Marnie (1964)

Mark marries Marnie although she is a habitual thief and has serious psychological problems, and tries to help her confront and resolve them.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Winston Graham (from the novel by), Jay Presson Allen (screenplay)

Stars:

Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Diane Baker

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tippi Hedren	...	Marnie Edgar (as 'Tippi' Hedren)
Sean Connery	...	Mark Rutland
Diane Baker	...	Lil Mainwaring
Martin Gabel	...	Sidney Strutt
Louise Latham	...	Bernice Edgar
Bob Sweeney	...	Cousin Bob
Milton Selzer	...	Man at Track
Alan Napier	...	Mr. Rutland
Henry Beckman	...	First Detective
Edith Evanson	...	Rita - Cleaning Woman
Mariette Hartley	...	Susan Clabon
Bruce Dern	...	Sailor
S. John Launer	...	Sam Ward
Meg Wyllie	...	Mrs. Turpin

Storyline

Marnie Edgar is a habitual liar and a thief who gets jobs as a secretary and after a few months robs the firms in question, usually of several thousand dollars. When she gets a job at Rutland's, she also catches the eye of the handsome owner, Mark Rutland. He prevents her from stealing and running off, as is her usual pattern, but also forces her to marry him. Their honeymoon is a disaster and she cannot stand to have a man touch her and on their return home, Mark has a private detective look into her past. When he has the details of what happened in her childhood to make her what she is, he arranges a confrontation with her mother realizing that reliving the terrible events that occurred in her childhood and bringing out those repressed memories is the only way to save her.

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Plot Keywords:

thief | past | memory | honeymoon | money | 

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Taglines:

Only Alfred Hitchcock could have created so suspenseful a sex mystery!

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pas de printemps pour Marnie

Filming Locations:

San Jose, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Jay Presson Allen wrote in Mark's hobby of studying animal behavior because that was her hobby and tangentially fit with Mark's later inclination to psychoanalyze Marnie.

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Goofs

The shadow of the boom mic falls on the wall of Marnie's mother's kitchen while she makes Jessie's pie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sidney Strutt: Robbed! Cleaned out! $9,967! Precisely as I told you over the telephone. And that girl did it. Marion Holland. That's the girl. Marion Holland.
First Detective: Can you describe her Mr. Strutt?
Sidney Strutt: Certainly I can describe her: five-five, 110 pounds, size 8 dress, blue eyes, black wavy hair, even features, good teeth.
Sidney Strutt: [detectives unable to restrain laughter] Well what's so damn funny? There's been a grand larceny committed on these premises.

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Connections

Spoofed in Psycho Beach Party (2000)

User Reviews

Great, Genius

Marnie is a misunderstood masterpiece from the Hitchcock. Often cited as an example of a messy, flawed genius - it can be off putting to some since its quite talky. However stick with it and you will be intrigued and itching to discover all about Marnie (contrary to what most say, played with understated brilliance from Tippi Hedren).

The direction and cinematography is exceptional with Hitchcock and his usual crew i.e. Rob Burks etc on form. The atmosphere generated (apart from being 'Hitchcocky') is unique, dark, gloomy and at times akin to a horror film, yet it is utterly appealing and compelling. Theres an almost creepy, artificial humanless feel to proceedings as a result of the direction and how the actors have been directed to act as is briefly highlighted by a Hitchcock scholar in the documentary on the disk. Hitchcock knows the art of cinema, no flashy fast cuts or fast moving camera's as we see nowadays, but measured, inspired direction laced with flourishes of creative genius (thats Hithcock for you). Atmosphere, emotion is built up like poetry. Witness for example some moments of genius such as the final revelation, in what is one of Hitchcocks most underrated, powerful and shocking pieces of direction; the riding sequence which culminates in Marnies fantastic yet disturbing line of dialogue, " there there....", and also sinister momnets such as when Marnies mother wakes here from her nightmare- her voice disturbingly artificial in its lack of emotion and empathy for a clearly distraught Marnie.

Speaking of the mother, Louise Latham -the actress behind the role effortlessly steals the show from an already superb Hedren and Connery. Latham eleicits an absolutely breathtaking performance. Her character is frighteningly creepy, tragic, powerful and marvellously played to keep up the suspense and intrigue. You don't know what to make of the character except of the fact she knows or has played a part in Marnies psychological condition. In fact I would go as far as to say it is one of the greatest performances in a Hitchcock picture - an example of genius casting. Similarly her character is arguably the greatest 'mother' character in any Hitchcock film beating Pyscho and Notorious' madame Sebastion.

Marnie is a truly great picture and definetly Hitchcocks last great although Frenzy is a nice enough distraction. Not as good as Vertigo or Rear Window but certainly up there in the higher echelons of Hitchcocks work.

9/10