The Trouble With Harry

The Trouble With Harry
1955 - Paramount
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock



SYNOPSIS

A young boy (Jerry Mathers) comes across a dead body in the woods in rural New England. He runs home to tell his mother. An older man (Edmund Gwynn) also comes across the same body and believes he shot it while hunting and decides to hide it. The boy returns with his mom Jennifer (Shirley MacLaine) and she seems glad the man (Harry) is dead. A middle aged woman named Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick) happens by, followed by the town doctor (who doesn't notice) and lastly a drifter comes by and swipes the corpse's shoes. Both women also believe they contributed to Harry's death.
Unsuccessful local artist Sam Marlow (John Forsythe) goes into the woods, finds the body, and sketches it. The older man is still there and they agree to bury the body. The old man accounts for all his bullets, and realizes he didn't kill Harry, so the body is dug up. The body is buried and dug up several more times before the doctor is brought in and finds out what really killed Harry.
Meanwhile, Jennifer and Marlow fall in love, as do the old man and Miss Gravely.



MY THOUGHTS

This blacker-than-black comedy is a showcase for Alfred Hitchcok's macabre, twisted, definitely British sense of humor.
Ocassionally laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes too absurd and goofy, the film excells, offering a vastly different film than you'd expect from the Master of Suspense.
This almost operates as a parody of his standard fare. There's little action, suspense or mayhem. It starts like an atypical one, with the discovery of a body, but quickly veers off in another direction.

The 4 main character's situation seems a little ridiculous, and they handle it in an equally illogical way. Each of the actors display their character's quirks and bring a sense of realism. But there's more surreal in the story than real. There's no way that real people would react with as much indifference to seeing a dead body, or to repeatedly change their minds about burying it. But the direction and script are so good, the viewer suspends his/her disbelief and stays on board for the ride.

John Forsythe and Shirley MacClaine (in her debut) are great but are outshone by Edmund Gwynn and Mildred Natwick. Both couples have great chemistry.
Their two love stories are purposly made to be parallel to compare and contrast. The man and woman in each couple have never met, yet live in the tiny community where they know everyone else.
The main difference is young love vs. old. Forsythe is quick to ask for MacClaine's hand in marriage and there seems to be a lot of passion and lust there. The older couple moves slower and wiser and come across more as friends than impassioned lovers.
Some racy double entendres litter both of the courtships and create much of the non gallows-related humor.

The appearance of a pre-Beaver Jerry Mathers made me wonder why they could't have made a 'Leave it to Beaver' episode where the Beav found a corpse... or at least went around carrying a dead animal.

The photography is amazing. New England during the fall adds so much to the small town feel to the film.

The film is also noted for Hitchcock's first pairing with composer Bernard Herrmann, who delivers a solid score, but it doesn't stand out like his more well known ones later on like 'Psycho' or 'Vertigo.'

If you go into this film expecting to see a standard Hitchcock film you will leave disappointed, but there's a lot to like here. It isn't his best film, but it is fun seeing him experiment.