Hitchcock's Last Hurrah

FAMILY PLOT (1976)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Whenever the last film of a great director's career comes forth, one reacts with trepidation due to one's unfairly great expectations. This may be why I avoided Alfred Hitchcock's last hurrah, known as "Family Plot," for so many years. I have long admired and become influenced by Hitch's work. We are talking about a career that spans 54 films in its output, producing such classics as "Psycho," "North By Northwest," "Rear Window," "Shadow of a Doubt," "Vertigo" and several more. During the 1970's, Hitch was less prolific with one exceptionally thrilling and graphic thriller, "Frenzy" in 1972, and "Family Plot" in 1976. Strangely, I must say I was pleasantly surprised: "Family Plot" may not be one of Hitch's finest but it is one of his few light comedies that has a few laughs and fine performances. It is light on its feet and quietly good fun.

Barbara Harris stars as a phony psychic named Blanche Tyler (she calls herself a "spiritualist") whose latest client, Mrs. Rainbird, is trying to locate her sister's long-lost son. The trouble is that he may be dead but it hardly matters - Mrs. Rainbird wants Blanche to find him for a ten-thousand dollar fee since he stands to be the heir of a million dollar fortune . This naturally excites Blanche and her cab driver boyfriend, George Lumley (Bruce Dern), who masquerades as a private eye and a lawyer. His act, which doesn't fool anyone, is to smoke a pipe, and he stands out like a true amateur.

This whole search somehow involves another couple, in this case a rich married couple (William Devane and Karen Black - both ably cast) who are involved in kidnappings for rare diamonds. But I would not dream of giving away the connection between these two couples except to say that it is fairly foreseeable if you have seen other suspense thrillers.

The fun in "Family Plot" is in the clues and the gradual tension and suspense involved in finding this missing Rainbird man. We have cemetaries with strange plots, tremulous psychics, bishops kidnapped for ransom, Karen Black wearing a blonde wig, secret compartments in garages, and so on.

What is especially interesting about "Family Plot" is how laid-back and involving it is. There are a few great scenes told with Hitchcock's mastery of letting long-takes unfold without dialogue. Two stand out in particular: overhead shot of George walking through the cemetery dirt trails as he pursues an elderly woman; and a quietly effective sequence where George enters the rich couple's house through a garage window (shades here of Cary Grant entering a rich man's home in "North By Northwest"). There is also a very good chase scene where George and Blanche drive while unable to stop their car due to faulty brakes.

The performances are also low-key and intriguing. William Devane (who sounds like a smoother Jack Nicholson) does some of his best work here as a jeweler whose mind is always at work creating dangerous schemes. I also love Karen Black, who has one greatly funny scene where she tries to warn Devane at his jewel shop of danger while pretending to be a customer. Bruce Dern is snappy and fitfully engaging as the somewhat dim-witted George, who's disinterested in Blanche's sexual pleas. Only Barbara Harris tends to go a bit over-the-top as Blanche, especially her seance scenes which provoke more groans rather than laughter.

All in all, "Family Plot" is genial, lighthearted, clever nonsense - probably just a walk in the park for Hitch who was near the end of his health. All I can imagine is that Hitch must have been all sunny smiles while making essentially a parody of the suspense genre he helped create and perfect.