Family Plot is a 1976 dark comedy/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, his final film. It stars Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane and Karen Black. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn’t entered into the main competition. There were two working titles: Deceit and Missing Heir.

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock] in silhouette 45 minutes into the film behind the door at the registrar of births and deaths.

A street sign in the film reads “Bates Ave”. The Bates Motel was the setting for Hitchcock’s earlier film Psycho (1960).

Roy Thinnes was originally hired to play Arthur Adamson, but Hitchcock’s first choice William Devane became available so Hitchcock fired Thinnes without a reason and hired Devane. Some key scenes had been shot prior to this. Everything that had been shot was re-shot except for long shots which to this day remain as Roy Thinnes and not William Devane.

Director Trademark: [Alfred Hitchcock] [bathroom] features a modern chemical toilet.

Alfred Hitchcock was famous for making his actors follow the script to the word, but in this movie he let the characters improvise and use their own dialogue.

Alfred Hitchcock’s final film.

Alfred Hitchcock initially wanted Al Pacino for the role of Lumley. According to an interview on the DVD with Bruce Dern, who ultimately got the part, Pacino’s asking price was too high because of the recent successes he had enjoyed (Serpico (1973), The Godfather (1972), etc.)

The final shot in the movie, a wink by the Barbara Harris character was a jokey reference that was not planned but Alfred Hitchcock decided to leave in.

Lillian Gish wanted to test for the role of Julia Rainbird but the role had been promised to Cathleen Nesbitt.

Jack Nicholson couldn’t accept the role of George Lumley, as he was doing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).

Liza Minnelli was originally cast to play the role that later went to Barbara Harris.

Karen Black initially wanted the role of Blanche.

Faye Dunaway was offered the role of Fran.

Olivia Burnette

Olivia Burnette (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress.

Olivia Burnette began her acting career at the tender age of 6. The most notable of her first acting jobs was in Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) opposite comic superstar Steve Martin.

After several television appearances, Olivia was cast as the lead in the down-home series “The Torkelsons” (1991), playing Dorothy Jane.

Olivia continued her television career with a few television movies, before being cast in The Quick and the Dead (1995), which allowed her to work with such actors as Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe.

Olivia continued her work on the big screen in Eye for an Eye (1996) with director John Schlesinger, and got the opportunity to play Sally Field’s daughter as well as be brutalized in a controversial scene by Kiefer Sutherland.

Determined to obtain a college degree, Olivia left Los Angeles to attend the prestigious NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. She graduated with not one but two majors: Film and English. After school, she was inspired to buy the rights to a novel and adapted it into a screenplay, which is currently being shopped.

Most recently, Olivia has been seen in the hit television show “CSI: NY” (2004) along with Oscar nominated Gary Sinise and Emmy nominated Melina Kanakaredes, and in the naval drama “Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service” (2003) with Mark Harmon.

Her most recent feature film entitled Flourish (2006), which also stars Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer from the hit Fox drama “House M.D.” (2004), premiered at the world renowned Cinequest Film Festival 2006, as well being screened at the Cannes Film Market in 2006.

She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, singer/songwriter/producer Julian Sakata, and her five year old stepson, Rain.

-Source  IMDB.com

Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein is a 1973 horror film directed by Paul Morrissey and produced by Andy Warhol, Andrew Braunsberg, Louis Peraino, and Carlo Ponti. Starring Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren and Arno Juerging, and filmed in the famous Cinecittà by a crew of Italian master filmmakers, Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein is suffused with the crumbling glamour of old Italian films, paying homage to (while simultaneously parodying) the earnest and stark visual and psychological beauty of the horror films on which it is based. Morrissey’s sense of ironic detachment gives the film a gruesomely comic modernity and beauty all its own.

In the United States, the film was marketed as Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein, and was presented in the Space-Vision 3-D process in premiere engagements. It was rated X by the MPAA, due to its explicit sexuality and violence. A 3-D version also played in Australia in 1986, along with Blood for Dracula, an obvious pairing. In the seventies a 3-D version played in Stockholm, Sweden. In subsequent US DVD releases, the film was retitled Flesh for Frankenstein, while the original title was used in other regions.

The film was later cut to 93 minutes for an R-rating, thereby increasing its ability to be screened in more theaters. The U.S. DVD releases have utilized the full uncut version, which is now unrated. The film had its television premiere in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2009 and was broadcast in 3D as part of Channel 4′s 3D Week.

Trivia:

• Originally filmed in 3D, although most presentations found today are in 2D.
• While some Italian prints give second unit director Antonio Margheriti credit as co-director, Udo Kier has stated that Margheriti had nothing to do with directing the movie.
• Both this film and Dracula cerca sangue di vergine… e morì di sete!!! (1974) shared many of the same sets and the same principal cast (Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, and Arno Juerging).