Family Plot

The Family Plot (1976)

It all is a playful gag by the end--not the end of the movie, but of the career, the long cat and mouse movie-making career of Alfred Hitchcock. This, his last film, is both cute and clever and a tiny bit suspenseful. It reuses some of the same kinds of tricks we've seen from him before, with a twist here or there: the innocent protagonists, for example, are themselves up to a little bit of a scam. And in Hitchcock fashion, the antagonists, a parallel couple, are lighthearted in their murderousness. Their angst over crime is theatrical.

There are usually moments in his movies that are vividly disturbing, and he contrasts these with either lightly comic scenes, downright silliness, or charming, everyday life. Think of the family in Shadow of a Doubt or Cary Grant in North by Northwest for starters. In this movie, beginning even with the pun of the title (the family plot is a cemetery plot), everything is chipper. The hair-raising runaway car scene is so scary and absurdly silly at the same time I think a lot of people will give up on the movie as just plain "stupid." Part of me agrees, but I laughed out loud through the whole scene in appreciation, and not because of comic timing or original sight gags or whatnot, but because I could imagine the director laughing. Movies are supposed to entertain, he would insist (supposedly saying to the impassioned Ingrid Bergman once, "Ingrid, it's just a movie.") Hitchcock wants it to be carefully silly and disarming at the same time. I mean, he's winking at us just as we are supposed to be scared.

The evil-doers are really not very evil here, though the man does propose some pretty ruthless behavior, and the people out to do good (eventually, anyway, with dollar signs in their eyes all the same) are truly fun and natural as a couple. The plots of the two couples are separate at first, and once they join it gets complicated but never confusing. The Mustang is already eleven years old for this film--a sign of how far into our current era Hitchcock has come, and perhaps a reminder that his style of making movies is starting to look like just that, a style, something artificial and quaint when hard edged, elegant realism has stormed back into Hollywood (from Chinatown to the Godfather to, in 1976, uh, Rocky).

If Hitch is out of touch with the times, he's completely in touch with his own approach. This is a Hitchcock film, through and through, and if you are tired of me saying that, it's because I think you might hate it without knowing how much it depends on knowing, liking, and understanding that kind of movie. It's totally enjoyable. Not his best, but enjoyable and well made and almost heartwarming, of all things.

Having seen "Torn Curtain" about a year ago, I wasn't all that enthusiastic about seeing another of Hitchcock's "late" works (indeed, his final film). "TC" was absolutely abysmal, as reflected in my comments there, so I had no great expectations for "Family Plot." I was pleasantly surprised, however. Although true Hitchcock buffs may not rank "FP" alongside the "classics" like "Psycho" and "NxNW," "FP" is an evenly-paced film with strong central characters, an interesting supporting cast, good acting, humor, innuendo, mystery and, of course, suspense. A good all-around film by the master in his final effort. It won't leave your palms sweating and your blood running cold, and there are a couple of flaws that a younger Hitch might have caught (I, for one, wonder how Blanche's car got fixed so quickly -- hard to believe it wasn't totaled in the first place).

Nonetheless, Family Plot will hold your attention and keep you guessing until the very end. I'm glad I took the time to seek it out and watch it.

I was with low expectations before watching this because I read a lot of negative reviews that said this was a not a good movie. I only bought it because this was the only missing film in "The Hitchcock Collection". Well, I saw it and I think it is great!It is a light movie, that mixes comedy with suspense and it's an enjoyable surprise. All of the comedy/light movies that Hitchcock made are underrated (see the example of "The trouble with Harry"(1955)) and I can't understand why.This has some scenes that demonstrate the mastery of Alfred Hitchcock, notably the car scene where one couple is inside a moving car with the brakes sabotaged.That scene is so well constructed that you actually can feel like you are in the car... Amazing!I watched in the "Making of" this picture someone saying that, at that time, people knew this would be the last Hitchcock movie it would have been received way better by the audience. I give it 8 of 10 because it's a joyful and great movie.

"Family Plot" is remembered only for being Hitchcock's last film. The ending to his successful career could be have been more honorable. "Family Plot" is merely a light entertainment movie - nothing more, nothing less. But it works as that. The plot is enjoyable to follow and the members of the cast (especially William Devane) do a creditable job. But remember that the director was no longer at his peak, so don't expect anything in the lines of his masterpieces, like "Vertigo" or "Psycho". And John Williams' barely memorable score pales in comparison with Bernard Herrmann's masterful accomplishments.

Alfred Hitchcock's final film Family Plot is a story of two male and female criminal partnerships. The first pair is Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris who are a pair of small time grifters and we meet them in the process of fleecing a rich old spinster Cathleen Nesbitt with a phony psychic act.

The second pair are William Devane and Karen Black who have a lovely line in ransom kidnappings. They've really got it worked out to a science, including a soundproof hidden room in Devane's basement where the victims can be stashed until the ransom is paid.

Nesbitt confesses that she had her late sister give up an out of wedlock child during a séance and now she'd like to make amends by finding him and making him her heir. So with a finder's fee in mind Dern and Harris start digging.

Their paths cross Devane and Black as the police are hunting them so it becomes quite an interesting set of circumstances as Devane and Black suspect the others of being police operatives.

Hitchcock cleverly interweaves the stories of the two couples into a very cohesive plot. The players all hit the mark with their roles,] especially Devane, a smooth talking killer in the Hitchcock tradition of Otto Kruger in Saboteur, Tom Helmore in Vertigo, and James Mason in North By Northwest.

The ending is a bit of a surprise though, it comes rather abruptly. I have to confess I didn't like it at first, but it does kind of grow on you with repeated viewings.

Family Plot is a good for the master of suspense to go out on.