Family Plot (1976)
Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 0
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 7,050
My Rating
Movie Info
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
Apr 9, 1976 Limited
Mar 6, 2001
Universal Pictures
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Cast
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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 -
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All Critics (25) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (1) | DVD (14)
Hitchcock has a deviously complicated tale to tell, and he's going to tell it with labyrinthine detail, and he's not going to cheat.
Top CriticA witty, relaxed lark.
Hitchcock's last (53rd) film is a post-modern, self-reflexive work, which deserves a more serious look and better grade than granted by many critics.
It's the perfect crime picture.
... full of allusions to past Hitchcock. A car is parked on Bates Avenue; a gas station man tells a cab driver it is dangerous to light a match; the kidnapers tell each other how danger makes them tingle; and the female kidnaper used a blonde wig.
It's not exactly top-tier Hitchcock, but it features enough good stuff to make it at least worth one viewing.
A minor but worthwhile swan song for Hitchcock.
It's a movie that's haunted by death, with lengthy sequences played out in cemeteries.
An Alfred Hitchcock thriller with many interesting things happening in the movie's small places
Hitch's swan song and a pretty good one.
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Foreign Titles
- Familiengrab (DE)
- Complot de famille (FR)
Family Plot is cast well. I love the chemistry, especially the verbal jabbing, between Barbara Harris and Bruce Dern. William Devane is perfect as the debonair jeweler and kidnapper hiding a dangerous past. Ed Lauter's great too; he usually plays a jerk (think Longest Yard), but here he's even creepier.
This film is a greatly nuanced comedy about death. It's a nice contrast with AH's previous film, the R-rated shocker Frenzy. Considered together, I think they typify his career. This isn't deep philosophy, its entertainment. As the master stated, "drama is life with the dull bits left out."