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Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie
Topic Started: Apr 10 2004, 01:54 PM (42 Views)
captain_proton_au
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A Robot in Disguise

My mother is quite the Alfred Hitchcock fan. On Good Friday my Aunt had brought her a present, A DVD copy of the AH film Marnie - Tippy Hendren and Sean Connery, apparently a film she has long sought after but never been able to get her hands on.

She was quite excited, and after most of the preperation of the evening feast had finished, they sat down to watch it. i thought to myself ho-hum, I liked Rear Window, but I thought Psycho and The Birds were a bit silly.

Boy , what a surprise I was in for. Damn this was a good film. It is the story of Marnie who was a compulsive liar and thief - pretty messed up. About half way through the picture Sean Connery's character comes in as someone Marnie has defrauded and Blackmails her into marrying him. She cannot stand being touched by men and Jack(Connery) sees she is troubled and thinks it is something to do with her childhood, near the end he drags her to her mother, confronts her until the truth is revealed. Now up to this time the mother is portaryed as a strict christian woman, but when the truth is revealed we find out the mother used to be a working girl and that Marnie at about age 6 or so had killed one of her clients with a fire poker because she thought he was attacking the mother. ( in what is possibly Bruce Derns first role).

Now I always had a problem with a lot of movies from the 40s and 50s because they were just too unrealistic and stayed away from tabo subjects( guys taking weeks to even kiss a girl etc), but this was totally different - it even had a rape scene ( well implied anyway) as the newly wed Jack is frustrated by Marnie's reluctance on their Honeymoon he takes off his shirt , throws Marnie on the bed, we get a closeup of the horrified face of Marnie, then cut to the next scene.

I am a Citizen Kane-er, one of those that rate that film one of the best of all time ( pre 1977 anyway) because that was also quite grown up for its time as Marnie is.
I think I may rate Marnie as my favourite Hitchcock film.

Anyone else seen this one, or likes another AH movie, or thinks another movie of this period deserves special mention?
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Fesarius
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Admiral
^^^
I've been a Hitchcock fan since about 1971. He's just about my favorite director, second only to Francois Truffaut (who incidentally was a huge Hitch fan). I agree with you regarding The Birds; however, I thought Psycho (1960, and written by Outer Limits guru Joseph Stefano) was superb for many reasons.

If you liked Marnie, then I hope you find the time one day to view North by Northwest, Stranger on a Train, The Lady Vanishes, Vertigo, Young and Innocent (a.k.a. The Girl Was Young), and To Catch A Thief--to name only a few of the gems he directed. We can discuss the reasons why he was so good if you wish. I am never bored watching one of the films he directed. :)

Perhaps my all-time favorite? Dial M for Murder. :)
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