The Trouble with Harry (1955)

The greatest movie ever made..!

Lack of good storyline.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I'm going to keep my review short. I enjoyed this film, and found enough humor mixed with a fairly good plot line. I think the film is worth watching, and a must for any Hitchcock fan. However a significant theme of the movie in the beginning that I enjoyed was how nonchalant everyone acted about Harry's death/dead body. And it does continue throughout the movie, with characters shrugging off the troubles, and acting as if it's a slight inconvenience. However in the beginning everyone that stumbles up to Harry's' body hilariously doesn't care, but later it's discovered that's they already knew, and were pretending. This ruined the earlier jokes for me, and made the film less funny to me from then on. 7/10

This film was Alfred Hitchcock's foray into comedy. "The Trouble with Harry" is that he's a corpse. And, the film develops into a complex whodunit after the first assumed culprit. It's a dark comedy with mystery and wonderful humor that keeps it light throughout. The musical score is superb in helping to convey the not-too-serious tone of the film. Hitchcock went to the stage to get his leading actors. John Forsythe had been performing in "Teahouse of the August Moon," and Shirley MacLaine was caught perchance on a night when she was the under-study and substituted for the main actress. It turned out to be her big break, and this was her debut on the silver screen. Forsythe plays Sam Marlowe and MacLaine plays Jennifer Rogers. But, the lead character is Capt. Albert Wiles, played by Edmund Gwenn. A fourth leading role is that of Miss Ivy Gravely, played by Mildred Natwick. The film has a small cast, and all are superb in their roles. Each of the main characters is something of an eccentric in the hamlet of Highwater, Vermont. Sam is a painter who hasn't yet sold any of his paintings from Mrs. Wiggs' cider stand outside her general store. Albert is a retired sea captain of some sort who goes rabbit hunting with a 22 caliber or slightly larger rifle. (The bullet holes in the sign and beer can are just that – holes made by small caliber rifle bullets – not shotgun blasts.) Jennifer is a young woman who moved to the small Vermont hamlet in the past year with her small son, Arnie, to get away from somebody. Ivy is a native of the area who has never married. Mrs. Wiggs (Mildred Dunnock) runs the general store and fruit stand outside. Her son (Royal Dano) is Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs, who keeps an antique car running as his hobby. In watching this film, one realizes that if they keep digging long enough, they'll get to the bottom of the mystery. It's a mostly visual film that includes some spectacular scenic shots of the Vermont countryside in the fall. It does have some funny dialog in places. Here are some sample lines. Arnie, "Say, how do rabbits get to be born?" Sam, "Same way elephants do." Arnie, "Oh, sure"Arnie, "How come you never came over to visit me before?" Sam, "I didn't know you had such a pretty mother, Arnie." Arnie, "You think she's pretty, you should see my slingshot."Sam, "Perhaps I'll come back tomorrow." Arnie, "When's that?" Sam, "The day after today." Arnie, "That's yesterday. Today's tomorrow." Sam, "It was." Arnie, "When was tomorrow yesterday, Mr. Marlowe?" Sam, "Today." Arnie, "Oh, sure. Yesterday."Jennifer, "I've never been to a homemade funeral before." Albert, "Huh, I have. This is my third. All in one day."Sam, "All right. If I had my choice, I'd rather be thought a murderer than proved one."Jennifer, "It's too late to say prayers. Besides, wherever he's going, he's there now. Bye, Harry. I forgive you."

I was really young when I saw this film for the first time. In a quaint Vermont town, a body is found. For a while, the guy is just part of the landscape. Kids even play around it (that's Jerry Mather...the Beaver). A flood of guilt settles on the community. At least three people feel they may have caused the death of this man. However, the townspeople will do anything to keep the authorities from getting wind of it. Royal Dano, the long faced sheriff, is out there somewhere. We are also introduced to Shirley MacLaine who plays a young mother and is the wife of the deceased. As with all Hitchcock films, there is a lot of unique situations as people bury, dig up, hide, cover the body. If some feel the end is anticlimactic, that's what it's supposed to be. One of the stars of the show is Vermont in the fall which provides a backdrop for all the grim doings that are going on.

The Trouble With Harry (1955) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock / Cast: John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick, Royal Dano: The trouble with Harry is established early. He is dead and everyone who comes in contact with the body in the meadow believes that they are the prime suspect. Edmund Gwenn plays Captain Albert Wiles who comes across the body and believes he accidentally shot him while hunting. John Forsythe plays Sam Marlowe, an artist who assists Wiles in the several times they buried the body. Sam is romancing Jennifer Rogers, played by Shirley MacLaine whose husband is Harry and she seems disinterested in his death because she believes that she is responsible. Mildred Natwick plays Ivey Gravely who believes that she caused his death when she was attacked by him and she hit him over the head with her hiking boot. Royal Dano plays the Deputy Sheriff who shows up periodically while everyone is moving Harry about just out of sight. Director Alfred Hitchcock has fun with the humour and mystery surrounding Harry's death but the third act seems in very poor taste particularly when a cop pays a house visit when Harry's body is in a bathtub. The characters have likable qualities as played by an engaging cast but can anyone be this unlikable after death? The trouble with Harry is that he is never alive on camera for his version of the story to be told. Score: 7 / 10