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.

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.

Alfred Hitchcock directed this lighthearted suspense film, his last as it turned out. Barbara Harris plays scam artist and phony psychic Blanche Tyler, who stumbles onto a good thing when conducting a séance for elderly millionaire Julia Rainbird, who promises her $10,000 to locate her long-lost nephew, and would be heir. Blanche enlists the help of her boyfriend George Lumley(played by Bruce Dern) a taxi driver and private investigator to locate him, knowing only that he was adopted as a baby. This leads him to Arthur Adamson(played by William Devane) a wealthy jeweler and collector who also, with the help of his girlfriend Fran(played by Karen Black) are also kidnappers! Both couples get mixed up in each others affairs, until the climatic finale... Pleasant if unexceptional film is contrived but breezy and entertaining, proving to be an OK film for Sir Alfred Hitchcock to retire on.

The only thing that has a touch of Hitch in this, His last Movie, is the Tone. The Master Visualist is nowhere to be seen. The Film looks like most from the Seventies, flat and washed out. Yes, there is the Dry Wit and some Whimsy, but most things here are uninspired and at worst Dull.First, the casting of Bruce Dern, a delightfully demented Character Actor, can not stretch it enough to be a Leading Man, even if said Man is a bit of a Flake. He is just too odd looking to be a constant quest as a Sex Object. Second, the investigation part is so talky and bland that it brings the Movie to a halt early on.It isn't a Bad Movie and the intertwining Story of the two Grifter Couples is intriguing enough, but the whole thing just lies there with an occasional spark of Excellence to prop things up and move it along.However, there isn't enough to maintain its length and although there are some Fun Bits, it really is nothing more than an Entertaining, Puff Piece done by a Talent suffering from Health Issues and the Film seems like a bit of a struggle.Worth a look and has enough going for it to make it rewarding, but is among the Hitchcock lower tier and while not a Failure it is a hardly a Grand Success. Truth be told, Alfred Hitchcock never made an Awful Movie and has one of the best Won-Loss Records in Directorial History.