Family Plot

( 2 )

Overview

Alfred Hitchcock's final film was adapted from Victor Canning's novel The Rainbird Pattern by Ernest Lehman, who previously wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's North by Northwest. Barbara Harris plays Blanche, a phony psychic, hired by wealthy Julia Rainbird Cathleen Nesbitt to trace the whereabouts of her nephew, who'd been given up for adoption years earlier and who is now heir to a fortune. Blanche's cohort is "investigator" Lumley Bruce Dern, who is fully prepared to milk the last dollar out of Julia before ...
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Overview

Alfred Hitchcock's final film was adapted from Victor Canning's novel The Rainbird Pattern by Ernest Lehman, who previously wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's North by Northwest. Barbara Harris plays Blanche, a phony psychic, hired by wealthy Julia Rainbird Cathleen Nesbitt to trace the whereabouts of her nephew, who'd been given up for adoption years earlier and who is now heir to a fortune. Blanche's cohort is "investigator" Lumley Bruce Dern, who is fully prepared to milk the last dollar out of Julia before locating the long-lost nephew. Meanwhile, we are introduced to elegant kidnappers Adamson and Fran William Devane and Karen Black. The fates of the two couples are inextricably intertwined by the search for the missing heir.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 3/1/1992
  • UPC: 096896605436
  • Original Release: 1976

    • Rating:

  • Source: Universal Studios
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Karen Black Fran
Bruce Dern Lumley
Barbara Harris Blanche
William Devane Adamson
Ed Lauter Maloney
Cathleen Nesbitt Julia Rainbird
Katherine Helmond Mrs. Maloney
Warren Kemmerling Grandison
Edith Atwater Mrs. Clay
William Prince Bishop
Nicholas Colasanto Constantine
Marge Redmond Vera Hannagan
John Lehne Andy Bush
Charles Tyner Wheeler
Alexander Lockwood Parson
Martin West Sanger
Alfred Hitchcock Silhouette behind glass door
Louise Lorimer
Kate Murtagh
Clint Young
Technical Credits
Alfred Hitchcock Director, Producer
James Alexander Sound/Sound Designer
Frank Brendel Special Effects
Henry Bumstead Production Designer
Edith Head Costumes/Costume Designer
Robert L. Hoyt Sound/Sound Designer
Howard Kazanjian Asst. Director
Ernest Lehman Screenwriter
James W. Payne Set Decoration/Design
Leonard J. South Cinematographer
Jesse Wayne Stunts
Ernest B. Wehmeyer Production Manager
Albert J. Whitlock Special Effects
J. Terry Williams Editor
John Williams [composer] Score Composer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 2 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Lightweight, gentle and likable caper thriller.

    A return to the tongue-and-cheek, pre-war Hitchcock. It is closer to "The Lady Vanashes" than to "Psycho". Of course, there's plenty of suspense and a dandy of a plot. Kidnapping, robbery, arson and murder are involved, along with a touch of larceny. Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris make an appealing pair of almost-good guys William Devane, Karen Black and a creepy Ed Lauter are the villains. Fittingly the tensest scenes (the kidnapping of a bishop a sequence where the hero's car goes out of control) are also the funniest. "Family Plot" is a reminder that the cinema's master of suspense was also a joker of genius. There is very little on-screen violence, but a number of events provide some spine-tingling moments. Hitch and scenarist Ernest Lehman re-teamed for the first time since "North By Northwest" and John Williams contributed a sparkling score. Not one of Hitch's best but better than most of the '70s thrillers and no apologies need be made of it. [filmfactsman]

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 9, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews