The Collector (1965)

"The Collector" falls within the "Psycho" tradition in focusing on the repressed sexual longings of a quietly alienated loner, but it's closer to "Peeping Tom" in portraying the sympathetic side of the killer. This is highlighted, first, by the performances themselves, which are superficially cold but in reality display a great deal of underlying warmth. But it's also underscored by the fact that William Wyler's madman is only an accidental murderer, his intention being only to harbor his object of desire, not murder her (murder, as it happens, being simply the "collateral" result of his own perversity).

"The Collector," in fact, is probably the most humanized portrait of a sociopath ever put on film, and Terence Stamp makes us realize in every scene just how starved for affection he is. Not even "Peeping Tom" rivals it in this respect, since the analytical approach of Michael Powell toward his deranged protagonist, not to mention the peculiar fetishism involved, prevents us from really identifying with him. By contrast, Stamp's character could easily represent any otherwise "normal" human being, who is merely more estranged and sensitive than most.

The DVD transfer of the film is fine, certainly not the best conversion of a sixties film I've seen, but still doing credit to the film. The sound is also superior, and I personally love Maurice Jarre's theme music, particularly the beautifully orchestrated version played during the closing

credits.

One caution, however: this DVD has been edited slightly, and those used to seeing the brief frontal nudity of Ms. Eggar during the "seduction" sequence in the final quarter of the film will search in vain for it here. This seems to have resulted from some absurd prudery on the part of the company, but it also hurts the film, since the nudity, far from being "pornographic," highlights the intimacy of the scene, and, in addition, serves to emphasize Stamp's reaction to Eggar's slow and delicate offering of herself. Just one more example, in other words, of how the bowdlerizing of a film against the director's wishes is always a perilous exercise.

One STAR is too many, but there was no goose egg!

I really hate to slam this beautiful movie, but after buying it, I felt betrayed and wanted to try to prevent others from having the same problem.

Wyler's work is always fabulous, which makes it especially hurtful to see his film butchered in this fashion yes I said BUTCHERED.

I just purchased "The Collector" on DVD (Columbia 07893 ISBN 0-7678-8288-1) after already owning the same title on LaserDisk.

I have criticisms of both the TRANSFER, and the CONTENT.

Transfer:

IMDB Lists the original film as "Spherical 1.78:1 aspect ratio" If this is true, then the DVD has been way over-masked because the LaserDisk version has a mask that shows about 30% more picture content on the top and bottom of the field. It appears that the studio simply took a 4:3 version of the film and transferred it to DVD by cutting off the top and bottom to make it 16x9, rather than finding an original widescreen print to transfer. Compare it with anything... even video tape to see what I mean. Horrible. They have a lot of nerve advertising "Preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio" on the DVD package.

The print they started with is not in very good condition. It exhibits signs of sprocket wear (side to side picture shifting) as well as specks of dirt on the film and splice jumps.

In short, the film was given the "quick and dirty" transfer, not the "lovingly carefull" one it deserves.

Content:

As others on this forum have noted, the seduction scene is highly mutilated. Gone is the tender moment of frontal nudity, as well as side angles thus stripping the scene of it's innocence and impact almost completely. All have been cunningly "panned and scanned" away. The DVD box claims the film is "not rated" it should really say "Why Bother".

I cannot recommend this version at all, I am sorry to say.

Buy The Collector (1965) Now

This 40-year-old specimen by legendary director William Wyler will enhance any collection of fine film. You may have trouble recognizing a very young Terence Stamp, whose performance as a painfully shy office clerk who hits the lottery will give you chills. Samantha Eggar, lovely as the focus of his attention, gives a compelling performance and is in many ways the film's centerpiece. Based on the novel by truly gifted author John Fowles, The Collector chronicles a subtle, incremental descent into madness and cruelty with such skill that viewers are engaged throughout, indeed, it is the ability of the film to penetrate the viewer's own psychology that gives it its real power.

Stamp's Freddie Clegg, newly rich, is free to indulge his eccentricities fully, without fear of repercussion. While his passion has always been butterfly collecting, Freddie, socially inept and pathologically lonely, slips into another level; he "collects" Eggar's Miranda Grey and keeps her captive in his remote estate. With pathetic innocence he lavishes care on her, imaging that she will be won over and come to love him in her time. She cringes through this process, and we cringe with her. The entire situation is unbearably creepy, made all the creepier because of the nuance and exceptional acting.

Hoping all the while that Miranda will find salvation, we know in our heart of hearts that such situations rarely end well. Miranda's response to imprisonment evolves, we see her trying new tactics, we root for her. Because we're involved, everything that happens has meaning. This film contains virtually no physical violence, (certainly no hideous language, stacks of corpses, or nail gun brain surgery), indeed, it may be the most sympathetic portrayal of a stalker ever made.

By not reducing Freddie to a symbol, but showing him instead as a person, however disturbed, Fowles and Wyler have given us something much more upsetting a picture of our own worst self. The hacks that practice the craft of filmmaking today, gleefully spraying blood onto the first 20 rows of theatres nationwide, would do well to watch The Collector. This movie succeeds the old-fashioned way; it earns the undivided attention of its audience.

Read Best Reviews of The Collector (1965) Here

To flesh out what my title says, this is a good enough movie when taken for its own merits, and perhaps in fairness to consider it for its own merits is all that someone should do, but when it comes to getting the tone of John Fowles' masterful novel, it fails miserably.

I know there are many who will disagree with me but neither Samantha Eggar nor Terence Stamp were right for the roles they played. Eggar comes off as too worldly and seductive (and old) to properly embody Miranda Grey as Fowles wrote her. In the novel Miranda was an innocent and an idealist, though in her ability to draw men she was described by Fowles in terms that reached out to the Jungian concept of the anima, but in this film she is a more aware presence who not only understood her powers of seduction but harnessed them. Likewise Terence Stamp seems all too prepared to be a cold mastermind, whereas Frederick Clegg in the book (the definitive source, let's say) was more or less a misfit who never lost a sense of wonder that his timidly attempted dream plan actually worked in bringing the object of his attraction into his life.

Also in the film the relationship between the pair, Miranda and Freddie (aka Caliban) is far different than the one Fowles clearly described. True Clegg in the movie does promise to show Miranda "every courtesy" a line lifted straight from the text, but he is not the worshipful collector, he is more a cruel overlord whose self-confidence possesses none of the childlike wonder of the real character in the brilliant novel. Clegg in the book comprehends that he is undertaking acts of lawlessness but has no understanding that he is doing acts of egoistic evil; in the film Stamp plays Clegg as someone who understands his own darkness all too well.

Okay, so clearly I love the novel and am not happy with this treatment of it, but I will confess that as far as a films go, this isn't a bad way to invest some time, and it does get the bare bones of Fowles' plot right, so if you are someone who prefers movies over books or if you're likely never going to take a day to let Fowles' masterpiece unwind in your brain, then this film version is a passable surrogate. True, I ripped up on it here, but I do own copies on both DVD and VHS, and have seen it at least five times, so maybe my criticisms are wider than they are deep.

Four stars for the film, about ten stars for the book.

Want The Collector (1965) Discount?

I've been a big fan of William Wyler's The Collector since I first saw it on television in the late `70's. Even pot-holed with commercials, John Fowles' tale of the lonely and creepy Freddie Clegg and his victim, Miranda was totally absorbing. The end was a complete surprise and the legend of how film got pass UK's rating's people is almost as interesting as the film itself.

Many people over the years have already covered the range of impressions of the film, the acting, the plot, etc. This review will concern itself with the recently released (late 2011) Blu-Ray version of the film.

First off, the transfer from the 35mm print to Blu-Ray is excellent. The image is a full 1080p along with the original aspect radio of 1:85 1. The film's length is the same 119 minutes that's been standard since the original VHS release more than 25 years ago. So fans looking for that elusive Eggar frontal nude shot will not find it on this release either.

What you will find are colors that are in perfect balance and, at the same time, really pop.

Picture details of Clegg's cellar, the grass and bushes outside his home, etc that are amazing. Who knew all these years that Stamp wore different colored BLUE suits? All this new clarity brings to life (art director) John Stoll's and (set director) Frank Tuttle's marvelous work. By the way, don't be discouraged by the close up shots of Eggar and sometimes Stamp that appear slightly out of focus. They were intentionally shot that way (soft focus); an old camera trick that dates back to the `30's.

The voice and soundtrack is mono. Nothing we can do about that. Seems to me the sound's been EQ'd a bit for better fidelity, that's about it. Overall this is, by far, the best version of The Collector you can see. My only wish is that additional extras including interviews with the two leads (or better yet, running commentary) would have made this Blu-Ray absolutely perfect.

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