I bought this on DVD today. I've never seen it before. I'm of the opinion that Hitchcock's last truly great film is THE BIRDS, MARNIE is both brilliant and deeply flawed and every film he made after that is shit on a stick. But I've read that this is pretty good. Is it underrated?

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by Anonymous

reply 42

April 4, 2018 4:02 PM

I was disappointed in Family Plot. But I loved Frenzy, his "return to England" movie in the early 1970s. It's quite good.

by Anonymous

reply 1

March 30, 2018 10:23 PM

I found it hilarious. Enjoyed it very much. The tag line of the movie was There's no body in the family plot.

I liked Frenzy too.

by Anonymous

reply 2

March 30, 2018 10:25 PM

I prefer Frenzy. Family Plot has it good moments (there isn't an Hitchcock film without them, even Topaz) but is unfortunate and sadly light as a last film from him.

by Anonymous

reply 3

March 30, 2018 10:32 PM

Family Plot almost feels like a Disney film from that era. Maybe because Barbara Harris is in it.

by Anonymous

reply 4

March 30, 2018 10:51 PM

Frenzy was terrific. The Birds was not a great film, (though, there are terrific moments) rather Hitch getting off on his newfound prestige thanks to the French and feeling he should make something a bit more arty and in the tradition of 'pure cinema'; hence the unbearably long sequence of Melanie going out on the boat.

by Anonymous

reply 5

March 30, 2018 11:34 PM

Family Plot feels like an ABC Movie of the Week. I love Karen Black, though.

by Anonymous

reply 6

March 31, 2018 12:27 AM

Worth it for Barbara Harris, who always classes up the joint. Otherwise, Hitch in his "Trouble with Harry" mode--he's funnier when he's pervier.

by Anonymous

reply 7

March 31, 2018 1:32 AM

Frenzy is almost too personal and misogynistic; it has several scenes that are genuinely disturbing. Family Plot is very different in tone; it's slight, but perfectly watchable, and the plot twist midway through the film (hint: Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris really shouldn't be looking for that long-lost nephew) is satisfying.

by Anonymous

reply 8

March 31, 2018 1:56 AM

When I first saw it long ago, I was disappointed. But I found that it grew on me.

Bruce Dern is wonderful and his pairing with Barbara Harris is funny.

The William Devane / Karen Black duo were the lesser pair for me.

I think Hitchcock originally cast Roy Thinnes in the role eventually taken by William Devane. I seem to remember reading about some negative encounter between Thinnes and Hitchcock after Thinnes lost the role.

by Anonymous

reply 9

March 31, 2018 2:08 AM

R8 agree with u Frenzy is disturbing.

by Anonymous

reply 10

March 31, 2018 2:12 AM

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this film even if it is minor Hitchcock. It doesn't bear repeated viewings because, once you know the plot, there's not much else there.

But Barbara Harris is wonderful and it's really her only lead role in a major Hollywood film, so worth it just for that. And Bruce Dern is just goofy sexy and even gets a great little shirtless scene.

by Anonymous

reply 11

March 31, 2018 2:13 AM

I also dislike Frenzy. It is gross and grubby. Certainly does not have the charm of his best film.

by Anonymous

reply 12

March 31, 2018 2:18 AM

Family Plot is the underside of the sunny California life portrayed in Shadow of a Doubt.

by Anonymous

reply 14

March 31, 2018 2:25 AM

Frenzy is unwatchable--Hitchcock's misogyny at its coldest and more repellent.

Personally, I love Family Plot--it's goofy and charming, and it has one or two classic moments.

by Anonymous

reply 15

March 31, 2018 2:53 AM

Agreed, r11, Dern is hot in this.

by Anonymous

reply 16

March 31, 2018 3:00 AM

I have a soft spot for Family Plot. Barbara Harris and Bruce Dern were awesome. I have always loved Karen Black since Day off the Locust. I have always lusted after Bruce Dern's hairy chest since Silent Running. I appreciate Hitchcock for trying to go back to sophisticated humor mystery, but Family Plot was as deep as The Ghost and Mr Chicken with Don Knotts, which I also love, lol.

by Anonymous

reply 17

March 31, 2018 3:52 AM

The reason that Family Plot fails as a Hitchcock film is the hideous production design and technical flaws. The green screen drive down the highway with no brake fluid is just unacceptable. The interiors of most of the apartments and houses look like something from an industrial short for acrylic fabrics.

I would assume that the final product is the result of a small budget the studio handed to a fading giant as a writeoff. Every time the whiff of wit is in the air William Devane shows up looking like a used car salesman.

The cast as a group is a disconnected group of B listers hired to work for a dying legend. I love Barbara Harris, but perhaps except for her, nobody in this movie was the first choice of anyone doing casting.

The final indignity is a gimmicky John Williams score that underscored how low brow intentions of the whole enterprise.

Interning that the same year produced Bernard Herrmann’s score to Taxi Driver. Which is the better movie. Declare Family Pkot at your own risk.

by Anonymous

reply 18

March 31, 2018 4:14 AM

It's fun, but somehow lacking. I LOVE Barbara Harris and Karen Black can be fun, but Hitchcock didn't seem to care about performances in this movie and made it very plot driven. Unfortunately I found the characters more interesting than the plot, so it's a misfire for me.

My favorite of all time is Rear Window even though critics always put Vertigo first which I find kind of dry and stodgy.

by Anonymous

reply 20

March 31, 2018 4:32 AM

FRENZY is awesome. Hitchcock shows London to be thoroughly deglamorized. Jon Finch is very hot, and everyone else has terrible hair.

by Anonymous

reply 21

March 31, 2018 6:57 AM

Agree with the poster who said Disney. It's not as fun as 'Foul Play', but shares a similar vibe actually. Barbara Harris is fab, as is evil Karen Black, and Dern & Devane were quite the studs in that day.

by Anonymous

reply 22

March 31, 2018 7:13 AM

[quote]The interiors of most of the apartments of DL commenters look like something from an industrial short for acrylic fabrics.

How RUDE!

by Anonymous

reply 23

March 31, 2018 7:25 AM

Overrated and underwhelming. I saw it for the first time within the past three years or so after reading yet another DL Hitchcock thread and could not understand the raves. I wonder if some people give it such high marks due to sentimentality (i.e., the director and the actors they like) rather than on critical and technical merit.

by Anonymous

reply 24

March 31, 2018 8:13 AM

Never seen Family Plot. Frenzy couldn't be made today. it's almost an exploitation movie. very sleazy and violent. but it shows a 70s London that doesnt exist anymore.

by Anonymous

reply 25

March 31, 2018 8:54 AM

Let's please acknowledge the presence of two unforgettable character actresses in the film: Cathleen Nesbitt and Katherine Helmond.

by Anonymous

reply 26

March 31, 2018 1:08 PM

The production design and location shooting is indeed very tacky, which is highly unusual for a Hitchcock film and especially considering it's set in San Francisco in the mid-1970s at the height of that city's renaissance.

by Anonymous

reply 27

March 31, 2018 1:16 PM

I've never bothered to watch it, so... You tell us, OP.

by Anonymous

reply 28

March 31, 2018 1:27 PM

After Marnie it was all over.

by Anonymous

reply 29

March 31, 2018 1:46 PM

I can't stand Marnie. It bores me silly. Even Topaz is more interesting than Marnie.

by Anonymous

reply 30

March 31, 2018 1:54 PM

Marnie is tough to get through, primarily because Tippi's voice is limited and grating and it makes you thankful for the long silences in The Birds

by Anonymous

reply 31

March 31, 2018 2:35 PM

THE BIRDS is the point where he slowly starts getting rid of his key collaborators, in front of and behind the camera, and decides he's the genius and sole star of his movies and he can do without Hollywood stars and their glamour or technicians like Robert Burks as cinematographer or Bernard Herrmann. The films suffer after that. He continued to work with Edith Head, of course. I'm surprised the production design is so bad in FAMILY PLOT, because it's by Henry Bumstead, who also worked on VERTIGO.

by Anonymous

reply 32

April 2, 2018 8:52 PM

I have it on DVR and I am looking forward to seeing it, and then re-reading this thread

by Anonymous

reply 33

April 2, 2018 10:59 PM

I finally watched the film. I thought it was wonderful. It doesn't feel like a film where Hitch is in full control, it's very light and a little slow in parts, but it's very charming and has some lovely bits in it. The best thing about it is Barbara Harris. She's so funny and captivating. Apparently, Hitchcock adored her and had wanted to work with her for years.

I watched the Making Of afterwards and learned some interesting stuff. As r9 mentioned, Hitchcock always wanted William Devane, but he was unavailable so they hired Roy Thinnes and they filmed for about a week, when it emerged that William Devane had become available. So Hitch fired Thinnes and re-shot all his scenes with Devane. They said that one night Hitchcock was dining at a restaurant and Thinnes walked up to him and asked him why he'd been fired. Hitchcock was extremely uncomfortable and didn't know what to say so he just stared at Thinnes, who glared back at him for a good while and then left.

Another thing that was mentioned is that Hitchcock said he didn't want the locations to be recognizably San Francisco and he ordered his assistant director to make sure all road signs, number plates and any other SF-specific details were removed as much as possible.

I love that final shot.

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by Anonymous

reply 34

April 3, 2018 10:35 PM

Never much cared for it - everyone overacts so much that Karen Black (never a subtle actress) seems low-key in comparison.

by Anonymous

reply 35

April 3, 2018 11:14 PM

Just bought a boxed set of Hitchcock which includes this one. I’ve seen it before of course and can’t wait to watch all of them again

by Anonymous

reply 36

April 3, 2018 11:48 PM

I don't know that the production design is "bad" so much as that it's kind of seedy, but I assume that was the intention, for whatever reasons.

Dern and Harris' cottage and life style might have been treated as sort of bohemian or even hippie-ish but the choice was to make it all rather white trash. I'll never forget the shot of their hamburger dinner cooked in a sizzling frying pan!

But I'd agree that the Rainbird mansion, the jewelry store and what we see of Devane and Black's townhouse look very generic and lacking any enthusiastic style.

It makes me wonder if Hitchcock was feeling very out of date in his last years and thought this new film, even though it was a comedy, couldn't look too stylish as that might be equated with frivolous.

by Anonymous

reply 37

April 3, 2018 11:51 PM

Interesting about the set design. One of the reasons why I've never watched this film is I always felt it looked disgusting. Enough with the beige! Frenzy, even more so - and downright creepy, though he probably knew what he was doing. Even The Birds I find pretty uncomfortable, and I hate Vertigo. All in all, I still prefer his B&W films. Too much orange in the colour ones.

Rear Window is of course the exception, and The Trouble With Harry is a lot of fun, once you bother to sit through it.

by Anonymous

reply 38

April 4, 2018 1:04 AM

Maybe it was AH’s attempt to emulate the new cinema verite of young filmmakers? Or forced on him by the studio?

by Anonymous

reply 39

April 4, 2018 1:18 AM

Why did he set or film so many of his movies in Northern California?

by Anonymous

reply 40

April 4, 2018 1:27 AM

r40 Hitchcock bought a ranch and vineyard in Scotts Valley in 1940, which may be why he filmed or set so many of his films in the Bay Area. I wanted to mention the car chase scene in this film. The poor man's process used is really bad, but apparently Hitchcock was too infirm at the time to go out and film it on location.

by Anonymous

reply 41

April 4, 2018 3:49 PM

FRENZY had some affecting moments. The censorship that held Hitchcock back artistically in previous decades was gone, and the rape/murder scene of the lead character's ex wife was chillingly brutal. I've never seen FAMILY PLOT.

by Anonymous

reply 42

April 4, 2018 4:02 PM