The Collector

Turner Classic Movies is one of my favorite things ever.  It never ceases to amaze me how many great movies are out there that are largely forgotten.  Their 30 Days of Oscar is a special joy since you see the films that fall through the cracks over the year.

I'd never even heard of the film The Collector.  Terrance Stamp stars as a young man who kidnaps Samantha Eggar and holds her prisoner in the cellar of an old house.  It came out in 1965 when the production code, while in its dying days, was still in force.  It honestly could be a movie made today.  The interaction between kidnapper and victim is surprisingly raw for the day.  There's more skin than other films from the period. The ending is a flat out shocker.  This was 1965, the year The Sound of Music won most of the awards. 

The film was directed by William Wyler who is now one of the most underrated directors ever.  The main problem is he doesn't have a distinct style.  Ford did westerns, Hitchcock thrillers, Lean epics.  Wyler did everything.  The tight family dramas of The Best Years of Our Lives, Mrs. Miniver, and The Little Foxes.  The outrageous spectacle of Ben-Hur.  Psychological dramas like The Collector and The Heiress  Romances like Roman Holiday and How to Steal a Million.  Even if he is somewhat overlooked today, at least he was well recognized during his lifetime with twelve Best Director Oscar nominations and an Irving Thalberg award.