Taglines: She is young and innocent. He is young… and not so innocent.
The Collector movie storyline. After winning a large amount in the pool in Reading, the outcast bank clerk and entomologist Freddie Clegg buys an isolated house in the countryside. He stalks the art student Miranda Grey in London and uses chloroform to kidnap and bring her in his van to his house. The sociopath Freddie locks Miranda in the cellar and she discovers that he has had an unrequited crush on her since they were teenagers.
Freddie promises to respect Miranda with his platonic love and to release her in a month on June, 11th. He shows also his collection of butterflies carefully kept in a room. However, Miranda feels that she is another collectable species only for the deranged man that feels power and control with the situation ans he has no intention to let her go.
The Collector is a 1965 British / American psychological horror film directed by William Wyler, and starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar. Its plot follows a young Englishman who stalks a beautiful art student before abducting and holding her captive in the basement of his rural farmhouse. It is based on the 1963 novel of the same title by John Fowles, with the screenplay adapted by Stanley Mann and John Kohn. Director Wyler turned down The Sound of Music to direct the film.
Though set in England, the majority of The Collector was shot on soundstages in Los Angeles, California, though exterior sequences were filmed on location in London, Forest Row in East Sussex and Westerham in Kent. Filming occurred in the late spring and early summer of 1964. Wyler’s original cut ran approximately three hours but was trimmed to two at the insistence of the studio and producer.
The Collector premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1965, where both Stamp and Eggar won the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. Upon its theatrical release in June 1965, the film received largely favourable reviews. Eggar won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her performance, and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, while Wyler received a nomination for Best Director. It was the last of Wyler’s record 12 Academy Award nominations for Best Director.
The screenplay was written by Stanley Mann and John Kohn, based on the novel by John Fowles. However, Terry Southern did an uncredited script revision for Wyler after the producers became unhappy with the book’s original darker ending; they wanted Miranda to escape. Southern’s “happier” ending was rejected by Wyler.
Principal photography of The Collector began in May 1964 on the Columbia Pictures soundstages in Los Angeles, California.[12] Tensions between Eggar, and Wyler and Stamp, gave rise after Wyler privately instructed Stamp to stay in character and give Eggar the cold shoulder during the filming. Wyler himself was also unfriendly toward her on set, as he felt the atmosphere would impose a sense of isolation on Eggar, thus eliciting a stronger performance.
Fowles observed that “the favorite sport on the Columbia lot is making fun of her behind her back.” The stress on set resulted in Eggar losing 10 pounds (4.5 kg) during rehearsals and flubbing her lines. “I guess I was supposed to feel trapped, and I did,” she recalled. Three weeks into rehearsals, Wyler fired Eggar as he was displeased with her performance, resulting in the production shutting down.
After the film’s second-unit director completed a full read-through of the entire screenplay with Eggar, she was re-hired under the provision that Kathleen Freeman, a character actress, serve as her coach on set. Off-camera, Eggar was allowed to speak only to Freeman. Eggar stated that Wyler was “100% demanding. He works you to your peak. When it’s over, you realize that you have done the best you could possibly do.”
A journalist visiting the set during one day of filming noted: “The dialogue was tricky. The movement of the camera was difficult. It was the kind of scene that rubs nerves raw and kindles outbursts of temperament. But not when Wyler’s behind the camera. The doughty little director spent the entire morning rehearsing and then shooting the scene time and time again. Stamp and Eggar were as meek and cooperative as neophytes.”
In late June 1964, the production relocated to England for filming of the exterior scenes, which included on-location shooting in Mount Vernon, Hampstead, London, and Forest Row, East Sussex. The exteriors of Freddie’s house were filmed at a 400-year-old farmhouse in rural Kent. After location shoots were completed in England, the production returned to Los Angeles, where the remainder of the shoot occurred, concluding in mid-July. By the end of the shoot, Eggar had reportedly lost a total of 14 pounds (6.4 kg).
The original cut of The Collector ran for three hours. Because of pressure from his producers, Wyler was forced to cut the film heavily. This resulted in the complete removal of 35 minutes of prologue material starring Kenneth More. Wyler said, “Some of the finest footage I ever shot wound up on the cutting room floor, including Kenneth’s part.”
The Collector premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 1965, where both Stamp and Eggar won awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. This marked the first time in the Festival’s history that two performers in the same film won both Best Acting awards. The film had its North American premiere in New York City, opening on June 17, 1965. The film had a fall release in the United Kingdom, premiering in London on October 13, 1965.
The Collector (1965)
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar, Mona Washbourne, Maurice Dallimore, Kenneth More, Allyson Ames, Gordon Barclay, William Beckley, Edina Ronay, David Haviland
Screenplay by: Stanley Mann, John Kohn
Production Design by: Philip Shipway
Cinematography by: Robert Krasker, Robert Surtees
Film Editing by: David Hawkins, Robert Swink
Set Decoration by: Frank Tuttle
Art Direction by: John Stoll
Music by: Maurice Jarre
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: May 20, 1965 (Cannes), June 17, 1965 (U.S.), October 13, 1965 (London)
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