The Collector
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see The Collector (disambiguation).
| The Collector (1965 film) | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
|
| Directed by | William Wyler |
| Produced by | Jud Kinberg John Kohn |
| Written by | John Fowles (novel) Stanley Mann John Kohn |
| Starring | Terence Stamp Samantha Eggar Mona Washbourne |
| Cinematography | Maurice Jarre |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 17, 1965 US release |
| Running time | 119 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Collector is the title of a 1963 novel by John Fowles. It was made into a movie in 1965.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The book is about a lonely young man, Frederick Clegg, who works as a clerk in a city hall, and collects butterflies in his free time. The first part of the novel tells the story from his point of view. Clegg is attracted to Miranda Grey, an art student who he thinks is very beautiful. He admires her from a distance, but is unable to make any contact with her because of his nonexistent social skills. One day, he wins a large prize in the pools. This makes it possible for him to stop working and buy an isolated house in the countryside. He feels lonely, however, and wants to be with Grey. Unable to make any normal contact, Clegg decides to add her to his 'collection,' in hopes that if he keeps her captive long enough, she will grow to love him. After careful preparations, he kidnaps Grey using chloroform and locks her up in the cellar of his house. He is convinced that the girl will start to love him after some time. However, when she wakes up, Grey confronts him with his actions. Clegg is embarrassed, and promises to let her go after a month. He promises to show her "every respect," pledging not to sexually molest her and to shower her with gifts and the comforts of home, on one condition: she can't leave the cellar.
Clegg rationalizes every step of his plan in eerily emotionless language; he seems truly incapable of relating to other human beings and sharing real intimacy with them; it could be inferred that he is a sociopath. He takes great pains to appear normal, however, and is greatly offended at the suggestion that his motives are anything but reasonable and genuine.
The second part of the novel is narrated by Grey in the form of fragments from a diary that she keeps during her captivity. Clegg scares her, and she does not understand him in the beginning. At first she thinks that he has sexual motives for abducting her, but this turns out not to be true. She starts to have some pity for her captor, comparing him to Caliban in Shakespeare's play The Tempest because of his hopeless obsession with her and his warped behavior. She tries to escape several times, but Clegg is always able to stop her. She also tries to seduce him in order to convince him to let her go. The only result is that he becomes confused and angry. When Clegg keeps refusing to let her go, she starts to fantasize about killing him. Before she can try to escape again, she becomes seriously ill and dies, probably of pneumonia.
The third part of the novel is again narrated by Clegg. At first he wants to commit suicide after he learns of Grey's death, but after he reads in her diary that she never loved him, he decides that he is not responsible and is better off without her. Finally, he starts to plan the kidnapping of another girl.
[edit] Movie
The book was made into a movie in 1965. It was adapted by Stanley Mann and John Kohn and was directed by William Wyler. It stars Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Samantha Eggar), Best Director (William Wyler) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
The original cover art for the single of the Smiths' song "What Difference Does It Make?" featured a still of Terrence Stamp from the film. Stamp protested the use of the still as promotional material and the Smiths instead used their singer, Morrissey, to recreate the photo for future pressings of the single. Stamp eventually changed his mind. The UK version of the single with Morrissey in the photo for the cover is now a rarer collectible for fans of The Smiths. The song's title is also a line spoken by Stamp in the film. Another Smiths song, "Half A Person" takes its title from a line in the book The Collector ("Caliban is half a person at the best of times").
A song 'The Collector' inspired by the book and written by Sonny Curtis (composer of 'Walk Right Back' and a member of The Crickets) was recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1966 and included on their Warner Brothers album 'Two Yanks In England'.
[edit] Trivia
- Christopher Wilder, an American serial killer who abducted and murdered beauty queens and aspiring models in March and April of 1984, was apprehended by state troopers, who found in his possession a copy of The Collector. Apparently, his ultimate fantasy was to hold a girl captive and completely in his power just as Frederick Clegg does in The Collector, and therapists who had treated Wilder in the past affirmed that he loved the novel and had practically memorized it.
- A still from the film featuring Terrence Stamp was used as the cover art for What Difference Does it Make?, a 1984 single by British band The Smiths.
- Canadian band Stars samples dialogue from the movie in their song "International Rockstar" on the 2001 album Nightsongs. It follows their cover of This Charming Man by the Smiths in the tracklisting, which appears on the same album as What Difference Does it Make?
[edit] Popular Culture
In the Criminal Minds episode "The Fisher King," "The Collector" was the book used by the kidnapper to send a coded message to the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Other references to the book included a clue of a butterfly, as well as the style of the kidnapping.
[edit] Reference
- The Collector: ISBN 0-316-29023-8 (paperback)
