Frenzy (1972)

Screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, based on the novel "Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square" by Arthur LaBern; photography by Gil Taylor; settings by Syd Cain, Bob Laing; music by Ron Goodwin.

Jon Finch (Richard Blaney), Barry Foster (Bob Rusk), Barbara Leigh-Hunt (Brenda Blaney), Anne Massey (Babs Milligan), Alec McCowen (Inspector Oxford), Vivien Merchant (Mrs. Oxford), Billie Whitelaw (Hetty Porter), Clive Swift (Johnny Porter), Bernard Cribbins (Felix Forsythe), Elsie Randolph (Gladys), Michael Bates (Sergeant Spearman), Jean Marsh (Monica Barling).

A disillusioned and aggressive ex RAF-officer is suspected through circumstantial evidence of being London´s "necktie murderer".

He is suspected because he is seen at the crime-scene before one of the murders take place, before his own ex-wife is raped and strangled. This is one of the nastiest scenes that I have seen in a main-stream production. You won´t forget it, similar to the stabbing of Janet Leigh under the shower more than ten years before, which was as aggressive and memorable in the time, but in Frenzy, aggression, intensity and brutality are taken one step ahead. Pretty remarkable for a director whose eulogies had already been written. After the rather disappointing The Torn Curtain and Topaz, no one expected much from Hitchcock, who had to undertake a heart-surgeon and got a pace-maker. With Frenzy, he returned home to London and to the story of the innocent man who has to prove himself he´s innocent. This time, the suspected "Richard Blaney" (Jon Finch) has the benefit of a thinking police-inspector, who isn´t satisfied after the suspect is sentenced. While "Inspector Oxford" keeps on investigating, "Blaney" escapes from the prison´s hospital and tries to get the killer himself. The cast is brilliant: Jon Finch is aggressive as macho "Blaney", you almost think he´s capable of the crimes they say he committed; Barbara Leigh-Hunt as his wife suffers the same fate as Janet Leigh in Psycho, the female lead who doesn´t live to see the end-titles; Barry Foster as the most brutal and disturbed murderer in a Hitchcock-movie (in my opinion), and Alec McCowen and Vivien Merchant as the "Oxfords", the "Scotland Yard"-couple. She is a well-meaning and understanding wife, always trying to surprise her husband with an exotic meal, and he does good work despite dreams of a plain meal of "Fish and Chips". The two are simply marvelous.

Above: Barbara Leigh-Hunt gets an idea who the real "necktie murderer" is.

Right: Inspector Oxford and his attempt to get rid of a plate of "delicious" soup while his wife is in the kitchen - to get some more!

Signatures of Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt (also top left), Anna Massey, Alec McCowen (also above right), Jean Marsh and Elsie Randolph (see also Rich and Strange). Please click on a photo to have a closer look.

Jon Finch (*1941, right) is a British leading man on stage, TV and in few movies. Among his successes are Horror of Frankenstein (1971), Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), Death on the Nile (1978) and Darklands (1997). He was cast in Alien (1979), but had to walk out due to an allergic reaction to his make-up; John Hurt took his part as "Kane".

Barry Foster (1931-2002, left) was a busy British actor on stage, TV, and in lots of movies. Despite the role of the "necktie murderer" here, he usually played lighter roles. He is best known on TV as Dutch police-detective Van der Valk (1972-77, 1991-92), which premiered the year Frenzy came out. This may have helped him not being the usual choice as a mad murderer after that. Other movies include King and Country (1964), Inspector Clouseau (1967, the one without Peter Sellers), Ryan´s Daughter (1969) and The Wild Geese (1978).

Barbara Leigh-Hunt (*1935, right) is a leading British actress, very busy on stage and TV. After she was strangled in her movie-debut Frenzy (1972), she had better luck in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), in which she outlasted the king. Among her other few movies were Bequest to the Nation (1973), Billy Elliot (2000) and The Martins (2001).

Anna Massey (*1937, left) is the daughter of Canadian-British actor Raymond Massey. She started on stage and in movies while she was still very young. Among her movies were Peeping Tom (1959), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), A Doll´s House (1973), Vault of Horror (1973), Five Days One Summer (1982), The Tall Guy (1989), Captain Jack (1998), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)  and An Angel for May (2002). She was also "Mrs Danvers" in the TV-remake of Rebecca (1979).

Alec McCowen (*1925, right) is a very versatile stage-actor who made movies only occasionally. Among those were A Night to Remember (1958), Never Say Never Again (1983), Henry V (1989), The Age of Innocence (1993) and The Gangs of New York (2002).

Jean Marsh (*1934, left) isn´t only a busy actress, she also created the TV-series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971-75), which is one of the most popular British TV-exports. She also played the role of the maid "Rose" in it, serving to the Bellamy´s in the house at Eaton Place. Movies she was in include Cleopatra (1963), The Eagle Has Landed (1976) and Willow (1988).

Elsie Randolph (1901-82, right) was a popular British revue artiste of the 1930s. Among her few films, beside her two appearances in Hitchcock-movies, were That´s a Good Girl (1935), This´ll Make You Whistle (1937) and Charleston (1977). During the making of Frenzy, Hitchcock made one of his practical jokes on her expenses: He locked her up in a phone-boot and flooded it with artificial fog, after she had told him that she hates smokey rooms. They had a long and good friendship for decades, nevertheless. And yes, the signature on the photo is very faded.