BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Trouble with Harry was directed by the supremely talented British film-maker and producer Alfred Hitchcock. This movie was first released in U.S.A at the end of 1955 and later re-released again in 1984 after sorting out some technical problems.Sir Alfred Hitchcock ... Read review
Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock directs a delightful comedy-mystery set in New ... more
England. It stars John Forsythe, Academy Award winner Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick, and little Jerry Mathers. In addition it marks the noteworthy screen debut of Academ...
What is The Trouble With Harry? Well it's the fact that he's dead and while no-one ... more
really minds everybody thinks they are responsible. After several unearthings of the corpse plenty of humour a la Hitchcock and love affairs between the major chara...
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The Trouble With Harry (1955) is that it is a mordant comedy when the audience expect a ... more
nerve-wracking thriller. The first of eight films made by the great director/composer partnership, Hitchcock and Herrmann, it remains an under-appreciated gem, both as a film and score. Herrmann's scores for Hitchcock's classics Vertigo, North By Northwest and Psycho are well represented in the catalogue, but this most welcome disc is the first ever album of Herrmann's fine writing for the pair's original collaboration. What may surprise is the Englishness of the score. Herrmann was a great anglophile, his one opera was based on Wuthering Heights, and he had already composed one of his most outstanding scores for a version of Jane Eyre. Here Herrmann pays tribute to English music with hints of Bax, Delius, Vaughan-Williams and others, yet retains his own musical personality. The result is a work of great charm, melodic invention, and unexpected whimsy. This ambitious disc even contains music cut from the film. --Gary S. Dalkin
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Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Advantages: excellent direction by Mr. A. Hitchcock, superb storyline, witty one-liners,fantastic acting. Disadvantages: Some bold and corny dialogues, weaker characterization of Miss Gravely.
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The Trouble with Harry was directed by the supremely talented British film-maker and producer Alfred Hitchcock. This movie was first released in U.S.A at the end of 1955 and later re-released again in 1984 after sorting out some technical problems.Sir Alfred Hitchcock does not require a formal introduction, he is widely popular and renowned for his excellence in movie making ability and also directing them. He has introduced the ... ...extra-ordinary and hugely appreciated by the general audience and movie-critics till present days.
This movie is considered as one of the most underrated movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a black comedy genre movie, which revolves around the comical response and activities of six grown-up people about a dead human body.
A black comedy film is a sub genre of comedy films, where real life occurrence and ... more
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Trouble with Harry was directed by the supremely talented British film-maker and producer Alfred Hitchcock. This movie was first released in U.S.A at the end of 1955 and later re-released again in 1984 after sorting out some technical problems.Sir Alfred Hitchcock does not require a formal introduction, he is widely popular and renowned for his excellence in movie making ability and also directing them. He has introduced the movie viewers with psychological and crime thrillers properly. His charismatic style, unique and innovative on-screen presentation just made his movies extra-ordinary and hugely appreciated by the general audience and movie-critics till present days.
This movie is considered as one of the most underrated movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a black comedy genre movie, which revolves around the comical response and activities of six grown-up people about a dead human body.
A black comedy film is a sub genre of comedy films, where real life occurrence and stories has been presented in a satirical and comical way but still preserving the theme and originality of the main story. Usually, the incidents and stories are often considered as unmentionable and taboo in our society, and are presented in a very funny and humorous way in black comedy movies with a hidden message to the society.
STORY BASED ON
The original story of this movie was written by the British novel-writer Jack Trevor Story. Later Alfred Hitchcock bought the rights from the writer. John Michael Hayes re-wrote the original story and formatted it to present in cinema screen. John M. Hayes has done some outstanding screen-writing for Alfred Hitchcock’s famous and widely popular movies.
MAIN CAST
Edmund Gwenn plays the role of Captain Albert Wiles (Funny and quirky old man) Jerry Mathers plays the role of Arnie Rogers (A cute, curious and interesting kid, son of Jennifer Rogers) Shirley MacLaine plays the role of Jennifer Rogers (Single mother and got a son named Arnie, she is smart, humorous and attractive) John Forsythe plays the role of Sam Marlowe (An absent-minded artist, who is in love with Jennifer and tries to find out the real truth behind the recent incidents) Mildred Natwick plays the role of Miss Gravely (Weird middle-aged lady lives alone and likes Captain Wiles.)
PLOT OUTLINE
This movie opens in a bright, sunny morning in a small country town. Where the kid Arnie Rogers is playing on the country side and suddenly finds out a dead body. He gets curious and confused and goes back to home to call his mother Jennifer Rogers.
The old and laid back captain Wiles, who has weak eye-sight, comes to the same place looking for a rabbit. He was trying to shoot a rabbit whole morning but he keeps missing them. Later, he thought he got one rabbit but instead he finds out the same dead-body that Arnie found out earlier. Captain Wiles identifies him from a letter from dead-body’s book-pocket who turns out to be a random stranger to him named Harry Worp from Boston, Massachusetts.Middle-aged Lady named Miss Gravely was roaming around the same place and met Captain Wiles there. The curious and absent-minded artist Sam came to the same place to draw a picture. He also found out about the dead-body and got very interested and curious.
So the story tells us, why the total stranger Mr. Harry comes to this small town, what was his mission and how he gets killed. It also tells us, how these total six random people is related to this dead-body and how they try to get rid of their guilty conscience. It is really an interesting movie and has some really funny and enjoyable moments along with some intersecting twists in plot-line. It is another classic movie presented by the universal genius Alfred Hitchcock and definitely worth to check-out.
PERSONAL THOUGHT
Alfred Hitchcock is a legendary movie-director and established of psychological and crime thriller movie genre in the history of world Cinema. “The Trouble with Harry” is one of his off-beat movies and mainly focused on the very common human attitudes and habits. He studied the human character too well in this movie and presented them in an innovative but really honest way. That’s just proves his excellence and supremacy in directing various types of movies without compromising his usual standard and qualities.
Each character in this movie can be found in our common daily life and around us. You also may be find one of them resembles to your own personality. But where this stands out is how these different people acts under pressure and sudden occurrence of an incident and director A. Hitchcock presented this reality remarkably well in this movie.
This is not one of usual Hitchcock’s movies, though it revolves around a dead-body (as like most of his movies) but it actually shows the funny and humorous side of a common human character. I really enjoyed this movie and truly appreciated Hitchcock’s outstanding direction and presentation in this movie. But may be some people find it bit boring and awkward in certain places due to the different story-line, cheesy but very honest and straight-forward dialogues, but if you see it carefully, you will realize that Hitchcock actually presented a very common human characters and habits in a sarcastic but honest way and gives a very important message to the society.
~HUMOUR AND REALITY~
The famous screen-writer John M. Hayes did a fantastic job in this movie. He also wrote the scripts of some famous and well-recognized movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The dialogues and one-liners are really funny, cheesy but also have a deeper meaning and leave the audience thinking about life and death, glory and pain and also love and hate in our daily life. These emotions and daily occurrences lead us to do some odd and strange activities and that cannot be justified in a normal situation.
Some dialogues are really sarcastic and humorous. Such as, in a situation where Captain Wiles and Sam Marlowe were having a conversation with Mrs. Wiggs (the care-taker of Sam’s pictures and keeps them in her small shop to sell them)
Mrs. Wiggs: He said they (Sam’s pictures) are priceless. Captain Wiles: Priceless? Sounds like something I painted in kindergarden. Sam Marlowe: Captain, that picture is symbolic to the beginning of the world. Captain Wiles: That’s where I first heard of the world, in kindergarten.
The character of Captain Wiles has a sharp sense of humour and always responses with witty but meaningful one-liners. He is really amazing and entertaining character in the movie and I really enjoyed his (E. Gwenn) acting.
~LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY~
Smart and curious artist Sam Marlowe falls in love with the charming and beautiful single mother Jennifer Rogers at first sight. But, he never demands anything or tries to force her to do something that she does not comfortable with. I love the way Hitchcock presented the romantic relationship between Sam and Jennifer in the most realistic but also cynical way. Especially J. Forsythe played the character of ‘Sam Marlowe’ with touch of elegance and sheer confidence. He is flexible, have very honest and communicative facial expression and sharp delivery of dialogues. In one occasion he was having the following conversation with Jennifer.
Sam Marlowe: Because I love you. I want to marry you. Jennifer Rogers: Oh.! (Long Pause) You want to marry me? Sam Marlowe: Uh-Huh..Why not? Jennifer Rogers: Well, because I just got my freedom today. Sam Marlowe: Easy come, easy go...besides if you marry me, you would keep your freedom. Jennifer Rogers: You must be practically unique then.
Here Sam Marlowe confesses his unconditional but meaningful love towards Jennifer. He never puts any conditions or boundaries in his love. Because, Sam loves her truly, he sets her free. He gives her a complete freedom, a freedom that Jennifer wanted in her whole life, a must deserve freedom that she dreams about but never got one. Sam Marlowe becomes the passionate but honest lover and gives her freedom. In return, Jennifer truly appreciates Sam’s love for her. I just love the way Mr. Hitchcock presents these romantic couple on-screen. The chemistry between them is so deep and meaningful, that definitely touches the audience.
~GUILTY CONSCIENCE & COMICAL RELIEF~
As a human, we have our conscience and we know what to do or how to react in a normal situation. But when we face troubles and having these guilty consciences, then we act really random and odd. No one can predict what he/she is going to do, when he is under tremendous pressure and also a guilty feeling. In this movie, Mr. Hitchcock has presented this universal fact of human life in the vivid and descriptive way with touch of sheer wittiness.
THINGS THAT PLEASED ME
• Excellent direction and presentation by the talented Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. • Some hilarious moments are masterfully executed. • Absolutely brilliant acting by Edmund Gwenn and J. Forsythe. • Deep and meaningful facts about life presented in a comical but sincere way. • Very interesting and attention-grabbing storyline.
SOME INCONVENIENCES
• At some points, dialogues are bit corny and very bold, which I personally think is not suitable for kids. • Weaker characterization of Miss Gravely.
VIEWER’S RECEPTION
This movie was well received by the audience but later it was unavailable to the general viewers due to some internal copyright conflict and after a long wait of 30 years, it was re-released in 1984 and available to the viewers. Mr. Alfred Hitchcock considered this movie as one of his personal favorites.
IMDB RATING
Currently this movie has a 7.0/10 rating in IMDB (An internet website evaluates movies and solely based on viewer’s reception) and voted by almost ten thousand viewers.
DVD FEATURES:
I rented this movie from one of my local DVD rental store. Because it is a very old movie it does not have many features on DVD. Though it supported 1.85 widescreen formats with superb Dolby Digital 2.0. It also supports Spanish and English subtitle for viewer’s convenience.
Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9JIZWCmfQ Movie Information: http://hitchcock.tv/mov/trouble_with_harry/harry.html
NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS
This movie did not win any major awards though it was nominated for two BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards and also nominated for one award at DGA (Director’s Guild America).
FINAL THOUGHT AND AVAILABILITY
I saw this movie on television almost two years ago. Later I rented this movie. Trust me it was the same joyful experience for me like the first time I watched it. All I can say it’s definitely worth one and half hour of your time. It is superbly directed movie with funny and witty dialogues and some interesting plot twists. You can buy this movie from Amazon and it will cost you only £5 . Otherwise you can rent this movie from some high-street rental stores.
Thank you very much for reading and really hope you enjoy this classic movie.
Advantages: Quirky, good looking macabre comedy from the master of suspense Disadvantages: Not the usual Hitchcock flm
The trouble with Harry is not your usual Hitchcock film for a start it's a comedy, a dark comedy but a comedy nonetheless. It wasn't well received by the audiences at the time of its release in the US but it became a hit in Europe and eventually went back to the states and was a hit the second time around. THE STORY While doing some illegal rabbit shooting in the woods retired ship's captain Albert Wiles fires a couple of shots after a rabbit he ... ...the next he loses in the bushes. Trying to find the rabbit he enters a clearing in the woods he finds a dead man lying there with a head wound. He quickly deduces that he must have accidently killed the man with his second shot going astray. Looking through the unfortunate man's pockets he discovers the man was called Harry Worp. Shocked by what he's done and worried about the repercussions he decides that the best thing to do would be to bury the ...
Mauri 24.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Trouble With Harry (DVD)
"...Cutesy black comedy....MacLaine invests it with serious kink..." -- Rating: B (Entertainment Weekly, pp.70-2, 21/10/1994)
DVD Description
This black comedy from Alfred Hitchcock was based on Jack Turner's novel. When a retired sea captain, out doing a little rabbit hunting, discovers Harry's lifeless body in the hilltops of small-town Vermont, he erroneously believes that he is responsible for Harry's untimely demise. So he decides to bury the corpse to cover his tracks. But Harry just won't stay in the ground. Soon the dead man--through no fault of his own--has set off a series of comic misunderstandings, as the town spinster and Harry's wife also blame themselves for his death. THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY was not a runaway hit when it was released, but it holds up very well, demonstrating the director's sharp and morbid humor. It is one of the few comic turns Hitchcock made, and it compares favorably with his other lighter works, MR. AND MRS. SMITH and RICH AND STRANGE, shedding the romantic comedy for grimmer subject matter and satirical wit, which probably suited him more. This was Shirley MacLaine's first film; she gives an enjoyable performance as Harry's ex-wife. The film also features Jerry Mathers of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER fame. An uncredited star of the film is the Vermont location, seen in all its full autumn splendor.
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