Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors. He is known for psychological thrillers and as a master of suspense classics such as Psycho, Rear Window, and The Birds. The Trouble with Harry is a lesser-known work and one of Hitchcock’s few comedies. The film starred Edmund Gwenn and John Forsythe (early in his career). It was also the debut for two other well known actors—Shirley MacLaine and a very young Jerry Mathers (who later played Beaver in Leave it to Beaver).
The opening scenes of the film show a quaint, picturesque New England town during early autumn. A small boy traipses through the woods and up a hill as three gun shots are heard in the distance. He continues to a clearing where he sees a man lying on the ground with blood on his forehead. The boy runs away, presumably to find help. Next we see an older gentleman, Captain Wiles, who fired the three shots while rabbit hunting. Captain Wiles finds a tin can and a sign that he hit with the first two shots, but no rabbit. As he climbs a small hill he sees a body lying in the clearing. Wiles believes he has found where the third bullet ended.
As Wiles tries to hide the body, several people happen to come by in this remote, woodsy area. The little boy returns with his mother, who recognizes the man and seems content to see him gone. A hobo wanders through and takes the dead man’s shoes. A local man, distracted by the book he is reading, trips over the body without notice. An older woman, who knows Captain Wiles, sees him moving the body, but promises not to divulge his secret. Eventually, Harry, the dead man, is buried. But a turn of events, a sort of comedy of errors, causes Harry to be dug up and buried, and then dug up and buried again, and finally exhumed for a third time. I won’t reveal any more, but there are several very complicated reasons why Harry’s body just can’t stay underground.
The Trouble with Harry is definitely not Hitchcock’s usual fare, but you can still feel his directorial presence. The dialogue, although somewhat stilted, subtly reveals each character’s quirks. The pacing and mood of the scenes are very deliberate. Although the film isn’t laugh-out -loud funny, there is a very wry, dark humor just beneath the surface.
If you have never watched a Hitchcock film, I wouldn’t recommend this as the place to start, but for those who appreciate his work, you will find The Trouble with Harry a welcome diversion.
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