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 .

Director Alfred Hitchcock attempts comedy again, with better results as this film is about the corpse of Harry Worp, which is first discovered by Capt. Albert Wiles(played by Edmund Gwenn) who thinks he shot Harry accidentally when he was hunting rabbits, so decides to hide the body instead. Unsuccessfully, as it turns out, as it is discovered by young Arnie Rogers(played by Jerry Mathers) who then gets his mother(played by Shirley MacLaine) to see it, though she recognizes it as her missing husband! She then decides to hide it herself, only to have artist Sam Marlowe(played by John Forsythe) stumble over it! Thus begins the odyssey of Harry's body, and the trouble it causes... Amusing comedy is almost too droll for its own good, but a fine cast and amiable nature make it a pleasant diversion, but nothing more.

While Alfred Hitchcock is my favourite director, I am not going to say that he hasn't made a disappointing film(and actually I haven't come across that many Hitch fans that have said that). But even his disappointments I find are not that terrible, certainly in comparison to the worst of other directors' resumes. The Trouble with Harry for me may fall short of being one of his top 10 films(Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca, Notorious, The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, North By Northwest and The Birds) and it is one that seems to divide audiences, but it is nowhere near among his weakest like Jamaica Inn, Topaz, Under Capricorn and The Paradine Case. The Trouble with Harry does come across as pedestrian pace-wise sometimes, but even if people don't like it(and that is absolutely fine) I do find it difficult to believe personally that they'd give it a score that indicates that it has no redeeming values, then again that may be just me.

Dissenting opinions, saying that the film is not funny and that it has no plot, and that it was a flop at the box office might indicate for some that The Trouble with Harry is not a great film. I think a large part of why was how it was promoted/marketed. Anybody thinking it would be a murder mystery and that it would have suspense like Hitchcock's master of suspense nickname suggests will be disappointed, and I don't think it helped that Paramount clearly didn't know how to promote it. The Trouble with Harry is an acquired taste and I wouldn't go as far to say it's perfect, but to me it is an example of a film that succeeds at being different. Besides, how a film did at the box office or how much money has made has never been an overriding factor in how I judge films anyway, it isn't a fair criticism and there are many examples of films that made lots of money but actually aren't that good.

The Trouble with Harry is really well-made for a start. The cinematography is wholly professional and sometimes has a dream-like look to it. The scenery is a genuine beauty, and I'd go as far to say that The Trouble with Harry is one of Hitch's most visually pleasing films. Hitchcock splendidly directs, the opening sequence was a truly great touch and set the scene of the film really well, sure it is different to what he is known for, but there is the odd suspenseful moment. And there are those suspenseful moments you can tell that it is Hitch directing, which is more than I can say for something like Jamaica Inn or Under Capricorn where I was struggling to tell where it was Hitchcock directing or not. Bernard Hermann would do even better later with Psycho and especially Vertigo but the music score for The Trouble with Harry is still an atmospheric one that does a fine job fitting with the film.

I'll also say that I am one of those who did find The Trouble with Harry very funny, often hilarious. Black humour works wonders when done right, and the black humour I found was done right here. It is very wry and deliciously ironic, also with some of the one-liners with Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick quite ahead-of-its-time. Some will find the story plot-less with not much of a point, compared to other Hitchcock films that is true as there are more tautly written stories. However the story here while somewhat odd is clever and I did love how dramatically understated it was. The characters are disparate and will not come across as very likable to people, but like with the subtle storytelling and understated drama to keep them like that- and to have them spending the time thinking who did it? and did I do it?- was a deliberate choice and one that came off very nicely. The most endearing character is Miss Graveley, closely followed by Arnie.

From an acting point of view, The Trouble with Harry is as excellent as the humour. Dwight Marfield is a little wooden, but it is not enough to harm anything and doesn't stick out too much like a sore thumb to everybody else. It is better to judge John Forsythe on his own, rather than comparing him to the likes of Cary Grant and James Stewart. His performance won't be up there with one of the greatest in a Hitchcock film, but his ruggedly handsome looks, subtle comic delivery and quiet intelligence makes it an above decent one. Shirley MacLaine was in her film debut, and it is a very charming and sweet(but not overly-so) debut indeed, again like Forsythe she works better being judged in her own way as well. Their chemistry is convincing enough, but that between Gwenn and Natwick was stronger. Mildreds Natwick and Dunnock are very easy to like and seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, while Jerry Mathers is similarly likable(and cute). I found Edmund Gwenn to be the one who dominated though and in a good way, he has brilliant comic timing and is very commanding and cool, it really helps that he has the best lines along with Natwick(their chemistry was adorable).

Overall, really good, even great, film that shouldn't be dismissed so quickly. 9/10 Bethany Cox