The Collector (1965)

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

John Fowles (novel)
Stanley Mann (writer) ...

Release Date:

17 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Almost a love story

Plot:

A man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there.

Plot Keywords:

Butterfly | Bank | Bank Clerk | Friend | Art Student

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Terence Stamp	...	Freddie Clegg
Samantha Eggar	...	Miranda Grey
Mona Washbourne	...	Aunt Annie
Maurice Dallimore	...	The Neighbor

Also Known As:

The Butterfly Collector (UK)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (flashback sequence) | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:X (1965) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Argentina:13 | Finland:(Banned) (1965) | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Chilham, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Collector Company

Trivia:

When Freddie is stalking Miranda she walks by a cinema that shows that Ben-Hur is playing. Director William Wyler also directed Ben-Hur.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Freddie is trying to silence Miranda when she is in the bath, the cones covering her nipples can be clearly seen.

Quotes:

Freddie Clegg: What's got four ears and eight legs?
Miranda Grey: What?
Freddie Clegg: Two dogs.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paprika (2006)

an 'ahead of its time' classic

Long before Hannibal Lecter's first appearance on celluloid, William Wyler's "The Collector" presented us with the premise of the gentleman killer, although you do not think of him as a killer.

The Collector refers to a lonely butterfly collector played by Terrence Stamp, who lives by himself in rural England. He kidnaps a pretty college student played by Samantha Eggar. He has no plans to hurt her but feels that the more time she spends with him, the more chances she will fall in love with him

That backstory is the major difference between "The Collector" and your other serial killer movies. Today's serial killer movies starts with the mad killer. The Collector starts out fairly innocently and slowly loses that sense of kindness. The movie's end is almost the opening of today's murderer movies.

The two person cast is outstanding. Terence Stamp is wonderfully creepy- and smart! However he does give off a sense of pathos. You really hope that he could hook up with Samantha Eggar. Eggar's performance is brilliant. She is sexy, yet gives off a vulnerability and later on desperation.

Wyler's direction is wonderful when you consider he essentially has two actors in one set (for a comparison rent Hitchcock's "Rope").Even with these limitations, he still creates suspense and compels you to watch even though there's not a lot of 'stuff' going on.

"The Collector" is an underrated gem, perfect to rent when "Hannibal" or "Along came a Spider" is out at the video store