Family Plot (1976): Hitchcock’s Last, Sly, Misunderstood Mystery Comedy, with Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris and Karen Black

Family Plot, Hitchcock’s fifty-third–and last feature (he died in 1980)–is unfortunately much misunderstood and still underappreciated.

Grade: B (*** out of *****)

A film of modest goals, Family Plot admittedly lacks the dramatic urgency and striking visual style of Hitchcock’s previous films.

Harsh critics have charged that the movie is too lightweight and whimsical, precluding viewers’ emotional identification with any of the characters, male or female.

But judged on its own terms, Family Plot is a nicely constructed, self-reflexive mystery-comedy-family tale, which was never intended to be a suspenseful thriller.

As such, it points to a new direction in the maestro’s career toward a movie that is more relaxed, and not based on a single star (or few stars).

The sly tale features intricate parallel plots (in this case, in more senses than one), and boasts a complex storytelling that revolves around a large ensemble.

Read about the making of Family Plot

emanuellevy.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=268973&action=edit

It is defined by an ambiguous but satisfying ending that could be interpreted in different ways.

No surprisingly, the scribe is Ernest Lehman, who had earlier penned another brilliant film, “North by Northwest,” here loosely adapting to the screen the novel “The Rainbird Pattern” by Victor Canning.

The tale is multi-generational in narrative structure, and multi-national in casting, blending the conventions of various genres and mixing American and British players, younger and older thespians, such as the the legendary vet actress Cathleen Nesbitt.

Nesbitt plays Miss Julia Rainbird, an old, rich woman who tries to locate her long-lost, sole surviving heir-nephew.

Early on, she declares, “I am 78 years old and I want to go to my grave with calm conscience” (Hitchcock was almost the same age when he made this picture).

Read about the Making of Family Plot

emanuellevy.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=268973&action=edit

In a parallel plot, we are introduced to two American actors, Barbara Harris, who plays a spiritualist called Blanche (she’s actually a phony medium), and Bruce Dern, as her boyfriend, a cab-driver named George Lumley, who is actually an aspiring actor.

In another subplot, we meet another bizarre couple, Arthur Adamson (William Devane), a jewelry merchant, and his girlfriend Fran (Karen Black), a duo engaged in kidnapping and robberies.

Adamson’s latest kidnap victim is shown enjoying a meal in the underground room, where his captors keep him (Some critics claimed that the imprisonment in this film is taken too lightly).

In quite an ingenious way, the paths of the two couples crisscross, and it turns out that Adamson is really the missing nephew.

The film’s title point to numerous plotting.  Each of the character had at some point engaged in a deviant plotting.  Julia Rainbird had persuaded her sister Harriet to give up her illegit son.  As a child, Adamson (aka as Edward Shoebridge) had plotted to kill his adoptive parents, Harry and Sadie, who are now buried in a family plot.

The film lacks a linear plot, which proceeds by fits and starts, leaving loose ends along the way.  We never learn about the circumstances of Adamson’s birth, or about his motives to kill his adopters. The auto mechanic who helped him kill his adoptive parents is introduced with wife who grieves at his death.

Theft and Sexuality

Some recurring Hitchcock themes run through the narrative.  Like “To Catch a Thief” and “Marnie,” there is a connection between theft and sexuality.  Except there is greater self-consciousness about it: Fran feels sexually aroused when engaging in stealing and kidnapping.

The pursuit of a missing individual is an issue that had concerned Hitchcock in a dozen films, going back to such 1930s British gems as “The 39 Steps” and “The Lady Vanishes.” Except that here the missing man, Adamson, is a kidnapper himself, specializing in kidnapping upper class men and professionals, whom he hides in his basement.

With no exception, all the characters assume false identities, fake names, and appearances, heavily engaged in role-playing.

Stylistically, the movie is marked by symmetry.  The first and last images are the same: Close-up of Blanche at night.

What adds to the intricacy, dark humor, and irony is the fact that many scenes are set in the cemetery.

Overall, “Family Plot” reveals Hitchcock’s growing awareness that the movie industry, its core audiences, and tastes have changed.  Indeed, the star system, the desirable tight narrative focus, the sharp emotional conflicts, and clearer resolutions, all conventions of his earlier films, can no longer apply to the movies of the new era.

Structurally loose but thematically dense, ”Family Plot” shows that Hitchcock was in the process of readjustment to a new type of cinema, one that’s more flexible, more dynamic, and less star-oriented.

Female-Dominated Tale

By and large, the tale’s female roles are more interesting.  There are four women: Julia, the rich elderly woman, troubled by nightmares; Blanche, the spiritualist; Fran, a friend of Adamson who kidnaps; and Mrs. Maloney, a woman trapped by crime of her husband, and too involved to be objective.

While Julia sets the plot in motion, she then declines in significance, failing to disappear at the end.

Hitchcock’s Cameo

The director’s signature cameo appearance: the familiar silhouette is seen through a translucent window, with the word “death” superimposed.

 

Hitchcock at on location in San Francisco for Family Plot

Ending but No Closure?

In the end, the two sets of characters conjoin, and the plot nominally closes in a contrived mode, but there is no real sense of closure, and thus no real sense of gratification.

In the film’s final (jokey) shot, Blanche winks directly at the camera (namely, the viewers). And since it became Hitchcock’s last film, inevitably we read more into it–as if it were his farewell to his loyal audience of five decades!

Commercial Appeal:

Made on a budget of $4.5 million, Family Plot was moderately popular at the box office, generating $13 million.

Cast

Karen Black as Fran
Bruce Dern as George Lumley
Barbara Harris as Blanche Tyler
William Devane as Arthur Adamson/Edward Shoebridge
Cathleen Nesbitt as Julia Rainbird
Ed Lauter as Joseph P. Maloney
Katherine Helmond as Mrs. Maloney
Warren J. Kemmerling as Grandison
Nicholas Colasanto as Victor Constantine
Edith Atwater as Mrs. Clay
William Prince as Bishop Wood
Marge Redmond as Vera Hannagan
John Lehne as Andy Bush
Charles Tyner as Wheeler
Alexander Lockwood as Parson
Martin West as Sanger
Elisabeth Brooks as Woman in cafe with priest
Carl Byrd as Lieutenant Peterson (Uncredited)

Credits

Produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Ernst Lehman, from the novel “The Rainbird Pattern” by Victor Canning

Camera; Leonard J. South

Production designer: Henry Bumstead

Set Decoration: James W. Payne

Editor: J. Terry Williams

Sound: James Alexander and Robert L. Hoyt

Costumes: Edith Head

Music: John Williams

F/X: Albert Whitlock

Release date: April 9, 1976

Running time: 120 minutes
Budget $4.5 million
Box office $13 million

xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonxosokeonhacaiketquabongdalichthidau7m.newskqbdtysokeobongdabongdalufutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbsport.fitonbet88.oooi9bet.bizhi88.ooookvip.atf8bet.atfb88.cashvn88.cashshbet.atbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá mớibóng đá cúp thế giớitin bóng đá ViệtUEFAbáo bóng đá việt namHuyền thoại bóng đágiải ngoại hạng anhSeagametap chi bong da the gioitin bong da lutrận đấu hôm nayviệt nam bóng đátin nong bong daBóng đá nữthể thao 7m24h bóng đábóng đá hôm naythe thao ngoai hang anhtin nhanh bóng đáphòng thay đồ bóng đábóng đá phủikèo nhà cái onbetbóng đá lu 2thông tin phòng thay đồthe thao vuaapp đánh lô đềdudoanxosoxổ số giải đặc biệthôm nay xổ sốkèo đẹp hôm nayketquaxosokq xskqxsmnsoi cầu ba miềnsoi cau thong kesxkt hôm naythế giới xổ sốxổ số 24hxo.soxoso3mienxo so ba mienxoso dac bietxosodientoanxổ số dự đoánvé số chiều xổxoso ket quaxosokienthietxoso kq hôm nayxoso ktxổ số megaxổ số mới nhất hôm nayxoso truc tiepxoso ViệtSX3MIENxs dự đoánxs mien bac hom nayxs miên namxsmientrungxsmn thu 7con số may mắn hôm nayKQXS 3 miền Bắc Trung Nam Nhanhdự đoán xổ số 3 miềndò vé sốdu doan xo so hom nayket qua xo xoket qua xo so.vntrúng thưởng xo sokq xoso trực tiếpket qua xskqxs 247số miền nams0x0 mienbacxosobamien hôm naysố đẹp hôm naysố đẹp trực tuyếnnuôi số đẹpxo so hom quaxoso ketquaxstruc tiep hom nayxổ số kiến thiết trực tiếpxổ số kq hôm nayso xo kq trực tuyenkết quả xổ số miền bắc trực tiếpxo so miền namxổ số miền nam trực tiếptrực tiếp xổ số hôm nayket wa xsKQ XOSOxoso onlinexo so truc tiep hom nayxsttso mien bac trong ngàyKQXS3Msố so mien bacdu doan xo so onlinedu doan cau loxổ số kenokqxs vnKQXOSOKQXS hôm naytrực tiếp kết quả xổ số ba miềncap lo dep nhat hom naysoi cầu chuẩn hôm nayso ket qua xo soXem kết quả xổ số nhanh nhấtSX3MIENXSMB chủ nhậtKQXSMNkết quả mở giải trực tuyếnGiờ vàng chốt số OnlineĐánh Đề Con Gìdò số miền namdò vé số hôm nayso mo so debach thủ lô đẹp nhất hôm naycầu đề hôm naykết quả xổ số kiến thiết toàn quốccau dep 88xsmb rong bach kimket qua xs 2023dự đoán xổ số hàng ngàyBạch thủ đề miền BắcSoi Cầu MB thần tàisoi cau vip 247soi cầu tốtsoi cầu miễn phísoi cau mb vipxsmb hom nayxs vietlottxsmn hôm naycầu lô đẹpthống kê lô kép xổ số miền Bắcquay thử xsmnxổ số thần tàiQuay thử XSMTxổ số chiều nayxo so mien nam hom nayweb đánh lô đề trực tuyến uy tínKQXS hôm nayxsmb ngày hôm nayXSMT chủ nhậtxổ số Power 6/55KQXS A trúng roycao thủ chốt sốbảng xổ số đặc biệtsoi cầu 247 vipsoi cầu wap 666Soi cầu miễn phí 888 VIPSoi Cau Chuan MBđộc thủ desố miền bắcthần tài cho sốKết quả xổ số thần tàiXem trực tiếp xổ sốXIN SỐ THẦN TÀI THỔ ĐỊACầu lô số đẹplô đẹp vip 24hsoi cầu miễn phí 888xổ số kiến thiết chiều nayXSMN thứ 7 hàng tuầnKết quả Xổ số Hồ Chí Minhnhà cái xổ số Việt NamXổ Số Đại PhátXổ số mới nhất Hôm Nayso xo mb hom nayxxmb88quay thu mbXo so Minh ChinhXS Minh Ngọc trực tiếp hôm nayXSMN 88XSTDxs than taixổ số UY TIN NHẤTxs vietlott 88SOI CẦU SIÊU CHUẨNSoiCauVietlô đẹp hôm nay vipket qua so xo hom naykqxsmb 30 ngàydự đoán xổ số 3 miềnSoi cầu 3 càng chuẩn xácbạch thủ lônuoi lo chuanbắt lô chuẩn theo ngàykq xo-solô 3 càngnuôi lô đề siêu vipcầu Lô Xiên XSMBđề về bao nhiêuSoi cầu x3xổ số kiến thiết ngày hôm nayquay thử xsmttruc tiep kết quả sxmntrực tiếp miền bắckết quả xổ số chấm vnbảng xs đặc biệt năm 2023soi cau xsmbxổ số hà nội hôm naysxmtxsmt hôm nayxs truc tiep mbketqua xo so onlinekqxs onlinexo số hôm nayXS3MTin xs hôm nayxsmn thu2XSMN hom nayxổ số miền bắc trực tiếp hôm naySO XOxsmbsxmn hôm nay188betlink188 xo sosoi cầu vip 88lô tô việtsoi lô việtXS247xs ba miềnchốt lô đẹp nhất hôm naychốt số xsmbCHƠI LÔ TÔsoi cau mn hom naychốt lô chuẩndu doan sxmtdự đoán xổ số onlinerồng bạch kim chốt 3 càng miễn phí hôm naythống kê lô gan miền bắcdàn đề lôCầu Kèo Đặc Biệtchốt cầu may mắnkết quả xổ số miền bắc hômSoi cầu vàng 777thẻ bài onlinedu doan mn 888soi cầu miền nam vipsoi cầu mt vipdàn de hôm nay7 cao thủ chốt sốsoi cau mien phi 7777 cao thủ chốt số nức tiếng3 càng miền bắcrồng bạch kim 777dàn de bất bạion newsddxsmn188betw88w88789bettf88sin88suvipsunwintf88five8812betsv88vn88Top 10 nhà cái uy tínsky88iwinlucky88nhacaisin88oxbetm88vn88w88789betiwinf8betrio66rio66lucky88oxbetvn88188bet789betMay-88five88one88sin88bk88xbetoxbetMU88188BETSV88RIO66ONBET88188betM88M88SV88Jun-68Jun-88one88iwinv9betw388OXBETw388w388onbetonbetonbetonbet88onbet88onbet88onbet88onbetonbetonbetonbetqh88mu88Nhà cái uy tínpog79vp777vp777vipbetvipbetuk88uk88typhu88typhu88tk88tk88sm66sm66me88me888live8live8livesm66me88win798livesm66me88win79pog79pog79vp777vp777uk88uk88tk88tk88luck8luck8kingbet86kingbet86k188k188hr99hr99123b8xbetvnvipbetsv66zbettaisunwin-vntyphu88vn138vwinvwinvi68ee881xbetrio66zbetvn138i9betvipfi88clubcf68onbet88ee88typhu88onbetonbetkhuyenmai12bet-moblie12betmoblietaimienphi247vi68clupcf68clupvipbeti9betqh88onb123onbefsoi cầunổ hũbắn cáđá gàđá gàgame bàicasinosoi cầuxóc đĩagame bàigiải mã giấc mơbầu cuaslot gamecasinonổ hủdàn đềBắn cácasinodàn đềnổ hũtài xỉuslot gamecasinobắn cáđá gàgame bàithể thaogame bàisoi cầukqsssoi cầucờ tướngbắn cágame bàixóc đĩa开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育亚新体育亚新体育亚新体育爱游戏爱游戏爱游戏华体会华体会华体会IM体育IM体育沙巴体育沙巴体育PM体育PM体育AG尊龙AG尊龙AG尊龙AG百家乐AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人<AG真人<皇冠体育皇冠体育PG电子PG电子万博体育万博体育KOK体育KOK体育欧宝体育江南体育江南体育江南体育半岛体育半岛体育半岛体育凯发娱乐凯发娱乐杏彩体育杏彩体育杏彩体育FB体育PM真人PM真人<米乐娱乐米乐娱乐天博体育天博体育开元棋牌开元棋牌j9九游会j9九游会开云体育AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人爱游戏华体会华体会im体育kok体育开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育欧宝体育ob体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育开云体育开云体育棋牌棋牌沙巴体育买球平台新葡京娱乐开云体育mu88qh88