Opening Today: “The Collector”

June 17, 1965 - Opening today is “The Collector,” a psychological horror film directed by William Wyler and starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar. Its plot follows a young Englishman who stalks a beautiful art student before abducting and holding her captive in the basement of his rural farmhouse. It is based on the 1963 novel by John Fowles, with the screenplay adapted by Stanley Mann and John Kohn. Wyler turned down “The Sound of Music” to direct the film.

Most of the film was shot on soundstages in Los Angeles, though exterior sequences were filmed on location in London, Forest Row in East Sussex, and Westerham in Kent. Filming took place in the late spring and early summer of 1964. 

Wyler’s original cut ran approximately three hours but was trimmed to two hours at the insistence of the studio and producer. Wyler said, “Some of the finest footage I ever shot wound up on the cutting room floor.”

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