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    The Trouble with Harry

    • 19551955
    • PGPG
    • 1h 39min
    IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    35K
    YOUR RATING
    • Cast & crew
    • User reviews
    • Trivia
    • IMDbPro
    Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Watch {VideoTitle}
    Trailer2:27
    1 Video
    99+ Photos
    ComedyMystery

    The trouble with Harry is that he is dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to... Read allThe trouble with Harry is that he is dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.The trouble with Harry is that he is dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.The trouble with Harry is that he is dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.The trouble with Harry is that he is dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.

    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • John Michael Hayes(screenplay)
      • Jack Trevor Story(based on the novel by)
    • Stars
      • John Forsythe
      • Shirley MacLaine
      • Edmund Gwenn
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • John Michael Hayes(screenplay)
      • Jack Trevor Story(based on the novel by)
    • Stars
      • John Forsythe
      • Shirley MacLaine
      • Edmund Gwenn
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 194User reviews
    • 87Critic reviews
    • 74Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 4 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:27
    Official Trailer

    Photos179

    Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Shirley MacLaine, John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, Jerry Mathers, and Mildred Natwick in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Shirley MacLaine, John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, Jerry Mathers, Mildred Natwick, and Philip Truex in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Alfred Hitchcock, John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, and Philip Truex in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    Shirley MacLaine, John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick, and Philip Truex in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, and Philip Truex in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, and Philip Truex in The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    The Trouble with Harry (1955)
    The Trouble with Harry (1955)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Forsythe
    John Forsythe
    • Sam Marloweas Sam Marlowe
    Shirley MacLaine
    Shirley MacLaine
    • Jennifer Rogersas Jennifer Rogers
    Edmund Gwenn
    Edmund Gwenn
    • Capt. Albert Wilesas Capt. Albert Wiles
    Mildred Natwick
    Mildred Natwick
    • Miss Ivy Gravelyas Miss Ivy Gravely
    Mildred Dunnock
    Mildred Dunnock
    • Mrs. Wiggsas Mrs. Wiggs
    Jerry Mathers
    Jerry Mathers
    • Arnie Rogersas Arnie Rogers
    Royal Dano
    Royal Dano
    • Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggsas Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs
    Parker Fennelly
    • Millionaireas Millionaire
    Barry Macollum
    • Trampas Tramp
    Dwight Marfield
    • Dr. Greenbowas Dr. Greenbow
    Ernest Curt Bach
    • Ellisas Ellis
    • (uncredited)
    Alfred Hitchcock
    Alfred Hitchcock
    • Man Walking Past Sam's Outdoor Exhibitionas Man Walking Past Sam's Outdoor Exhibition
    • (uncredited)
    Philip Truex
    Philip Truex
    • Harry Worpas Harry Worp
    • (uncredited)
    Leslie Woolf
    • Art Critic from the Modern Museumas Art Critic from the Modern Museum
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • John Michael Hayes(screenplay)
      • Jack Trevor Story(based on the novel by)
    • All cast & crew
    See production, box office, & company info

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    Storyline

    Edit
    There is a dead well-dressed man in a meadow clearing in the hills above a small Vermont town. Captain Albert Wiles, who stumbles across the body and finds by the man's identification that his name is Harry Worp, believes he accidentally shot Harry dead while he was hunting rabbits. Captain Wiles wants to hide the body as he feels it is an easier way to deal with the situation than tell the authorities. While Captain Wiles is in the adjacent forest, he sees other people stumble across Harry, most of whom don't seem to know him or care or notice that he's dead. One person who does see Captain Wiles there is spinster Ivy Gravely, who vows to keep the Captain's secret about Harry. Captain Wiles also secretly sees a young single mother, Jennifer Rogers, who is the one person who does seem to know Harry and seems happy that he's dead. Later, another person who stumbles across both Harry and Captain Wiles is struggling artist Sam Marlowe, to who Captain Wiles tells the entire story of what he has seen thus far. Over the course of the day, several revelations come to light that question if Captain Wiles actually killed Harry. Sam, Mrs. Rogers, Captain Wiles and Miss Gravely's individual and collective actions in the matter of Harry take into account friendship, self-preservation, the path of least resistance, love and a lot of realizations about what their past actions will mean. Their work may all be for naught if Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs, the closest thing to law enforcement in their town, finds out about Harry. —Huggo
    corpsebased on novelvermontautumnblack comedy42 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • A comedy about a corpse.
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Mystery
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This movie was Alfred Hitchcock's experiment to see how audiences would react to a non-star-driven movie. He was of the opinion that oftentimes having a big star attached actually hindered the narrative flow and style of the story. He also developed the movie to test how American audiences would react to a more subtle brand of black humor than they were used to.
    • Goofs
      After Arnie discovers Harry's body in the bath tub, Harry's foot can be seen twitching just as the door opens for the second time.
    • Quotes

      Miss Graveley: How old do you think I am young man?

      Sam Marlowe: Hmm... fifty. How old do you think you are?

      Miss Graveley: Forty-two! I can show you my birth certificate.

      Sam Marlowe: I'm afraid you're going to have to show more than your birth certificate to convince a man of that.

    • Crazy credits
      Closing credits: "The trouble with Harry is over."
    • Alternate versions
      In a version seen on commercial television in the UK, several scenes and parts of scenes were cut. Most noticeable was the removal of the scene in which Sam, the artist played by John Forsythe, walks through the village in long shot singing "Flaggin' the Train to Tuscaloosa" (still present in the titles). Also, the doctor's brief appearances up to his final discovery of the body were cut, making Sam's prior inclusion of his name in the list of people who could go to the police rather confusing! This also meant the 'famous' shot used on the posters of Sam and the Captain each holding one of Harry's legs was cut.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Trouble with Harry Isn't Over (2001)
    • Soundtracks
      Flaggin' the Train to Tuscaloosa
      Lyric by Mack David

      Music by Raymond Scott

      Sung by John Forsythe (uncredited)

    User reviews194

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Black comedy with funny moments , nice acting , gorgeous outdoors and fun dialogue
    Amusing and lighthearted suspense story about the apparition a corpse on the countryside and there being many suspicious , causing all sorts of troubles for peaceful neighbors in a rural community . Problems take place in a quiet New England little town when a man's bothersome body is found in the forests . The trouble is that almost everyone in town thinks that they had something to do with his death . As Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe) , Mrs. Rogers (film debut of Shirley MacLaine , and she is marvelous as usual) , Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwenn's fourth and last film with Alfred Hitch) and Miss Gravel (Mildred Natwick , John Ford's usual actress) , all of them are suspicious people and carry out several tricks and antics to disappear the evidences , in fact , Harry gets dug up three times throughout the film . Meanwhile , Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano), the closest thing to law enforcement in their town attempts to finds out about Harry (Alfred Hitchcock insisted on using a real actor for the body of Harry).

    Enjoyable mystery movie involves a motley group of characters who hold numerous tricks in order to disappear a corpse as well as find alibis . Entertaining suspense movie packs humor , intrigue and ordinary Hitch touches . This agreeable and often hilarious picture has some 'Black comedy nature' and results to be an unexpected change of pace from master of suspense . Alfred Hitchcock's films have become famous for a number of elements and iconography : vertiginous height , innocent men wrongfully accused, blonde bombshells dressed in white, voyeurism, long non-dialogue sequences, etc. However in this film there aren't these particularities but contains a fun intrigue and amusing situations . Hitch was famous for making his actors follow the script to the word, and in this movie the characters use their dialogue taken from an interesting as well as fun screenplay by Jon Michael Hayes based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story . Alfred Hitchcock's movies were known for featuring famous landmarks such as Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest and the Statue of Liberty in Sabotage ; however here only appears a quiet small town and some colorful outdoors . Hitch apparently decided to leave this movie location unspecific and without recognizable landmarks and filmed in Vermont , though it was hampered by heavy rainfall , as many exterior scenes were actually filmed on sets constructed in a local high school gymnasium . Alfred Hitchcock once said of this film and of ¨Family plot¨ : ¨they are treated with a bit of levity and sophistication , I wanted the feeling of the famous director Ernst Lubitsch making mystery thrillers ." The film was unavailable for decades because its rights -together with four other pictures of the same period- were bought back by Alfred Hitchcock and left as part of his legacy to his daughter. They've been known for years as the infamous "5 lost Hitchcocks" among film buffs, and were re-released in theaters around 1984 after a 30-year absence. The others are ¨The Man Who Knew Too Much¨ (1956), ¨The rear window¨ (1954), ¨The rope¨ (1948) and ¨Vertigo¨(1958). When Music Composer Lyn Murray was working on the music score for ¨Catch a thief' (1955), Alfred Hitchcock was already looking for a composer for this film, which was to be his next. So Murray suggested Bernard Herrmann. Bernard arranged his whimsical themes from this film into a concert suite he called "A Portrait of Hitch". This was the beginning of the long professional relationship between Hitchcock and Herrmann. Colorful and glimmer cinematography in Vistavision by Robert Burks , Alfred's ordinary cameraman , showing nice autumn outdoors .

    The motion picture was well directed by Alfred Hitchcock . Originally designed by Hitchcock as an experiment in seeing how audiences would react to a non-star-driven film and was one of Alfred's favorites of all his films . Although this was a failure in the US, it played for a year in England and Italy, and for a year and a half in France. Rating : Better than average . Well worth watching .
    helpful•14
    4
    • ma-cortes
    • Jan 19, 2014

    FAQ4

    • Does Hitchcock have a cameo in this movie?
    • Shirley MacLaine---When Did She Sign For "Harry"?
    • John Forsythe---When Did He Sign With Hitch?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 3, 1955 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry
    • Filming locations
      • Morrisville, Vermont, USA
    • Production company
      • Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,200,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 39min
    • Color
      • Color

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