alr

Family Plot

Screening on Film
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
With Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris.
US, 1976, 35mm, color, 120 min.

Although his career was revived a bit by the excellence of the brutal Frenzy, Hitchcock remained chastened by the failures of his work of the late 1960s, and he approached warily the making of what would become his last project. In the end, Family Plot marks a marvelous return to the comedies of his British and postwar periods. The film centers on a couple of petty crooks – a fake psychic and a con man – who find themselves in over their heads when they run afoul of more serious-minded criminals. The relaxed eccentricity of Family Plot shows Hitchcock adapting to the New Hollywood of the 1970s, and the film’s bemused attitude towards the scheming of its characters makes it a fitting coda to a career spent examining human foibles.

Part of film series

Read more

The Complete Alfred Hitchcock

Current and upcoming film series

Read more

Albert Serra, or Cinematic Time Regained

Read more

Wang Bing’s Youth Trilogy

Read more

Planet at 50

Read more

The Yugoslav Junction Continues!

Read more

Theo Anthony, Subject to Review

Read more

The Ideal Cinematheque of the Outskirts of the World

Read more

From the collection – Satyajit Ray

Read more

Mother’s Day Mini-Marathon