moonspinner55 Review of Marnie

Marnie (1964)

Unusual Hitchcock suspenser--intriguing but overlong and miscast

[6/10 · 24 December 2006]

Critically-drubbed suspense-melodrama from Alfred Hitchcock has eternally-lackluster Tippi Hedren playing the mysterious, troubled Marnie, a frigid kleptomaniac (!) whose modus operandi is to disguise herself, change her name and rip off a series of trusting employers; her latest boss, a peculiarly cast Sean Connery, takes a liking to her and hopes to cure Marnie of her ills. Lack of chemistry between the intentionally-icy Hedren and too-patient Connery just about kills the romance angle (is he turned on by her fear of sex? And, if so, what's in his background to make an obviously virile man want to play doctor to this skittish kitten?). The movie's production is smothered with sterile gloss, and every new set-up is plastic and unconvincing. Still, the supporting cast is quite good (particularly Diane Baker) and the resolution is there, for those who manage to stick with it. **1/2 from ****