Family Plot
Family Plot
PG | 09 April 1976 (USA)
Family Plot Trailers

Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.

Reviews
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
gavin6942 Lighthearted suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.When you think of Hitchcock's best films, you think "Vertigo", "Psycho" and "Rear Window", to name a few. You very rarely hear "Family Plot" mentioned, but I would argue it is among his best and a fine way to retire.The humor is nice, especially with the wonderful Bruce Dern. But really, this is just pure mystery and suspense. Is the missing child alive? If yes, who is he? And who is chasing who? This is such a great mystery film it deserves a second or third viewing.
calvinnme This last Hitchcock film may seem out of step with all of the others, but then it has to be. The sexual/cultural revolution is over. The cynical 70s are in full swing. You can't just insinuate "the act" anymore and cut to the seashore.Into this environment comes "Family Plot". It is basically two sets of crimes, one minor and one major, hitting an intersection with one group of criminals having no idea what the other group is up to.Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) is a fake psychic. She has her cabbie boyfriend get information for her based on the hints she gets from the séances. In this case a wealthy woman, Julia Rainbird, claims her sister's spirit and her own conscience torment her because in 1933 she made her sister put her illegitimate child up for adoption because of the scandal that would have occurred given the conventions of the times. Nobody knows what happened to him since the adoption was closed. Now Julia Rainbird, in her old age, wants to accept her nephew into the family and leave the entire estate to him. There is 10K in it for Blanche if she can find him.What Blanche and cabbie lover George (Bruce Dern) don't know is that the long lost heir is basically Lex Luther with hair - William Devane as Arthur Adamson, a true sociopath who loves thumbing his nose at conventions and loves crime. Together he and his girlfriend, Fran (Karen Black) kidnap wealthy people in exchange for jewels. Adamson has a legitimate business as a jeweler as a front.The misunderstandings come in when Adamson discovers that somebody is digging into his past, specifically his faked death which was a cover for the murder of his adoptive parents back in 1950. Blanche and George can't figure out why they would be getting attempts on their life. Adamson has no idea of his true identity and has no idea why these two amateurs are trying to find him, figuring it has either to do with his current kidnappings or the past murder of his parents.It all comes together in a suspenseful and comical way. I'll let you watch and find out how.Blanche and George are a hilarious couple just perfect for 1975. In one scene, at the end of the day, she is basically ordering him to come inside the house and sexually service her. George replies she is wearing him out and he has to work tomorrow. She asks "what are you saving it for?". This is a long way from the stolen glances, passionate kisses, and hand holding in "Dial M For Murder", but this is a different time and they are just right for it.Even at the end Hitchcock did know how to change with the times. I'd recommend it.
grantss Good finale to Hitchcock's career.Family Plot was Alfred Hitchcock's last movie. He died four years after it was released. While not anywhere near the dizzying heights of Hitchcock's best movies (Rear Window, Psycho, among others) it is reasonably good.Interesting main plot with some good twists along the way. Some inconsistencies though, especially in some of the sub-plots. Not everything entirely makes sense. Also, giving away the secret so soon in the movie removed a lot of the potential mystery in the movie.As always with a Hitchcock movie, what sustains the movie is the suspense. Hitchcock keeps you hooked the whole way through.Also has some good humorous moments. Good performance by Bruce Dern as George. Barbara Harris was a touch unconvincing and irritating as Blanche. William Devane is okay, and suitably devious, as the criminal, though his 70s moustache was a bit too creepy.RIP Alfred Hitchcock.
BA_Harrison Phony spiritualist Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) and her taxi-driver boyfriend George Lumley (Bruce Dern) stand to earn $10K if they can locate the lost lost nephew of an elderly millionairess. Their search for the missing man leads to a pair of ruthless kidnappers (played by William Devane and Karen Black) who are none too keen to have people prying into their business.It took Alfred Hitchcock four years to follow up his excellent psycho-sexual thriller Frenzy (1972) with Family Plot, during which time the director suffered from several bouts of ill health that clearly took a toll on his creativity: Hitch's final film is an unremarkable crime caper from an ailing film-maker whose heart no longer seems to be in his work.Gone are the brilliantly orchestrated scenes of tension and suspense for which the distinguished director is renowned; instead we get something that feels like a TV movie-of-the-week, complete with corny characters, hammy performances and ill-advised humour (Blanche losing her cool in a careening car with no brakes is desperately unfunny, a real low-point in Hitch's career).