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John Michael Hayes (screenplay)
Jack Trevor Story (novel)
3 October 1955 (USA) more
A comedy about a corpse. more
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... full summary | full synopsis
Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination more
Q&A: Mark Seal on the Ciprianis
(From Vanity Fair. 2 November 2009, 7:21 AM, PST)
Geek Deal: Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece DVD Collection for $54
(From Slash Film. 28 October 2009, 9:32 AM, PDT)
Outlandish black comedy from Hitch, a failure when released as it was probably a little ahead of its time. more (115 total)
| Edmund Gwenn | ... | Capt. Albert Wiles | |
| John Forsythe | ... | Sam Marlowe | |
| Mildred Natwick | ... | Miss Ivy Gravely | |
| Mildred Dunnock | ... | Mrs. Wiggs | |
| Jerry Mathers | ... | Arnie Rogers | |
| Royal Dano | ... | Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs | |
| Parker Fennelly | ... | Millionaire | |
| Barry Macollum | ... | Tramp | |
| Dwight Marfield | ... | Dr. Greenbow | |
| Shirley MacLaine | ... | Jennifer Rogers | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Ernest Curt Bach | ... | Ellis (uncredited) | |
| Alfred Hitchcock | ... | Man walking past Sam's outdoor exhibition (uncredited) | |
| Philip Truex | ... | Harry Worp (uncredited) | |
| Leslie Wolff | ... | Art Critic from the Modern Museum (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Alfred Hitchcock | |||
Writing credits | ||
| John Michael Hayes | (screenplay) | |
| Jack Trevor Story | (novel) | |
Produced by | |||
| Herbert Coleman | .... | associate producer | |
| Alfred Hitchcock | .... | producer (uncredited) | |
Original Music by | |||
| Bernard Herrmann | (music score by) | ||
Cinematography by | |||
| Robert Burks | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Alma Macrorie | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| John B. Goodman | (as John Goodman) | ||
| Hal Pereira | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Sam Comer | |||
| Emile Kuri | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Edith Head | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Wally Westmore | .... | makeup supervisor | |
Production Management | |||
| C.O. Erickson | .... | unit production manager (uncredited) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Howard Joslin | .... | assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Gene Lauritzen | .... | construction coordinator (uncredited) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Winston H. Leverett | .... | sound recordist (as Winston Leverett) | |
| Harold Lewis | .... | sound recordist | |
Special Effects by | |||
| John P. Fulton | .... | special photographic effects | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Scott Dougherty | .... | digital restoration producer: Cinesite (uncredited) | |
| Jerry Pooler | .... | digital restoration supervisor (uncredited) | |
| Tiffany Smith | .... | digital restoration coordinator: Cinesite (uncredited) | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Bobby Greene | .... | first assistant camera (uncredited) | |
| Leonard J. South | .... | camera operator (uncredited) | |
Other crew | |||
| Richard Mueller | .... | technicolor color consultant | |
| Saul Steinberg | .... | title illustrator (uncredited) | |
99 min
Color (Technicolor)
1.50 : 1 more
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Brazil:12 | USA:Approved (certificate no. 17335) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Ireland:PG | Peru:14 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG
Due to the indifferent weather conditions in Vermont, boxes and boxes of autumnal leaves were shipped back to California where they were painstakingly pinned onto trees on a studio soundstage. more
Continuity: In the second-to-last scene there is a large wet spot on Jennifer's blouse. A few seconds later, the wet spot is completely gone. more
[Upon finding the Captain dragging a body along the ground]
Miss Graveley:
What seems to be the trouble, Captain?
more
Referenced in "Odyssey 5: Trouble with Harry (#1.12)" (2002) more
Flaggin' the Train to Tuscaloosa more
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The Trouble With Harry is a comedy film about a dead body. Alfred Hitchcock makes the macabre concept deliciously funny and entertaining in his unique style. Helping Hitchcock to turn this unlikeliest of premises into an enjoyable film are Bernard Herrmann (providing fabulous music scoring), and a cast of winning actors who judge to perfection how far to push their tongues into their cheeks.
A dead body turns up on a patch of grass near the top of a wooded New England hill. Various people have reason to believe that they're responsible for the man's death. Septugenarian ex-sea captain Albert Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) is worried that he might have accidentally shot the man while hunting for rabbits. Old spinster Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick) fears that when she whacked the man over the head with her shoe, she may have done more damage than she intended. And single mother Jennifer (Shirley MacLaine) has even greater cause to feel responsible, for she is the dead man's wife. During an argument, she smashed a bottle over his head and is now almost sure that he died as a result. Local artist Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe) decides to help his neighbours to cover up the crime, but after burying and digging up the corpse several times, the truth behind "Harry's" death is finally revealed.
No Hitchcock film divides viewers more than this one. Some consider the film a masterpiece of understated black comedy; others deem it a plot less, pointless time-waster. The film was a fairly massive box office flop at the time (audiences obviously felt from the movie poster that they were going to see a murder mystery, and were disappointed to actually find themselves experiencing a bizarre, off-kilter black comedy). In retrospect, I'd say The Trouble With Harry is a great film that was probably a good two decades ahead of its time. The performances are wonderfully outrageous, especially the elders (Gwenn and Natwick) who give perceptive comic turns that actors nowadays just don't seem to have the range to do. Forsythe and MacLaine are delightful too (the latter in her movie debut), and Royal Dano rounds off the cast as a gullible cop who nearly finds out that the other four have been up to no good. There's no doubt that The Trouble With Harry is an acquired taste; but if this taste is to your liking then you're in for a delectable treat!