The Collector (1965 film)

The Collector
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William Wyler
Produced by	Jud Kinberg John Kohn
Written by	Stanley Mann John Kohn John Fowles (novel)
Starring	Terence Stamp Samantha Eggar Mona Washbourne
Music by	Maurice Jarre
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	June 17, 1965 (1965-06-17)
Running time	119 minutes
Language	English

The Collector is a 1965 film based on the 1963 novel The Collector by John Fowles. The film was adapted by Stanley Mann and John Kohn and was directed by William Wyler, who turned down The Sound of Music to do it. It starred Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar.

Plot summary

Frederick Clegg is a lonely young man who collects butterflies. After winning a large sum of money in a football pool, he buys an isolated country house and begins stalking pretty, young art student, Miranda Grey. One day in the city, Frederick kidnaps and chloroforms Miranda. He loads her unconscious body into the back of his van and drives to his house, locking Miranda in the windowless stone cellar that he has prepared with a bed, some furnishings, and an electric heater. When Miranda awakens, Frederick confesses his love for her, and explains that he only wants time for her to get to know him. At first, Miranda angrily demands to be released, but later agrees to stay for four weeks, but only if he gives her his word that he will let her go at the end of that time.

Miranda stays locked in the cellar, except for occasional baths in the main house. At one point Frederick proudly shows her his massive butterfly collection. She is shocked by the living beauty he has destroyed, and realizes that he's "collected" her. Four weeks go by, during which Frederick discovers and prevents a number of clever escape attempts by Miranda. On the night of her promised release, Frederick surprises Miranda with a formal dinner and champagne. He presents her with a wedding ring and asks her to marry him. When Miranda agrees, Frederick becomes suspicious of her motives. They argue, and he chloroforms her and locks her in the basement again.

During her next outing in the main house, Miranda attempts to seduce Frederick. He is appalled, and tells her he has lost all respect for her, and he can't allow her to leave. Miranda realizes just how unstable Frederick is, and that she will never leave alive. While being taken back to the cellar in the rain, she seizes a nearby shovel and strikes Frederick in the head with it. Frederick is wounded, but he manages to pull her back into the cellar, breaking the heater during their struggles. Frederick then drives his van to a hospital and is helped inside by a nurse. Miranda remains locked in the cold cellar, soaking wet.

Frederick returns a few days later to find Miranda terribly ill, and he goes into town to get a doctor. There, Frederick stops himself from going inside the doctor's office, instead returning alone with some medicine. He enters the cellar to find Miranda dead. In a voice over, he says it was Miranda's fault for not trying to get to know him and for losing his respect. He reveals that Miranda is buried under a tree on his property in a box he made, and she got everything she deserved. He says his only mistake was trying to deal with someone like Miranda, who was much too clever and of a different social background. He has decided that he needs to find someone simpler and more common that he can "teach". The final scene shows Frederick back behind the wheel of his van, stalking a young nurse.

Cast

• Terence Stamp as Freddie Clegg
• Samantha Eggar as Miranda Grey
• Mona Washbourne as Aunt Annie
• Maurice Dallimore as Neighbour
• Allyson Ames as First victim
• William Bickley as Crutchley
• Gordon Barclay as Clerk
• David Haviland as Clerk
• Edina Ronay as the Nurse
• Kenneth More as 'GP' (scenes deleted)

Reception

The film opened to positive praise and many felt it was the finest psychological thriller William Wyler made (it was Wyler's first and only thriller). Stamp won the Best Actor Award and Eggar won the Best Actress Award at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Samantha Eggar), Best Director (William Wyler) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Terence Stamp later confessed in his autobiography his own surprise as being chosen for the role, expecting Anthony Perkins or John Hurt to play Clegg. Having been chosen, he assumed (as had most others) that Julie Christie — regarded at that time as the best young actress of the era — would be given the role of Miranda, but Wyler chose Eggar because he thought it would introduce the correct air of sexual tension and awkwardness between the two protagonists — Stamp having been turned down by Eggar when both were at college.

Terry Southern did a re-write on the script for William Wyler. The producers asked for Miranda to be rescued at the end, and Southern wrote a scene where she created a paper mache duplicate of herself, tricking Freddie into entering the cellar, and then running out and locking him in. Miranda would then be seen picnicing with friends outside the country house, and the last shot would be of the cellar door.

Behind the Scenes

The Collector (1965) was originally a longer film. According to Book "The Unkindest Cuts: The Scissors and the Cinema," William Wyler hated to cut this film and Kenneth More's entire co-starring role. Wyler said: "Some of the finest footage I ever shot wound up on the cutting room floor, including Kenneth's part." In the book "Conversations with John Fowles", John Fowles reveals that the original cut of The Collector ran more than 3 hours.

Even though Eggar was unhappy with Stamp's cold treatment of her during the filming, she couldn't have known that he was simply following Wyler's instructions and staying in character. Stamp later said, "All the guys had crushes on her, she was so beautiful...I had a crush on her, too, and I was friendly with her. But when we started the movie, Willy said, 'I don't want you to have anything to do with her.' He wanted me to withdraw any friendship. He didn't want her to have anywhere to go or anyone to talk to, except her coach. He didn't want her to be able to come to me in the evening and say, 'God, it's so awful.'

Location

The location of the outdoor opening kidnap sequence is in Mount Vernon, Hampstead. The closing scenes of the movie were filmed in Forest Row, East Sussex.

External links

• The Collector film profile at The New York Times
• The Collector at the Internet Movie Database
• The Collector (1965 film) at AllRovi