MovieChat Forums > Family Plot (1976) Discussion > Hitchcock's last 5 Movies

Hitchcock's last 5 Movies

posted 17 years ago by suckerdwsp316
31 replies | jump to latest

The Birds was Hitchcock's last classic.

From then it was mostly mixed-

Marnie was terrible. Totally uninteresting, not suspenseful, not exciting, just plain boring.

Torn Curtain was really good though, an underrated hitch flick. In fact it reminded me of The Man Who Knew Too Much in many ways.

Haven't gotten around to seeing Topaz, because I don't want to waste 2 1/2 hours of my life which I think I will if I see it.

Frenzy is Hitchcock's worst film. Thats right- WORST. Wow, overrated would be a complete understatement. It wasn't thrilling or scary at all. So bad, so bad ...

Family Plot was Hitchcock's redemption. I liked this movie despite its flaws. It wasn't a great film, but it was pretty good for a last film. Hitchcock should of worked more with Lehman, he was such a great screenwriter and I just loved the plot (no pun intended!) of this movie.

[–] ecarle 17 years ago

I find myself liking the final five, individually and together, better than a certain number of his films from the 30's and 40's. I like them better than, say, Spellbound and Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Under Capricorn and The Paradine Case and Stage Fright ('50.).

Sure, Hitchcock was getting old and getting sick and Universal constrained him. But his upward movement towards total mastery from 1951 to 1960 ensured that the "old" Hitchcock of the 60's was a man who had "done it all" and could make good films with one hand tied behind his back.

I like those final five films because they feature two of the biggest male stars of all time -- Sean Connery and Paul Newman -- being forced by Hitchocck to play rather perversely unappetizing characters.

I like those final five films because when he couldn't use major stars anymore, Hitchcock used fine foreign actors like Phillipe Noiret and Michael Piccoli (Topaz), the entire largely staged-trained cast of British unknowns in "Frenzy" (perhaps the most technically-skilled and realistic cast in all of Hitchcock), and compelling quirky "New Hollywood" actors like Bruce Dern, Karen Black, William Devane and Barbara Harris.

I like those final five films because, unconstrained the by the prudish Hays Code, Hitchocck could unleash his particular strain of dysfunctional sexuality in "Marnie" and "Frenzy" -- the two most "adult" films in his collection. Indeed, all five of those films are "hipper" to me than the Hitchcocks of the decades before. He caught up.

I like those final five films because two of them -- "Torn Curtain" and "Topaz" -- are about the two most compelling political issues (aside from Vietnam) of the 60's: The Iron Curtain and The Cuban Missile Crisis. Those two films are also about the threat of nucelar war, which makes them, like "The Birds," about the end of the world.

I like those final five films because they feature one final great Bernard Herrmann score ("Marnie") and Hitchcock's only musical collaborations with Maurice Jarre ("Topaz") and John Williams ("Family Plot")

I like those final five films because two of them -- "Torn Curtain" and "Topaz" -- are about the life of a defector: a man who leaves his home country to live in another country, feeling at home in neither country. Just like Alfred Hitchcock.

Finally, I like those final five films because except for "Marnie," I saw all of them when they came out. In the theater (with either my parents or myself paying for the ticket.) Fond personal memories of being an actual paying customer of Hitchcock. For "Topaz," the theater lobby was festooned with giant pictures of Hitchcock and there were several tables with copies of the "Hitchcock/Trufaut" book; he was being sold as an auteur. And I saw "Family Plot" at the premiere, with Hitch there.

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[–] ecarle 17 years ago

"Frenzy" made the Ten Best Movies of the Year lists (along with "The Godfather," "Cabaret,") of...

Time
Newsweek
Life
The New York Times
The Los Angeles Times
The New Yorker

The duel suspense of the killer's murders and the wrong man being accused of them and hunted was...pretty damn suspenseful.

[–] suckerdwsp316 17 years ago

Yeah I thought it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

[–] ecarle 17 years ago

Alrighty, then!

[–] filmofyoursoul 17 years ago

.well luckily the film remains the same ..maybe you didn't enjoy FRENZY , but it is still a good film, even if you get it or not... as are all the 5 films discussed worthy to people who study film.... "Marnie" boring ? wow I am sorry ... when I hear statements like this ........luckily for the rest of us , as I have said, the film remains and will remain the same for all time.

and ecarle I am very envious of you having seen all these films in a theater I am younger so did not have that opportunity, but even I can see these films are special.. works of a master and genius and I wouldn't be so ludicrous as to call these works anything but WORTHWHILE NOTEWORTHY efforts on so many different levels I could not even begin to delve into with the limited amount of space here.

[–] jenniferles1000 16 years ago

I dont agree at all Torn Curtain is his worst movie Marnie is decent, Frenzy is excellent and shocking, Topaz is worth a look But yeah the birds is a classic.

Watched Family Plot l;ast night good but not great.

[–] tim-bateman 17 years ago

It certainly goes against what is becoming the conventional wisdom. Torn Curtain seems never to have been generally well-regarded, but people seem to be coming round to Marnie (well, yeah, for the last two decades...).

Only seen Torn Curtain the once myself, so ought to re-view it before judgement... but my memory of it is not moving me in this direction. Marnie is one of my favourite Hitchcock films.

[–] ecarle 17 years ago

A funny thing that I have had to confront in recent years is that I have extremely strong affection for all the films Hitchcock made after "The Birds."

I generally prefer the 60's-70's stuff to most of the 40's stuff, probably because the later films just seem more contemporary. Sean Connery and Paul Newman were top stars of the 60's; Julie Andrews extremely major. "Topaz" has Phillipe Noiret and Michael Piccoli, extremely respected stars of the foreign film (Noiret) went on to greater fame with "Cinema Paradiso" and "Il Postino." "Frenzy" is, to me, close to the top of Hitchocck, with a screenplay by Anthony Shaffer ("Sleuth"), a truly terrifying look at the reality of psychopathic sexual crimes, and a wonderfully nostalgic setting in Covent Garden (from Hitchcock's youth, this is his American Graffiti.) "Family Plot" has one of the greatest of Hitchocck plots (if a bit slow in the execution) and a hip cast hired pretty much out of Robert Altman and Bob Rafelson movies.

Those late films were the late work of a man who had mastered it all in the 50's and early 60's. Old and sick he may have been, but Hitchcock knew exactly what he wanted to do and say in those later years.

Bonus: I'm old enough to remember SEEING most of those, in the theater. Makes a difference. "Frenzy" ruled the summer of 1972 as few other films did, though "The Godfather" was still running strong that summer, too.

[–] filmofyoursoul 17 years ago

I think taken on their own account , these films are fine ..held up to the decade of masterpieces that preceded it ,(the 1950s) which was preceded by the 1940s and 1930s and we KNOW there was no shortage of masterworks for Hitch in those decades either ...
nevertheless if these last 5 are not up on that level , still when seen on FILM, in a theater, these works are much more powerful, and remain a valuable and rich experience.

[–] ecarle 17 years ago

I am quite serious about this:

I prefer:

Marnie
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot

to:

Suspicion
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Lifeboat
Spellbound
The Paradine Case

...there's just more going on in the later ones: sexual weirdness, brilliantly edited murders, criss-crossing characters and plots, a sense of geopolitics and, for the most part, either better stars (Connery, Newman) or more interesting actors (Noiret, Browne, Foster, Finch, Dern, Harris, Devane...)

And that "Family Plot" runaway car scene is really quite a terrific action sequence, IMHO.

[–] Mr_McLaurel 17 years ago

Well, to be fair, the movies you picked (except maybe Spellbound) aren't exactly the cream of the Hitchcock crop either way you cut it. Of course, neither are the ones you're comparing them to, so I guess that's the point.

What's the spanish for drunken bum?

[–] ecarle 17 years ago

That's true...its also my "subtle" way of saying that Hitchcock's career had a fair share of mediocrity "at both ends." It all rather rises to the peak of the 1951-1963 period, and then drifts down.

I have some real problems with "Spellbound." Its immediate adjacency to the perfect "Notorious" makes it seem even worse IMHO: more clunky in plot, less sharp in the casting of Bergman and (a too young and callow) Gregory Peck, too buried in exposition. Still, the Dali dream sequences are there as well as some good psychiatric stuff, the gun pointing at us at the end, and that shocking death flashback of Peck's brother.

Another take(that I've offered before): By the time Hitchcock made the films from "Marnie" onward, he had succeeded so spectacularly before them, that I think he just had "leftover genius" in him that allowed him to perservere even as age, health, Universal cheapness and the changing times swamped him. There are effortlessly brilliant things in "Torn Curtain," "Topaz," "Frenzy,(especiallly)" and "Family Plot." Hitchcock couldn't shake his inner sense of art.

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[–] Vincent_Ash 16 years ago

Are you jocking?

Marnie was a classic. Torn curtain was dull in some parts (the sponsor lady ect ect). Not seen Topaz. Frenzy was one of his best later movie, his return to form, can see hitchcock trademark direction. Family Plot was great. Just seen it.

Have seen 90% all of Hitchcork movies. His only movie i did not like was Torn curtain.

How in the world can you say Frenzy is his worst? It's an amazing 70's thriller.

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[–] grampashab 16 years ago

"Frenzy is Hitchcock's worst film. Thats right- WORST. Wow, overrated would be a complete understatement. It wasn't thrilling or scary at all. So bad, so bad ..."

No, it's just not like his other stuff. It may even be better.

LOVE Frenzy. How can Family Plot be better?

Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

[–] Monkey_Stew 16 years ago

I thought Marnie was great, and that Frenzy and Family Plot were pretty damn good. I haven't seen Torn Curtain or Topaz yet, but I'l probably watch them soon.

"Apology accepted, Captain Needa." -Darth Vader

[–] nosnojsirhc 16 years ago

ecarle,
your posts on hitchcock are thoughtful, informative and agreeable. i have the same sense overall of the later hitchcock - these aren't groundbreaking films in the way his higher decade-plus-a-few-years are, yet they are interesting, well-crafted films. for me, what set them apart as *better* (in a sense; i still enjoy the earlier stuff, just in different ways) is that AH has assembled over the years his *mood* which now takes over no matter what is going on. the earlier stuff does not always attain; he is either still searching or, at times, bogged down by producers. the later stuff comes after he was at the helm and had almost total control - having mastered every element of production, he now literally created the worlds the films take place in. thereby, as he ages, and loses his grasp of artistry and technical innovation, he maintains - as you say, merely by habit and familiarity - his ease of artful assembly, putting together films that remain strong, while not necessarily introducing startlingly new cinematic flourishes as he was once more likely to do. the mood, the whiff that says "I am a Hitchcock film", the bizarre, paced, quirky, creepy mood, sustains itself right through to the closeup on the chandelier at the end of Family Plot.

so have you considered writing a book of your musings on AH films? it would be interesting.

and to all those who constantly mention not having seen Topaz, or refusing to see it, or refraining from watching it, or avoiding it - watch it already! and several times! it's a pretty dang good movie! peace -

[–] ecarle 16 years ago

Thanks, and not sure about that book. The Hitchcock book market is, on the one hand, pretty full, and on the other, rather narrowing (I'll drop by bookstores and so often, all they have stocked is Hitchocck/Truffaut; not even the Spoto or McGilligan).

Also as you can see I skip grammar and editing and stuff with these posts. The "story is in there somewhere," but no book editor would let met get away with it. So, no, I don't think I'll be writing any book. The book is here in all my posts.

What I think I am mainly trying to communicate with these posts on Hitchocck, other than my interest in his films themselves, is pretty much every little factoid or anecdote I have vacuumed up in a lifetime of stumbling onto information about Hitchcock from old archives research and articles about OTHER film people and how they met Hitchocck, etc.

When I was in college(before the 'net), I would "reward" myself doing library research by giving myself an extra half hour or so to research Hitchcock's films and other movie stuff. Old copies of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Variety had all sorts of tidbits from the time of their production and release about Vertigo and North by Northwest and Psycho.

Like Anthony Perkins in 1960 on the success of Psycho: "I was going to quit movies,and then this comes along, likely the biggest grossing black and white movie in film histroy." The interviewer counter-offers "Birth of a Nation," and Perkins says, "well, maybe that will still be bigger." That was also the interview in which Perkins made the mistake of predicting his Oscar chances: "I think I'll be nominated, Janet too." She was. He wasn't.

---

As for those last 5 movies, I think you are absolutely right about Hitchcock's being "at the helm and with almost total control."

It was weird, but after Hitchcock blew "Torn Curtain" with big stars Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, it was almost as if Universal threw in the towel and said, "OK, Alfred just go make whatever you want, with whoever you can cast. Just keep the budgets low."

And so you get these very "experimental" last three films -- Topaz, Frenzy, and Family Plot -- in which Hitchcock IS the star, and the movies are rather taken over by visual patterns and sound tricks and silent passages, and neat shots. That Hitchocck is old and tired is apparent -- even in the rather solid "Frenzy" -- but that his mind is as stylish and playful as ever is almost wholly on display. As is -- as you have noted -- a great Hitchcockian MOOD. (Or as Hitchcock's friend critic Charles Champlin wrote of "Family Plot": "If you're wondering what you're getting in this movie that you don't get so often in movies anymore, it is perfect tone."

There were some really nasty reviews towards "Family Plot" Not one, but two, of the most mean-spirited young "killer critics" tore the movie apart and they both said the same dumb thing:

"Come in after the opening credits, and you'd never know it was a Hitchcock picture."

Honestly. Those two critics should have been fired for malpractice. I mean, if they can't RECOGNIZE a Hitchcock picture(in shot selection, POV shots, even in some of the references to other Hitchcock movies), what business do they have reviewing Hitchocck pictures?

"Family Plot" may be a sometimes slow, sometimes overwritten, sometimes cheap Hitchcock picture...but it is undeniably a Hitchcock picture. Often a good Hitchcock picture. And in some scenes, a great one.

[–] Powerslave2358 15 years ago

I enjoyed Marnie quite a bit, more so than the Birds, was very underwelmed with Frenzy, and thought Family Plot was a cute movie with some very classic Hitchcock scenes mixed in with some not so good stuff.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] ugotit-1 14 years ago

Here's what I think of his last five movies:
THE BIRDS: Very terrifying and extremely suspenseful.
MARNIE: An interesting psychological thriller but not his best film.
TORN CURTAIN: An average movie. Not the greatest film he ever made but it's also not the worst.
TOPAZ: Just awful. The only Hitchcock film that I hate with a passion. Slow and dull.
FRENZY: Excellent film. Full of suspense,humour and action!!
FAMILY PLOT: I didn't like this film at first but it grew on me. It's not his greatest film but it's definitely entertaining and fun!! Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris have great chemistry in this film!! Great ending to Hitchcock's career.

We all go a little mad sometimes...