Family Plot
Encyclopedia
Family Plot is a 1976 American dark comedy
/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
, his fifty-third and final film. It stars Barbara Harris
, Bruce Dern
, William Devane
, and Karen Black
.
The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival
, but was not entered into the main competition. There were two working titles: Deceit and Missing Heir.
, Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris
), and her con artist
taxi driver boyfriend, George Lumley (Bruce Dern
), who attempt to locate the nephew of a wealthy and guiltridden old woman, Julia Rainbird (Cathleen Nesbitt
). Julia, one of Blanche's clients, was responsible for her now-deceased sister giving up a boy for adoption
years earlier and now wants to make him her heir. She will pay $10,000 if he is found.
However, the nephew and prospective heir is now a successful jeweler in San Francisco
known as Arthur Adamson (William Devane
), who has a secret and lurid past, having apparently murdered his adoptive parents and faked his own death. With his girlfriend, Fran (Karen Black
), he has successfully kidnapped an assortment of millionaires and dignitaries, returning them when the ransom
, a valuable gemstone
, has been delivered, each of which they hide in their chandelier
.
When Arthur learns that Blanche and George are pursuing him, he suspects the worst, putting their lives in danger.
, based on the novel The Rainbird Pattern
(1972
) (ISBN 0-441-70393-3) by Victor Canning
. Lehman wanted the film to be sweeping, dark, and dramatic but Hitchcock kept pushing him toward lightness and comedy. Lehman's screenplay earned him a 1977 Edgar Award
from the Mystery Writers of America
.
The novel on which the film is based had earlier been rejected by Ernest Lehman, to whom it had been submitted as a potential project for him to either produce and/or direct. Hitchcock's other collaboration with the screenwriter, North by Northwest
(1959), was followed by several aborted projects. Lehman had incurred the director's anger by declining an offer to write the screenplay for No Bail For the Judge, a London set thriller intended to star Audrey Hepburn
, Laurence Harvey
and actor John Williams
. Although Hitchcock eventually had a fine screenplay and pre-production (location scouting
and costumes) was at an advanced stage, the film was never made; Hepburn became pregnant and Hitchcock turned to another project, Psycho
(1960), instead.
Hitchcock, who often liked to specify the locales of his films by using on-screen titles or by using recognizable landmarks, deliberately left the story's location unspecific, using sites in both San Francisco and Los Angeles
. The chase scene in the movie, which writer Donald Spoto called a spoof on car chases prevalent in films at the time, was filmed on the extensive Universal backlot. The restaurant used in the film was also built on the backlot and was shown on studio tours in 1975.
Alfred Hitchcock's signature cameo in Family Plot he can be seen (40 minutes into the film) in silhouette through the glass door of the Registrar of Births and Deaths.
Following Family Plot, Hitchcock worked on the script for a projected spy thriller, The Short Night
. His declining health prevented the filming of the screenplay, which was published in a book on Hitchcock's last years. Universal chose not to film the script with another director, although it did authorize sequels to Hitchcock's Psycho
.
An advertisement for this film can be seen in the 1993 comedy film, Dazed and Confused
, when characters pass a drive-in movie theater.
and Roy Scheider
(for Adamson), Al Pacino
(for George), Faye Dunaway
(for Fran), and Beverly Sills
and Goldie Hawn
(for Blanche) for the film. High salary demands were partly responsible for his turning to other actors. Although Liza Minnelli
was among the stars recommended to Hitchcock, he was especially delighted to work with Barbara Harris
as the medium. He had previously tried to hire her for other film projects. Harris was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Musical/Comedy
for her performance in this film.
Hitchcock had earlier worked with Bruce Dern
on episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
and on Marnie
(1964), in which he had a brief role in a flashback playing a doomed sailor.
William Devane
was Hitchcock's first choice for the role of nefarious jeweler Arthur Adamson, but Devane was unavailable when the film went into production. Hitchcock finally settled on Roy Thinnes
as Adamson and shot several scenes with him. When Devane became available, Hitchcock fired Thinnes and re-shot all of his scenes. Later, Thinnes confronted Hitchcock in a restaurant and asked the director why he was fired. Hitchcock simply looked at Thinnes until the actor left. Some shots of Thinnes as the character (from behind) remain in the film.
Jack Nicholson
turned down the role of George Lumley due to scheduling conflicts with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
.
, a rising staff composer at Universal who had recently won an Oscar for Steven Spielberg
's Jaws
. Williams has stated that Hitchcock wanted choir voices for Madame Blanche to make her seem psychic towards the beginning. Williams also stated that Hitchcock was at the scoring sessions most of the time and would often give him suggestions. One being when Maloney suddenly disappears from Adamson's office, Hitchcock suggested that he stop the music when the camera cuts to the open window, that way it would show the audience that Maloney is gone. Hitchcock then went on to say, "Mr. Williams, Murder can be fun" when he suggested to conduct the music lightly on a darker scene of the film. Williams stated that it was a great privilege, and he had a wonderful working experience with the director.
The complete Soundtrack was not originally released upon the film's release date. Few themes from the film were released on John Williams and Alfred Hitchcock compilation albums. For years afterwards, the original soundtrack was made unavailable, spawning many bootleg copies of the complete scoring sessions of the film over the internet. Finally in 2010, Varése Sarabande Records made an official release of the complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 34 years after the films initial release.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, his fifty-third and final film. It stars Barbara Harris
Barbara Harris (actress)
Barbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
, Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
, William Devane
William Devane
William Joseph Devane is an American film, television and theater actor.-Life and career:Devane was born in Albany, New York in 1937 or 1939 , the son of Joseph Devane, who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York...
, and Karen Black
Karen Black
Karen Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
.
The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival
1976 Cannes Film Festival
The 29th Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-28, 1976. A new section, 'L'Air du temps', which is non-competitive and focuses on contemporary subjects, is introduced at this festival and discontinued after the next.- Jury :...
, but was not entered into the main competition. There were two working titles: Deceit and Missing Heir.
Family Plot
The story involves a fake psychicPsychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
, Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris
Barbara Harris (actress)
Barbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
), and her con artist
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
taxi driver boyfriend, George Lumley (Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
), who attempt to locate the nephew of a wealthy and guiltridden old woman, Julia Rainbird (Cathleen Nesbitt
Cathleen Nesbitt
Cathleen Mary Nesbitt, CBE was an English stage and film actress.-Biography:Born in Cheshire, England in 1888, of Welsh and Irish descent, Nesbitt was educated in Lisieux, France, and at the Queen's University of Belfast and the Sorbonne...
). Julia, one of Blanche's clients, was responsible for her now-deceased sister giving up a boy for adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
years earlier and now wants to make him her heir. She will pay $10,000 if he is found.
However, the nephew and prospective heir is now a successful jeweler in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
known as Arthur Adamson (William Devane
William Devane
William Joseph Devane is an American film, television and theater actor.-Life and career:Devane was born in Albany, New York in 1937 or 1939 , the son of Joseph Devane, who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York...
), who has a secret and lurid past, having apparently murdered his adoptive parents and faked his own death. With his girlfriend, Fran (Karen Black
Karen Black
Karen Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
), he has successfully kidnapped an assortment of millionaires and dignitaries, returning them when the ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
, a valuable gemstone
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
, has been delivered, each of which they hide in their chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
.
When Arthur learns that Blanche and George are pursuing him, he suspects the worst, putting their lives in danger.
Cast
- Barbara HarrisBarbara Harris (actress)Barbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
as Blanche Tyler - Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as George Lumley - Karen BlackKaren BlackKaren Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
as Fran - William DevaneWilliam DevaneWilliam Joseph Devane is an American film, television and theater actor.-Life and career:Devane was born in Albany, New York in 1937 or 1939 , the son of Joseph Devane, who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York...
as Arthur Adamson/Edward Shoebridge - Cathleen NesbittCathleen NesbittCathleen Mary Nesbitt, CBE was an English stage and film actress.-Biography:Born in Cheshire, England in 1888, of Welsh and Irish descent, Nesbitt was educated in Lisieux, France, and at the Queen's University of Belfast and the Sorbonne...
as Julia Rainbird - Ed LauterEd LauterEdward Lauter is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and was a stand up comic before getting into acting.Lauter was born in Long Beach, Long Island, New York...
as Joseph P. Maloney - Katherine HelmondKatherine HelmondKatherine Marie Helmond is an American film, theater and television actress, who played Emily Dickinson on Meeting of Minds, as well as such fictional characters as Jessica Tate on Soap, Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss?, Doris Sherman on Coach, and Lois Whelan on Everybody Loves...
as Mrs. Maloney - Nicholas ColasantoNicholas ColasantoNicholas Colasanto was an American actor and television director, known primarily for his role as Coach Ernie Pantusso on the sitcom Cheers...
as Constantine - Edith AtwaterEdith AtwaterEdith Atwater was an American stage, film and television actress.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Atwater made her Broadway debut in 1933. In 1939 she starred in The Man Who Came to Dinner....
as Mrs. Clay - Warren J. Kemmerling as Grandison
- William PrinceWilliam Prince (actor)William LeRoy Prince was an American actor who appeared in numerous soap operas and made dozens of guest appearances on primetime series as well as playing villains in movies like The Gauntlet and Spontaneous Combustion.-Biography:Prince was born in Nichols, New York, the son of Myrtle , a nurse...
as Bishop Wood - Marge RedmondMarge RedmondMarge Redmond is an American actress.-Background/Family:Margery Redmond was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924. She was the first wife of the late actor Jack Weston, with whom she developed her acting craft at the Cleveland Play House after they married in 1950...
as Vera Hannagan
Production
The film was adapted for the screen by Ernest LehmanErnest Lehman
Ernest Lehman was an American screenwriter. He received 6 Academy Award nominations during his screenwriting career...
, based on the novel The Rainbird Pattern
The Rainbird Pattern
The Rainbird Pattern is a 1972 novel by Victor Canning.It was adapted for the screen by Ernest Lehman in 1976 and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock under the title Family Plot....
(1972
1972 in literature
The year 1972 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Fiction:*Richard Adams - Watership Down*Jorge Amado - Teresa Batista Cansada da Guerra *Martin Amis - The Rachel Papers...
) (ISBN 0-441-70393-3) by Victor Canning
Victor Canning
Victor Canning was a prolific writer of novels and thrillers who flourished in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, but whose reputation has faded since his death in 1986...
. Lehman wanted the film to be sweeping, dark, and dramatic but Hitchcock kept pushing him toward lightness and comedy. Lehman's screenplay earned him a 1977 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
.
The novel on which the film is based had earlier been rejected by Ernest Lehman, to whom it had been submitted as a potential project for him to either produce and/or direct. Hitchcock's other collaboration with the screenwriter, North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
(1959), was followed by several aborted projects. Lehman had incurred the director's anger by declining an offer to write the screenplay for No Bail For the Judge, a London set thriller intended to star Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
and actor John Williams
John Williams (actor)
John Williams was an English stage, film and television actor. He is remembered for his role as chief inspector Hubbard in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder, and as portraying the second "Mr...
. Although Hitchcock eventually had a fine screenplay and pre-production (location scouting
Location scouting
Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work that is shot outside of the studio, the search for a...
and costumes) was at an advanced stage, the film was never made; Hepburn became pregnant and Hitchcock turned to another project, Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
(1960), instead.
Hitchcock, who often liked to specify the locales of his films by using on-screen titles or by using recognizable landmarks, deliberately left the story's location unspecific, using sites in both San Francisco and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The chase scene in the movie, which writer Donald Spoto called a spoof on car chases prevalent in films at the time, was filmed on the extensive Universal backlot. The restaurant used in the film was also built on the backlot and was shown on studio tours in 1975.
Alfred Hitchcock's signature cameo in Family Plot he can be seen (40 minutes into the film) in silhouette through the glass door of the Registrar of Births and Deaths.
Following Family Plot, Hitchcock worked on the script for a projected spy thriller, The Short Night
The Short Night
The Short Night was a film planned by Alfred Hitchcock. The project was originally announced in the late 1960s at the time of Topaz and Hitchcock scouted locations in Finland...
. His declining health prevented the filming of the screenplay, which was published in a book on Hitchcock's last years. Universal chose not to film the script with another director, although it did authorize sequels to Hitchcock's Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
.
An advertisement for this film can be seen in the 1993 comedy film, Dazed and Confused
Dazed and Confused
"Dazed and Confused" is a song by Jake Holmes, which was covered by The Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin who hold a separate copyright on the song.-Jake Holmes:...
, when characters pass a drive-in movie theater.
Casting
Hitchcock considered such actors as Burt ReynoldsBurt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
and Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
(for Adamson), Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
(for George), Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
(for Fran), and Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
and Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
(for Blanche) for the film. High salary demands were partly responsible for his turning to other actors. Although Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
was among the stars recommended to Hitchcock, he was especially delighted to work with Barbara Harris
Barbara Harris (actress)
Barbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
as the medium. He had previously tried to hire her for other film projects. Harris was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Musical/Comedy
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1950...
for her performance in this film.
Hitchcock had earlier worked with Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
on episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
and on Marnie
Marnie (film)
Marnie is a 1964 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel of the same name by Winston Graham. The film stars Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. The original film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.-Plot:...
(1964), in which he had a brief role in a flashback playing a doomed sailor.
William Devane
William Devane
William Joseph Devane is an American film, television and theater actor.-Life and career:Devane was born in Albany, New York in 1937 or 1939 , the son of Joseph Devane, who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York...
was Hitchcock's first choice for the role of nefarious jeweler Arthur Adamson, but Devane was unavailable when the film went into production. Hitchcock finally settled on Roy Thinnes
Roy Thinnes
Roy Thinnes is an American television and film actor best known for his portrayal of lonely hero David Vincent in the ABC 1967-68 television series The Invaders. He also played Alfred Wentworth in the pilot episode of Law & Order...
as Adamson and shot several scenes with him. When Devane became available, Hitchcock fired Thinnes and re-shot all of his scenes. Later, Thinnes confronted Hitchcock in a restaurant and asked the director why he was fired. Hitchcock simply looked at Thinnes until the actor left. Some shots of Thinnes as the character (from behind) remain in the film.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
turned down the role of George Lumley due to scheduling conflicts with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
.
Music
The film was the only Hitchcock production to be scored by John WilliamsJohn Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
, a rising staff composer at Universal who had recently won an Oscar for Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
. Williams has stated that Hitchcock wanted choir voices for Madame Blanche to make her seem psychic towards the beginning. Williams also stated that Hitchcock was at the scoring sessions most of the time and would often give him suggestions. One being when Maloney suddenly disappears from Adamson's office, Hitchcock suggested that he stop the music when the camera cuts to the open window, that way it would show the audience that Maloney is gone. Hitchcock then went on to say, "Mr. Williams, Murder can be fun" when he suggested to conduct the music lightly on a darker scene of the film. Williams stated that it was a great privilege, and he had a wonderful working experience with the director.
The complete Soundtrack was not originally released upon the film's release date. Few themes from the film were released on John Williams and Alfred Hitchcock compilation albums. For years afterwards, the original soundtrack was made unavailable, spawning many bootleg copies of the complete scoring sessions of the film over the internet. Finally in 2010, Varése Sarabande Records made an official release of the complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 34 years after the films initial release.