene is worth watching the film for alone. It is both suspenseful and oh so comical. I could envision Ms. Shullivan hanging on to me for dear life if we were caught on a windy road with no brakes.I won't divulge the ending, rather I will leave you with this cliffhanger both literally and figuratively. I did mention the climax was a bit disappointing but this adventure/suspense/crime/comedy film has much to be satisfied with. I give it a high 7 out of 10 rating. Well worth a watch...maybe even twice.

The best part of Hitchcock's final production is probably Barbara Harris's borderline character whose seemingly fruitless endeavors get entangled with a much less believable subplot without which the story, however, wouldn't have been the least suspenseful.The direction is overall decent with certain typical Hitchcock scenes such as a car race reminiscent of those in Suspicion and North by Northwest.Enjoyable if one disregards a number of rather apparent plot holes.And as usual with respect to the Master's pictures, I stop to wonder for a while whether there's a MacGuffin present or not...

Phony spiritualist Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) and her taxi-driver boyfriend George Lumley (Bruce Dern) stand to earn $10K if they can locate the lost lost nephew of an elderly millionairess. Their search for the missing man leads to a pair of ruthless kidnappers (played by William Devane and Karen Black) who are none too keen to have people prying into their business.It took Alfred Hitchcock four years to follow up his excellent psycho-sexual thriller Frenzy (1972) with Family Plot, during which time the director suffered from several bouts of ill health that clearly took a toll on his creativity: Hitch's final film is an unremarkable crime caper from an ailing film-maker whose heart no longer seems to be in his work.Gone are the brilliantly orchestrated scenes of tension and suspense for which the distinguished director is renowned; instead we get something that feels like a TV movie-of-the-week, complete with corny characters, hammy performances and ill-advised humour (Blanche losing her cool in a careening car with no brakes is desperately unfunny, a real low-point in Hitch's career).