Family Plot

Another day, another Hitchcock film. Today we'll be taking a look at Hitch's final film, the comic thriller Family Plot (1976). Family Plot is generally ranked in the bottom tier of Hitch's work, for whatever reason - the slight plot? The lack of big-name glamorous stars? Like Topaz, it has been unfairly maligned by critics as a general rule, when it really is a fun, entertaining ride - at the very least it's more enjoyable than our previous Hitchcock film. It's more Charade than North By Northwest, but that's not a bad thing.

Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) is a fake "psychic" who runs a con-game with her cab driver boyfriend George (Bruce Dern), swindling money off of old, rich widows. However, when one of her clients (Cathleen Nesbit) offers a reward of $10,000 to find her illegitimate nephew - the heir to the family's fortune - Blanche and George engage in a major investigation, finding their job not as easy as it may seem, given that the heir is presumably dead. Unfortunately, Barbara and George find that he is very much alive - only now he's posing under the name Arthur Adamson (William Devane), who along with his girlfriend (Karen Black) is running a lucrative business of kidnapping and extortion.

Family Plot is very slight in content; it lacks the style and depth that characterize Hitchcock's best films. It's Hitchcock lite, but it's much more enjoyable in this regard than many of Hitchcock's other day at the beach films (To Catch a Thief and the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much). The film is consistently funny and well-written, allowing Hitch to indulge his dark sense of humor to the fullest. The movie is basically a very dark comedy of errors, expertly plotted by Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman, the surprisingly intricate and clever plot providing. George and Blanche's oblivious investigations bring them in touch with a very dangerous criminal - and yet, they are extremely successful at their con game, making them interesting and sympathetic protagonists. The film only becomes truly dark towards the end, when Blanche and George find themselves in mortal peril, but it's very much in keeping with the rest of the film.

Hitchcock's direction is good if unspectacular: the movie isn't driven so much by direction as the plot and characters, which are expertly drawn. John Williams provides a nice early-career score. As with Frenzy, Hitchcock makes great use of a B-list economy cast: Bruce Dern is excellent as the faux-detective George, Barbara Harris is hysterical as the fake psychic Blanche, William Devane is appropriately slimy and menacing as Adamson, Karen Black alluring, sexy and sympathetic, and fine supporting performances are provided by Ed Lauter, Cathleen Nesbit, Nicholas Colasanto and Katharine Helmond.

Family Plot isn't one of Hitchcock's masterpieces, but it's a fun comic thriller and never really tries to be more than that. Am I saying that it's better than Vertigo? Maybe not artistically, but it's sure more enjoyable.

Rating: 8/10 - Highly Recommended