Family Plot | | Cast : | Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane | | Director : | Alfred Hitchcock | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | April 09, 1976 | | DVD Released Date : | March 06, 2001 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 05, 2005 | | Summary | Very Funny | Content
 | Great movie - very entertaining and well-acted. This is a movie that you can't help but enjoy. From the fake psychic to the greedy boyfriend to the scariest car ride I've ever seen (I was screaming at the top of my lungs as the main characters' car careened down the winding road with no brakes), this movie is a classic. Also loved the cameo of Hitchcock at the police station.
Mr. Hitchcock went out in style! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 18, 2005 | | Summary | The Master Teases Us One Last Time | Content
| Alfred Hitchcock was a grand tease and the more he teased the more his audiences loved it. The operative word was suspense and The Master had a genius for milking the action to maximum effect, keeping his faithful audience on the edge of its collective seat.
Hitchcock bowed out on an interesting note by concluding his brilliant career with "Family Plot" in 1976. He was mightily assisted in his efforts by one of Hollywood's most skilled screenplay authors, Ernest Lehman. It was the second time they had teamed up, the earlier effort being one of Hitchcock's most successful films, the 1958 classic "North by Northwest" starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.
In "Family Plot" Hitchcock's grand tease was built around a variation of the theme that helped make "Vertigo" perhaps the director's finest effort. That impressive 1957 release was structured around a bogus effort on the part of mastermind criminal Gavin Elster, played by Tom Helmore, to convince retired policeman James Stewart that his putative wife, played by Kim Novak, was under the possessive influence of prominent nineteenth century San Franciscan Carlotta Valdes. Stewart is led on a bogus chase around San Francisco that includes a phony suicide attempt as Novak jumps into San Francisco Bay.
Hitchcock, a film genius who knew how to make the most of a good theme, used this basic concept from "Vertigo" in the basic plot of "Family Plot" with one essential difference - this time the con artist was not seeking a foolproof way to kill his real wife by having a fall guy reduced to useful fodder in a criminal enterprise. On this occasion Barbara Harris played the role of a fake psychic who, upon receiving valuable information during a "reading" concerning a relative that a wealthy older woman, played by Cathleen Nesbitt, would like to leave with her large inheritance.
Bruce Dern, a cab driver who hopes to eventually catch a break in his acting career, has nothing but scorn for Harris's séance performances, but is enticed along on a journey to find the prospective heir when it is revealed that the wealthy older woman Nesbitt will provide them with $10,000 for a successful effort. The story then spins into a two-part focus in which William Devane, who has changed his name and gained his freedom by killing his adopted parents, has embraced a life as a jeweler moonlighting as a kidnapper, and who receives expensive jewels as payment from his victims. He also has a girlfriend, Karen Black, who is a reluctantly partner like Dern. She goes along with the kidnappings but hates to even consider the idea of killing anyone, an element that Devane as a pragmatic and ruthless opportunist is willing to resort to in fulfilling his objective to become a wealthy man.
The ingenious story spins into dual efforts where Devane knows that the persistent pair of Harris and Dern is pursuing him, but he is in the dark as to the reason. He believes that they are aware of his criminal activities.
Hitchcock teases viewers into wondering with increasing anticipation what will happen when the two parties ultimately meet. He places plenty of the familiar Hitchcock obstacles and dodges in the road during the interim.
"Family Plot" is the polished effort of one of Hollywood's most imaginative directors pooling forces with one of the industry's most skilled scriptwriters. Hitchcock and Lehman prepare a delicious stew for audiences to savor as the last feast of a master of film. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 13, 2005 | | Summary | It's my favorite Hitchcock film | Content
| Surprised? I am a fan of Hitch's lesser-known films, including "Rope", "Rebecca", and "Strangers on a Train". Yes, they were all great movies, but not the first when you think of Alfred Hitchcock, certainly.
It's really not as bad as you might think ~ Barbara Harris is Blanche, an intentional floozy who is also "psychic". With the help of her supernatural guide Henry, she finds longlost relatives and "contacts" people who have crossed over to the other side, for a price of course. Bruce Dern (who I despised in "The Cowboys") is great as her henpecked boyfriend, who drives a taxi when he isn't out doing Blanche's dirty work for her, usually under the guise of a private detective or a lawyer. This time around Blanche is hired to find a longlost nephew to a wealthy woman, who is dying and wishes to leave her vast fortune to him. The nephew turns out to be cunning and smarmy jewel thief William Devane, who with nervous cohort Karen Black, kidnaps wealthy men and has their ransoms paid in diamonds. Nobody here is entirely innocent, and nothing is quite what it seems. This is a slightly complicated plot, but is relatively easy to follow. The cast is solid, the storyline is intriguing, and there is suspense and humor in all the right places.
Seriously, if you ever come across this movie to rent or buy for cheap...check it out. Granted, its not quite on par with Hitchcock classics like "Psycho" or "The Birds"...but it is worth watching. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 21, 2005 | | Summary | BETTER THAN EXPECTED | Content
| This is a very well-done, funny, entertaining movie, beautifully acted, directed, and photographed (and scored - John Williams of "Star Wars" wrote the music). Hitchcock was making a comeback of sorts with this movie "Family Plot" and his previous one "Frenzy." Gone are the bad old days of "Marnie," "Torn Curtain," and (worst of them all) "Topaz." Everything in this movie "Family Plot" is assured, intelligent, absorbing: Hitch in command again. Unfortunately, at age 76, his body was failing him, and this comeback-of-sorts was cut short a couple years later. Add this special movie to your collection. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 30, 2004 | | Summary | Witty and entertaining | Content
| Some fine acting, a convoluted plot, and the machinations of humans doing their darndest to get by in life by fibbing, cheating, masquerading,
stealing, and murdering. There are texts and sub-texts and Mr Hitchcock, even when he is not at his absolute best, is far better than most. Worth revisiting from time to time. |
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