The Collector (1965)

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

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

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allyson Ames	...	First Victim (uncredited)
Gordon Barclay	...	Clerk (uncredited)
William Bickley	...	Crutchley (uncredited)
David Haviland	...	Clerk (uncredited)
Kenneth More	...	(uncredited)
Edina Ronay	...	Nurse / Next Victim (uncredited)

Directed by
William Wyler

Writing credits
John Fowles		(novel)
Stanley Mann		(writer) and
John Kohn		(writer)
Terry Southern		uncredited

Produced by
Jud Kinberg	....	producer
John Kohn	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Robert Krasker		(non-studio segments)
Robert Surtees		(studio segments)

Film Editing by
David Hawkins
Robert Swink

Art Direction by
John Stoll

Set Decoration by
Frank Tuttle

Makeup Department
Ruby Felker	....	hair stylist
Harold Fletcher	....	makeup artist
Virginia Jones	....	hair stylist
Rex Lane	....	makeup supervisor
Don Schoenfeld	....	makeup artist
Pearl Tipaldi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Philip Shipway	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roy Baird	....	assistant director
Sergei Petschnikoff	....	assistant director
Robert Swink	....	second unit director

Art Department
Tom Plews	....	property master
Robin Vaccarino	....	draughtsman

Sound Department
Cyril Collick	....	sound recordist
Clem Portman	....	sound re-recordist
Charles J. Rice	....	sound supervisor
Jack Solomon	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
John Harris	....	camera operator
Andrew J. McIntyre	....	camera operator
Norman Warwick	....	camera operator: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Vi Alford	....	wardrobe: women
Brenda Dabbs	....	wardrobe mistress
Jack Martell	....	wardrobe: men

Music Department
Richard C. Harris	....	music editor (as Richard Harris)

Other crew
Isabelle Blodgett	....	script supervisor
Kathleen Freeman	....	dialogue coach
Richard Kuhn	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Collector Company
• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Bavaria Filmgesellschaft m.b.H. (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

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:

The story makes constant reference to Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". In "The Tempest" Miranda is Prospero's daughter. Fred Clegg also refers to himself as "Ferdinand", or "Ferdie" to disguise his identity. Ferdinand is the name of Alonso's son in the play. Miranda, however, calls Fred "Caliban", who is an ugly misshapen dwarf in the play.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: You can call Freddie "Lightning" because of the speed he can change his socks. When he and Miranda agree on the four weeks, we can see that in the cellar Freddie has brown socks on. But right after that when he sits down in the garden, his socks are blue.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Laverne & Shirley: The Collector (#5.19)" (1980)

Emotionally, very draining

Watching this movie will leave you depressed. This is not a criticism of the film, but rather the subject matter of the film itself and is testimony to the excellent direction from William Wyler in bringing John Fowld's novel to the screen. A haunting and a quite moving almost lyrical musical score from Maurice Jarre, succeeds in giving the movie resonance, along with the perfect casting of Samantha Eggar and Terence Stamp.

That, Samantha Eggar, conveys such an air of ethereal beauty and simply radiates an intrinsic unaffected innocence in her portrayal of the hapless prisoner, one's feeling of despondency in watching this movie becomes more acute as the story grinds painfully on - at the protagonist's narrative pace - inexorably to its conclusion.

A personal barometer, for me, in evaluating whether a movie succeeds or not-either to entertain or to enlighten-is its enduring impact long after I've left the theatre. This movie has stayed with me for over 25 years.