Film 3/52: The Collector (1965)

The Collector is a fairly recent addition to the library, and a film I've been interested in seeing for some time, so it was an ideal selection for my 52 Pick-Up series. Based on the John Fowles novel, but promoted as 'William Wyler's The Collector,' it's safe to say that it's not what you might expect from the director of Ben-Hur. 

Terence Stamp plays a socially inept entomologist, Frederick, who decides to add a young woman who he's long been infatuated with, Miranda (portrayed by Samantha Eggar), to his 'collection.' It's a creepy film, but not in the same dark and disturbing manner that it would surely be handled in a contemporary film. Wyler makes light of Frederick's eccentric behavior, as opposed to presenting him as a true threat to a woman abducted by an unstable individual. Frederick assures Miranda that he won't do anything untoward, and for much of the film's running time we can believe him; that is, short of his holding her captive in an underground cellar. Frederick bargains with Miranda for just how long he'll keep her — to her, the time by which he'll set her free; as he sees it, sufficient time for her to fall in love with him. We spend almost the entire duration of the film with just Stamp and Eggar, and they manage to keep us on our toes, wondering exactly how the events will play out.

While I wouldn't call it a classic film, it was certainly entertaining, and it ends strongly, in my opinion. One can't help but wonder about Thomas Harris' familiarity with the book/film, whose apparent influence on Silence of the Lambs cannot be easily dismissed. And having just enjoyed Terence Stamp's performance in Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho, I was particularly impressed by the casting of an actor as a younger version of Stamp in that film. No spoilers here, but I thought he managed to find someone who actually looked something like the actor in the mid-60s.