Family Plot was adapted for the screen by Ernest Lehman, based on Victor Canning’s 1972 novel “The Rainbird Pattern.”
Lehman wanted to write a dark and dramatic feature, but Hitchcock kept pushing him toward a light and frothy comedy.
Lehman’s screenplay earned the 1977 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
The novel on which the film is based had earlier been rejected by Lehman; it had been submitted as potential project for him to either produce or direct, or both.
Hitchcock’s other collaboration with the screenwriter was on the far superior, North by Northwest (1959), one of his best and most commercial pictures.
That 1959 movie was followed by several aborted projects. Lehman declined to write the script for No Bail for the Judge, a thriller set in London, starring Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Harvey and John Williams.
Although Hitchcock eventually had a screenplay, and pre-production (location scouting and costumes) was advanced, the film was never made; Hepburn became pregnant and Hitchcock turned to another project, Psycho (1960), instead.
By September 1973, Ernest Lehman had been persuaded to do the adaptation again, Hitchcock said that he intended to keep only the bare-bones of Canning’s novel and to relocate the story from England to California.
He dropped Canning’s title and the project was branded “Deceit,” and ultimately retitled Family Plot.
Hitchcock deliberately left the story’s location unspecific, using sites in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The chase scene in the movie, a spoof on car chases prevalent in films at the time (“Bullitt,” “The French Connection”) was shot on the Universal backlot.
The restaurant in the film was also built on the backlot and was shown on studio tours in 1975.
Hitchcock’s Signature Cameo
Hitchcock’s signature cameo in Family Plot can be seen 40 minutes into the film. He appears in silhouette through the glass door of the Registrar of Births and Deaths.
After Family Plot, Hitchcock worked on the script for a projected spy thriller, The Short Night. His declining health prevented the shoot of the screenplay, which was published in a book during Hitchcock’s last years.
Universal chose not to film the script with another director, though it did authorize sequels to Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Casting
Hitchcock considered Burt Reynolds and Roy Scheider (for Adamson), Al Pacino (for George), Faye Dunaway (for Fran), and Goldie Hawn (for Blanche).
Cybill Shepherd had hoped to play the part of Fran, which eventually went to Karen Black.
Salary demands were partly responsible for his turning to other actors. Although Liza Minnelli was among the stars recommended, he was delighted to work with Barbara Harris as the medium. He had previously tried to hire her for other film projects.
Bruce Dern
Hitchcock had earlier worked with Bruce Dern on TV episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” and on Marnie (1964), in which he had a brief role in a flashback playing a doomed sailor.
