Frenzy (1972)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Arthur La Bern (novel)
Anthony Shaffer (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 June 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Just an ordinary necktie used with a deadly new twist. [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

A serial killer is murdering London women with a necktie. The police have a suspect... but he's the wrong man.

Plot Keywords:

Bartender | Auto Theft | Revenge | Whistling | Premarital Sex

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jon Finch	...	Richard Ian 'Dick' Blaney
Barry Foster	...	Robert 'Bob' Rusk
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Brenda Margaret Blaney
Anna Massey	...	Barbara Jane 'Babs' Milligan
Alec McCowen	...	Chief Inspector Oxford
Vivien Merchant	...	Mrs. Oxford
Billie Whitelaw	...	Hetty Porter
Clive Swift	...	Johnny Porter
Bernard Cribbins	...	Felix Forsythe
Michael Bates	...	Sergeant Spearman
Jean Marsh	...	Monica Barling
John Boxer	...	Sir George
Madge Ryan	...	Mrs. Davison
George Tovey	...	Neville Salt
Elsie Randolph	...	Gladys
Jimmy Gardner	...	Hotel Porter
Gerald Sim	...	Solicitor in Pub
Noel Johnson	...	Doctor in Pub
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joby Blanshard	...	Man in Crowd (uncredited)
Gerry Cowper	...	Spectator at Opening Rally (uncredited)
June Ellis	...	Maisie - Barmaid (uncredited)
Drewe Henley	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Spectator at Opening Rally (uncredited)
Robert Keegan	...	Hospital Patient (uncredited)
Bunny May	...	Barman (uncredited)
Jack Silk	...	Police Driver (uncredited)
Rita Webb	...	Mrs. Rusk (uncredited)
Jeremy Young	...	Detective (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Arthur La Bern		(novel "Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square")
Anthony Shaffer		(screenplay)

Produced by
William Hill	....	associate producer
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ron Goodwin

Cinematography by
Gilbert Taylor		(director of photography) (as Gil Taylor)
Leonard J. South		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
John Jympson

Casting by
Sally Nicholl

Production Design by
Syd Cain

Art Direction by
Robert W. Laing		(as Bob Laing)

Makeup Department
Harry Frampton	....	makeup artist
Patricia McDermott	....	hair stylist (as Pat McDermott)
Peter Frampton	....	makeup assistant (uncredited)

Production Management
Brian Burgess	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Colin M. Brewer	....	assistant director

Art Department
Simon Wakefield	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Rusty Coppleman	....	sound editor
Peter Handford	....	sound mixer
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound recordist
John Hayward	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Michael Hickey	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Albert Whitlock	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Wilson	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dulcie Midwinter	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Alan Strachan	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ron Goodwin	....	conductor

Other crew
Ian Goddard	....	location manager
Angela Martelli	....	continuity
Peggy Robertson	....	assistant: Mr. Hitchcock

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CIC (1972) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• CIC Video Ltd. (1989) (UK) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Universal Home Video (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Universal Pictures (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (DVD)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Spain:13 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-15 (2001) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1972) | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | USA:R (certificate no. 23143) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Italy:VM14 | Norway:16 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | West Germany:16 | UK:18 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Side Five of the DiscoVision LaserDisc release has every frame encoded with Auto Picture Stop, rendering it unplayable on all but a few models of laserdisc players.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the start of the movie Blaney is seen finishing the knot on his tie. In the next shot (of him coming down the staircase into the bar), he has the same tie but the colored stripes are different in the knot.

Quotes:

[Richard Blaney announcing himself to his wife's receptionist]
Richard Blaney: You can inform Mrs. Blaney that one of her less successful exercises in matrimony has come to see her: Mr. Blaney.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973) (TV)

Hitchcock's last good film

There's a necktie murderer running around London. He attempts to rape women (he can't he's impotent) and, in his rage, strangles them with his ties. A "nice" guy named Rusk (Barry Foster) is the killer but his best friend Richard (Jon Finch) is the one accused of it...

Hitchcock's first (and last) film in London since the 1950 "Stage Fright". Something about London seemed to rejuvenate him--his two movies before this ("Topaz" and "Torn Curtain") were slow, uninvolving and deadly dull. This moves quickly, has a good script and large doses of VERY black humor--much blacker than Hitchcock had ever attempted before. The film was also Hitchcock's first to get an R rating for a pretty explicit rape/strangulation and flashes of female nudity. To be honest, it's pretty tame by today's standards but still disturbing. It's kind of surprising that Hitchcock would get so vicious...but "Psycho"s shower stabbing was considered shocking for its time as was the scissors killing in "Dial M for Murder".

The acting varies wildly. Mostly everybody is very good--especially Foster, Jean Marsh (in a amusing small role) and Anna Massey. But Finch, as the main character, is terrible. He is handsome but his character is brutal, obnoxious and his acting is just horrendous. That drags the movie down as I didn't care for him at all.

The movie also contains many incredibly-directed sequences--especially the potato truck sequence and a reverse shot sequence. Also it has an infamous--and very funny--final line.

Bad acting from Finch aside this is a good movie and worth catching. I give it an 8.