17. The Trouble With Harry
Speaking of working my way through the Hitchcock ouevre, I do really enjoy The Trouble With Harry. It's not a typical Hitchcock film -- definitely more gentle and less suspenseful. It's also a very beautifully shot film; it would be hard to make New England in the fall look bad.
The problem is that Harry is dead. He's in a clearing where all the characters in the film happen upon him, and think that they killed him. The Captain (Edmund Gwenn) is the first adult to happen upon the body in the clearing -- and then Miss Ivy (Mildred Natwick) sees him with Harry. The Captain takes the blame for the death -- he had been shooting and apparently hit the man. Later, the local artist, Sam Marlowe (John Forsyte) finds Harry's body and makes a sketch of the man's face.
Sam helps the Captain bury Harry, and then dig him back up. They eventually find out that Harry is Jennifer Roger's (Shirley MacLaine) husband. There is a lot of digging up and reburying of Harry and eventually Harry ends up back at Jennifer's house.
The two couples end up falling love -- the Captain and Miss Ivy and John and Jennifer. John also sells his modern paintings for no money, but rather gifts for everyone.
Eventually, they get a doctor in to look at Harry and discover that he died of natural causes -- all of their burying and reburying was for nothing.
My recapping of the plot doesn't make a lot of sense, I realize, but it's really quite a charming film. It's not spectacular, but a very enjoyable comedy with a dark twist. It's one of Hitchcock's lesser films, but very enjoyable as a minor classic.
A few notes: it's Shirley MacLaine's first movie and she is excellent and adorable and makes me want to be the cute quirky girl. She's definitely inspired many actresses. I also did not realize that John Forsyte was the actor who was the voice of Charlie from Charlie's Angels!
FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge
The problem is that Harry is dead. He's in a clearing where all the characters in the film happen upon him, and think that they killed him. The Captain (Edmund Gwenn) is the first adult to happen upon the body in the clearing -- and then Miss Ivy (Mildred Natwick) sees him with Harry. The Captain takes the blame for the death -- he had been shooting and apparently hit the man. Later, the local artist, Sam Marlowe (John Forsyte) finds Harry's body and makes a sketch of the man's face.
Sam helps the Captain bury Harry, and then dig him back up. They eventually find out that Harry is Jennifer Roger's (Shirley MacLaine) husband. There is a lot of digging up and reburying of Harry and eventually Harry ends up back at Jennifer's house.
The two couples end up falling love -- the Captain and Miss Ivy and John and Jennifer. John also sells his modern paintings for no money, but rather gifts for everyone.
Eventually, they get a doctor in to look at Harry and discover that he died of natural causes -- all of their burying and reburying was for nothing.
My recapping of the plot doesn't make a lot of sense, I realize, but it's really quite a charming film. It's not spectacular, but a very enjoyable comedy with a dark twist. It's one of Hitchcock's lesser films, but very enjoyable as a minor classic.
A few notes: it's Shirley MacLaine's first movie and she is excellent and adorable and makes me want to be the cute quirky girl. She's definitely inspired many actresses. I also did not realize that John Forsyte was the actor who was the voice of Charlie from Charlie's Angels!
FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge
posted by Rebecca at 9:48 PM
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