Editing Family Plot (section)

{{short description|1976 film by Alfred Hitchcock}}
{{for|the 1994 television episode|Family Plot (2point4 children)}}
{{distinguish|Family Plots}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Family Plot
| image          = Family_plot_movie_poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Alfred Hitchcock]]
| producer       = Alfred Hitchcock
| writer         = [[Ernest Lehman]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[The Rainbird Pattern]]''|[[Victor Canning]]}}
| starring       = [[Karen Black]]<br>[[Bruce Dern]]<br>[[Barbara Harris (actress)|Barbara Harris]]<br>[[William Devane]]
| music          = [[John Williams]]
| cinematography = Leonard J. South
| editing        = [[J. Terry Williams]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1976|04|09}}
| runtime        = 120 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $4.5 million<ref name="nat">Nat Segaloff, ''Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors'', Bear Manor Media 2013 p132-135</ref>
| gross          = $13 million<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1976/0FAPL.php |publisher=The Numbers |title=Family Plot, Box Office Information |access-date=January 23, 2012}}</ref>
}}

'''''Family Plot''''' is a 1976 American [[black comedy]] [[Thriller film|thriller]] film directed by [[Alfred Hitchcock]] in his final directing role. It was based on [[Victor Canning]]'s 1972 novel ''[[The Rainbird Pattern]]'', which [[Ernest Lehman]] adapted for the screen. The film stars [[Karen Black]], [[Bruce Dern]], [[Barbara Harris (actress)|Barbara Harris]] and [[William Devane]]; it was screened at the [[1976 Cannes Film Festival]] but was not entered into the main competition.<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2101/year/1976.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Family Plot |access-date=2009-05-10 |work=festival-cannes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927201842/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2101/year/1976.html |archive-date=2012-09-27}}</ref>

The story involves two couples: one a "fake" [[psychic]] and her cab-driving boyfriend, the other a pair of professional [[thieves]] and [[kidnappers]]. Their lives come into conflict because of a search for a [[missing heir]]. The film's title is a pun: "family plot" can refer to an area in a cemetery that has been bought by a family for the burial of its various relatives; in this case it also means a dramatic plot line involving various family members.