The Trouble with Harry | | Cast : | Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine | | Director : | Alfred Hitchcock | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | October 03, 1955 | | DVD Released Date : | March 06, 2001 | | Language : | Spanish (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 03, 2005 | | Summary | Inane Hitchcock farce | Content
 | Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry" won't ever be considered one of his best productions. The film, a Shakepearean comedy of errors, was not up to the standards created by the master of suspense.
Shot in a bucolic setting, presumably in autumnal Vermont, the plot was set in a small town. A young Jerry "Leave it to Beaver" Mathers playing Arnie is strolling through the woods with ray gun in hand. He overhears a loud conversation followed by some gunshots. After getting over his initial fright, he strolls into a remote field where he discovers a dead man lying stretched out in the grass. He immediately runs home to tell his widowed mom Jennifer, played by a young Shirley Maclaine in her initial starring role.
Meanwhile local denizen retired tugboat captain Albert Wiles played by veteran actor Edmund Gwenn has been shooting rabbits nearby. He also stumbles into the body and believes that he has accidently shot the man he finds out is named Harry Worp. Planning to bury him to hide the supposed crime he hides behind a clump of trees as a number of unphased townfolk stumble across the body. Maclaine when encountering the body recognizes him as her husband Harry which whom she shared an unconsumated marriage.
Various members of the town come to believe that they were responsible for Harry's death and commence burying the body and then exhuming him as other facts come to light. The corpse is buried and dug up four times all the while avoiding the watchful eyes of Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs.
John Forsythe playing philosophical and starving artist Sam Marlowe becomes the enabler for the burying and reburying of Harry. He first helps Gwenn dig and then local spinster Miss Gravely played by Mildred Natwick. In time he and Maclaine fall for each other resulting in another burying and retrieval.
After almost getting caught with the corpse in Maclaine's house by the deputy, the townsfolk convince the doctor to determine the cause of Harry's death. When natural causes is deemed to be the culprit, they bathe him, clean his clothes and lay him out where he was first found by Mathers, to be rediscovered anew by the young boy. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 07, 2005 | | Summary | Some Rural New England Insanity, Anyone? | Content
| This is not your typical Alfred Hitchcock film. Rather, this is a mildly weird, somewhat stylized romantic comedy which uses a dead body as it's axis.
Harry is dead. Three of the four main characters think they are responsible, each though is unaware of all the facts. To say this is funny though is a stretch. In the documentary called "The Trouble With Harry Isn't Over," there is reference to this being a dark comedy. True. But each of the main characters has a detached angle on Harry. To his wife and to strangers his death is something more of an obstacle, a nuisance than an event. In this way the film carries a sort of perverse quality.
As well in a production notes special feature, it says that Hitchcock was interested in challenging American audiences notions of comedy, believing that obvious comedy wasn't necessary, instead cloaking it in such taboo's as murder, burial and exumation, and the old stalwarts: flirting between young and old couples, marriage, art and sex.
I must admit I was more curious watching the whole film than engrossed, and didn't find it out and out funny. Rather I found it oddly funny. Surely this was Hitchcock's hope.
There is also mention in the documentary that this was a kind of pastoral English comedy, soft and easy going in it's nature. That I agree with.
For Hitchcock fans this is recommended. Since it wasn't very engaging though, some of his classics would make a better watch if a compelling film is desirable. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 19, 2004 | | Summary | A sweet film | Content
| Dark, charming, and funny without being sentimental or nihilistic, "The Trouble with Harry" is a good example of Hitchcock's skill in walking the fine lines without tripping. This is a grandly underrated movie, possibly the only completely successful film of its type. Imagine the recent flick "Amelie" worked around a murder...wthout losing any of its remarkable magic.
I only have two quibbles with the film, none substantial enough to take even a fragment of fifth star away. First, John Forsythe seems a tad miscast Just a tiny bitty tad. The problem might simply be seeing him through the haze of his later television acting career. It's probably just my problem. I never find him to be a sympathetic or believable character (yet, to make up for that, Shirley MacLaine is great).
The second issue is that the story is supposed to be set in Vermont. I live about twenty minutes from Vermont and up close it never looked as much like northern California as it does in this film. Where are the trees...and the mountains? Oh well, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" is set in a nearby New Hampshire that looks like a stretch of WWI battlefield trench on a rainy day. Northern California is more flattering for sure. As a crotchety native New Englander, I'll gripe: why is it that in the movies set in Florida or Southern California those places are always made to look like some sort of Paradise-on-Earth (whereas in fact both locations are pretty hellish. I know, I've been there), and New England--a dag-darned charming place outside of the cussed cities--is never given its due? It's either wrongly expansive, big-sky West Coast or, worse, creepy Stephen King-ish Witch Haven. So help me, there isn't a single creepy abandoned Victorian mansion anywhere around the region! |
| Rating | | | Date | October 05, 2004 | | Summary | The Lighter Side of Death and Hitch | Content
| This review refers to the Widescreen DVD edition of "The Trouble With Harry"(Universal/Alfred HItchcock Collection)..
Harry Walker is a real pain to the residents of a quaint but very picturesque little town in New England. The trouble with Harry is..that he is dead! The residents including Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Natwick and Shirley MacLaine(in her first feature film role), don't seem too shook up about his apparent murder, some don't even notice the state Harry is in, the trouble is what to do with the corpse! These quirky folk, are trying to get rid of Harry, thinking they might be the ones responisble for his death. Through a series of very comical misunderstandings, poor Harry's body, is buried, dug up, cleaned up and returned to the "scene of the crime" several times, as they try to hide him from the local sherriff. And what's more, during this hard day's work, friendships, bonds, and even a lasting love is formed between the characters. It's an adventure in the lighter side of death as only Hitch can do it!
"The Trouble With Harry", may not be one we may consider to be a Masterpiece, by the master, but it is one that will surely have you smiling and recognizing the Hitch touch throughout. It definately displays his morbidly fun sense of humor, and his distinctive direction and attention to details is apparent throughout the film. The cast is marvelous, especially Edmund Gwenn. Check out and listen to his mumblings, as he hides out watching a parade of passerbys stumbling over the corpse. Also a very young Jerry Mathers("Leave It To Beaver") shows his talent and gift for comedy early on.
Looking for Hitch....An eye for art?...Check out who is passing by the artwork display in front of the General Store.
Universal has given this 1955 film a very nice transfer to DVD. The woodsy area that most of the story takes place in, shows off the beautiful colors of the season. The anamorphic widescreen picture is clear and takes in all that Hitch intended for us to see. The sound is good. It is clear and distinct in DD 2.0 (MONO). There are captions in Englilsh, subtitles in French and may also be viewed in French and Spanish. Extras include the entertaining and very informative documentary "The Trouble With Harry Isn't Over" and includes several interviews. There is a photo gallery and more.
A must have for fans, and a wonderful look at the lilghter side of Hitch....enjoy....Laurie |
| Rating | | | Date | June 29, 2004 | | Summary | Hitchcock's very "off center" black comedy | Content
| In the classic "Twilight Zone" episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit," viewers are introduced to just that: a ballerina, an Army officer, a clown, a tramp, and a bagpipe player seeking to escape from a cylindrical prison. At the end of the show, it is revealed that they are actually dolls that want "out"" from their round "home". While the four major characters in "The Trouble with Harry" are not dolls, they are definitely trying to "escape" from a prison of sorts, a prison of guilt over Harry's death of which they feel responsible. In a series of coincidences/mishaps stars Edmund Gwenn (a former ship captain), John Forsythe (a painter), Shirley MacLaine (single parent), and Mildred Natwick (a spinster) either "kill", "bury", or "resurrect" the dearly departed. But, Harry proves to be an illusive corpse. None of the eccentric characters shows much remorse because Harry wasn't a very likeable person; in fact, there is a lot of witty repartee between them as they discuss that to do with him. While this is far from one of "The Master's" best, it benefits from delightfully droll performances, a light-hearted Bernard Herrmann score, and post card-like images of New England, the film's setting. Rounding out the cast are a pre-"Beaver" Jerry Mathers as MacLaine's son, Mildred Dunnock as a local shopkeeper, and Royal Dano as the shopkeeper's police deputy son. Dano had a long career as a character actor and can be heard as the voice of Abraham Lincoln at the Disney theme parks' "Hall of Presidents". |
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