The Trouble with Harry
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Movie Reviews of The Trouble with Harry
Movie Review: Not Lesser Hitchcock, Just Unusually Comic with a Likeable Cast
Summary: 4 Stars
I never thought it fair that this 1955 black comedy was labeled "lesser Hitchcock". Granted it is "atypical Hitchcock" given its light touch and lack of threatening violence (save for three gunshots heard at the beginning), but master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock has made other movies far more out of his oeuvre like the sparkling 1941 Carole Lombard-Robert Montgomery romantic comedy, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. At least this one hews closer to his macabre sense of humor as it revolves around what to do with a persistent corpse, the body of Harry Worp. First, a freckle-faced little boy named Arnie comes upon it, and then the rabbit-hunting Captain Wiles discovers it and thinks he carelessly shot Harry. The aptly named Miss Gravely, a homely spinster, sees Wiles drag the body and simply invites him for tea with romantic aspirations on her mind. She confesses she thinks she killed Harry with the heel of a hiking boot. Arnie's mother Jennifer Rogers sees the body, and the young widow twice over also recognizes Harry and also thinks he killed him but with a bottle.
Caught in the middle is eccentric artist Sam Marlowe, who nonchalantly helps his friends dispose of the body. Just how Harry died is the MacGuffin around which Hitchcock hinges his entire plot. With a perceptive screenplay by John Michael Hayes (Rear Window) based on a popular post-WWII British novel by Jack Trevor Story, the quaintly whimsical tone is what surprises most Hitchcock aficionados here, but the dialogue is also laced with not-so-subtle sexual innuendo. The combination proves effective on its own terms though not particularly transcendent as a memorable piece of filmmaking. The charming performances help considerably starting with John Forsythe, long before his Aaron Spelling years on Charlie's Angels and Dynasty, as Sam. He has definite chemistry with twenty-year-old Shirley MacLaine in her film debut. As Jennifer, she emerges with her gamine screen persona almost fully formed, and it's no wonder she continues to work in front of the camera over a half-century later.
Edmund Gwenn (memorable as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street) and Mildred Natwick play Wiles and Miss Gravely with pixilated cunning. That is indeed six-year-old Jerry Mathers as Arnie a couple of years before starting his six-year run on Leave It to Beaver. A couple of behind-the-scenes aspects are worth noting - Robert Burks' superb cinematography capturing the colorful autumnal glory of New England and Bernard Herrmann's rhythmic soundtrack, his first of several classic scores for Hitchcock. Presenting a pristine print of the film, the 2006 DVD provides one other significant extra, an original half-hour documentary, Laurent Bouzereau's "The Trouble With Harry Isn't Over", featuring interviews with Forsythe, Hayes, associate producer Herbert Coleman, and Hitchcock's daughter Pat Hitchcock O'Connell. It's an insightful piece about the production complications and idiosyncratic casting like the producers taking a chance on MacLaine. Along with the original theatrical trailer, there is also a 38-still production gallery as well as about five pages of production notes.
Movie Review: The Sunny Side of Hitchcock
Summary: 4 Stars
I actually saw this movie when it first came out but all I remembered was that there was this really talented, sort of off-beat young actress in it whom I thought would go far (Shirley MacLaine!), an "older guy" (John Forsythe) beautiful autumn colors and something about a lot of digging. I couldn't remember the title and I don't think I identified it with Hitchcock. Over the years I would occasionally think of the film and wonder what is was. So, it was with great delight that I found it again recently, on the library shelf and I was very happy that I enjoyed it as much this time as the first!
Yes, it is Hitchcock but in a totally different mode than the dark suspenseful ones he's associated with. I found the whole film delightful to re-see and enjoyed every moment. The Hitchcock humor is there, although I certainly would not call it "dark" as others have. Yes, MacLaine was fresh and full of charm, as I had recalled. (She did go far!) John Forsythe did seem a bit old for her and not quite as wonderful as the rest of the cast, but he held his own. Edmund Gwynn is totally adorable, sort of a Hitchcock clone, with his fat belly and sweet disposition. Mildred Natwick is perfect, too, as the spinster with her eye on Gwynn.
The Vermont countryside at the height of its Autumn show plays a major part in the film, (even though they had to leave and film half of it back in California.) The golden light and spectacular colors as well as the immaculate white frame houses give a lightheartedness to the movie that adds an important dimension to the tale. It's the justaposition of the sweetnes and lightness of the village scene with the terrible tragedy of finding a dead body in the woods that one might have killed that gives the film its peculiar humor. It is taken from an English novel and I think it almost might have been better if it had not been transposed to America. However Hitchcock a transplanted Brit, himself, pulls it off.
I think The Trouble with Harry is totally charming and should be considered on a par with many of Hitchcock's more highly rated films.
Movie Review: An Inconvenient Body
Summary: 4 Stars
It was a pleasant autumn day in Vermont for hunting rabbits. You see one, fire off a volley of three shots, and stroll off to find your prize, not too fast mind you, your body is not what it used to be. You may be slow like the tortoise, but like the fabled tale of The Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady beats fast and overconfident every time.
With each bracing step, you take a deep breath of fresh country air. You take in the beauty of your surroundings: it is like a painting, with crisp, dry blue skies shining above the distant hills, green fields and stately trees in all stages of transition from summer green to winter leafless.
A palette of colors surround you. Read oak leaves, yellow maple leaves, orange leaves, brown leaves, burnt sienna shoes, cobalt blue argyle socks, copper silk tie, and a crimson red trickle of blood.
Something is wrong here, instead of finding a hare, you have found Harry! What to do, what to do! Before you can decide, you discover that you won't be the only one to stumble on Harry's body.
As it turns out, it seems that no one quiet knows what to do about Harry, but they are agreed on one thing and that is not to let the local sheriff find out about the late and formerly dapper Mr. Harry Warp.
This dark adult comedy feels more like a play than a movie. It is heavy on dialog and in the outdoor scenes there is a curious absence of natural sounds that you might expect in such a rustic setting.
Picture quality: excellent. No cropping. Sound quality: excellent.
If you would like to see the lighter side of finding an inconvenient body, check out: The Missing Corpse Missing Corpse .
Movie Review: Pure Hitchcock Fun
Summary: 4 Stars
Sure, this film is a little light when compared to Hitchcock's masterpieces, but when judged against his lesser works it really stands out. And it's pure fun all the way through. So, what more do you want? Maybe not everyone will be able to get into this movie. For example, if you need everything fed to you - literally shoved down your worthless waiting throat with your brain on hold - and expect constant hyped up unrealistic action or else your brain falls asleep, then you probably won't like it much. Simply put, if you don't like this movie you should be shot in the face.Movie Review: coexistently comedic and twisted
Summary: 3 Stars
The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body. In this film Alfred Hitchcock throws viewers a twist as, instead of the usual mystery/suspense fare of legend, he serves up a black comedy about a corpse. From the onset I doubted this film, wondered if there'd be anything there to cultivate a worthwhile experience. Press play. My first impression was visceral reaction as I wondered at the breathtaking Vermont fall foliage shots that grace the film's opening moments. Striking stuff, and surprisingly sharp color and detail for being over 50 years old. So after a quirky introduction credit sequence, things begin humming along and, really, I wasn't into it at all. There was a type of humor there I recognized as something that just didn't connect with me, albeit more in implementation than theme. Furthermore, the movie has some serious issues with voice dubbing and synchronization. I was therefore standing on the edge of perhaps the first Hitchcock film I wasn't going to benefit from at all. As it turned out, it took about half the movie for me to finally get into the sprit of this brand of macabre comedy and begin to appreciate it for what it was. I even laughed two of three times. A young John Forsythe stars in a lead role and does a fair job with his character. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut with a memorable character; it's amazing that the young actress onscreen here is the same person that exists with that name today. Time does remarkably tragic things to people. But the best character in the movie was the charismatic Captain, played to perfection by the late Edmund Gwenn. The score is noteworthy as well, setting the perfect tonality for a theme that is coexistently comedic and twisted. In the end, definitely not one of my favorite Hitchcock outings, but I developed an appreciation for it as it wound along, and a few laughs as well.