Other Titles • The Collector • The Butterfly Collector (1965) • Der Fänger (1966)
Synopses for The Collector (1965)
1.
As one of the greatest directors of Hollywood's golden age, William Wyler had a long and distinguished roster of films to his credit, among them a number of classics (including Wuthering Heights and The Heiress) that rank among the finest literary adaptations to emerge from the studio system. Near the end of his career, Wyler focused his veteran skills on John Fowles's novel The Collector, and it's easy to see how Wyler would be drawn to the story's resonant psychological underpinnings. It's conceivable that the director was also fascinated by the cinematic precedents set by Alfred Hitchock's Psycho and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom; like those films, Wyler's 1965 production of The Collector focuses on the obsessions of a young man whose need for a woman's affection leads him to desperate measures at the expense of his object of desire.
Terence Stamp was a fine choice for the role of Freddie Clegg, a young, nondescript bank clerk who wins a fortune in a sports pool and is financially liberated to pursue his psychological fixation--specifically a lovely London art student named Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar) whom Freddie captures in the comfortably furnished cellar of his remote, newly purchased Tudor farmhouse. In many respects she is just another addition to Freddie's impressive and meticulously catalogued collection of butterflies--delicate and beautiful, and kept against her will. Freddie genuinely loves her and treats her with utmost respect, but she is his prisoner. Having been subdued by Freddie's use of chloroform, she later observes that he is responsible for "so much death," and of course she could never return his affection. Or could she?
This richly psychological situation is handled by Wyler with understated grace, but the weight of Freddie's psychosis is never keenly felt; the film's subdued quality ultimately works against the thriller aspects of the story. And yet, the performances of Stamp and Eggar remain sharp and mutually sympathetic, and when Wyler brings the story full circle to yet another "butterfly" for Freddie's collection, the stalker theme leaves the viewer with a considerable chill. Where another movie like 1967's Wait Until Dark relied on more explicit and effective shocks, The Collector works on a subtler level of disturbing but undeniably human behavior. --Jeff Shannon
(18 votes)
2.
Upon winning a sweepstakes prize, Freddie Clegg (Terence Stamp), an inconspicuous and deeply troubled young man, spends his time capturing and cataloging butterflies. Meeting lovely art student Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar), he has now found another creature he wishes to possess. Exercising maniacal patience, Freddie manages to bag his prey using a handkerchief soaked in chloroform. He brings Miranda to his isolated farmhouse and holds her prisoner, all the while trying to convince her to love him.
This frightening tale of obsessive admiration is one of the key cinematic works in understanding the class and cultural clashes of the 1960s. Samantha Eggar's liberated woman, open about sex and knowledgeable about art, frustrates Terence Stamp's repressed captor, adding further tension to the situation. Nearing the end of a brilliant career, director William Wyler made an uncharacteristic choice to adapt John Fowles' disturbing novel as the follow-up to another bold work, his adaptation of THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (1961).
(19 votes)
3.
She was his most beautiful specimen.
Get ready for an electrifying and chilling film experience that lays bare the intimate longings of a man - and the woman who has become his captive.
Based on the best-selling novel by John Fowles, The Collector tells the story of a quiet London bank clerk (Terence Stamp) whose butterfly collection hobby take a sinister twist when he kidnaps a most unusual specimen - a beautiful woman (Samantha Eggar, Golden Globe Best Actress winner for this role)!
This film is a classic thriller and features a haunting musical score by Maurice Jarre.
(17 votes)
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