Search - The Trouble With Harry on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1955 DVD Release: 03/06/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: Universal Studios Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Comedy, Mystery, Black Comedy, Comedy Thriller, Ensemble Film See Also: The Trouble with Harry

The trouble with Harry is that he's dead. The scene is a autumnal Vermont village, where a pre-Leave It to Beaver Jerry Mathers stumbles upon Harry's corpse in the woods. Mathers alerts his mother Shirley MacLaine (making her film debut), who recognizes Harry as her ex-husband. Later on, retired sea captain Edmund Gwenn likewise comes across the moribund Harry. Both MacLaine and Gwenn have reason to believe that they're responsible for Harry's demise; MacLaine thinks that she killed Harry by clobbering him with a bottle, while Gwenn is certain that he shot the poor fellow while hunting. As the day draws to a close, seemingly every person in town is convinced that he or she has had some hand in Harry's death, thus they conspire to hide the body from the authorities. Visiting artist John Forsythe, dumbfounded at the calm, collected reactions of the villagers regarding Harry (whose ubiquitous body pops up at the most inopportune moments), solves the "mystery." Though not his most successful film, The Trouble with Harry was one of director Alfred Hitchcock's favorites. The story's whimsical black-comedy elements are perfectly complemented by Bernard Herrmann's playful music score. Best bit: Mildred Natwick, coming upon Gwenn as the latter is strenuously dragging away Harry's corpse, asking offhandedly "What seems to be the trouble, Captain?" The Trouble with Harry was adapted by John Michael Hayes from the novel by John Trevor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Edmund Gwenn - Capt. Albert Wiles
John Forsythe - Sam Marlowe, the painter
Shirley MacLaine - Jennifer Rogers, Harry's Wife
Mildred Natwick - Miss Graveley
Mildred Dunnock - Mrs. Wiggs
Jerry Mathers - Arnie Rogers

One of director Alfred Hitchcock's final films was the witty and clever The Trouble with Harry. Universal has done a wonderful job at making this 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer look full and bright. A slight amount of edge enhancement and grain is spotted in a few key scenes, though overall this is a very nice-looking print. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono in both Spanish and English. While it can't be said that this is an overly impressive audio track (the 2.0 confines don't give way for much fidelity or depth), the bulk of the film is free of any excessive distortion or hiss. Also included on this disc are subtitles in English and French. =The Trouble With Harry features a few nice extra features, starting off with a newly produced documentary titled "The Trouble With Harry Isn't Over." Featuring interviews with actor John Forsythe, associate producer Herbert Coleman, and daughter Pat Hitchcock O'Connell, among others, this is a very fun documentary that's full of anecdotes and stories about the production. Also included on this disc is a "Production Gallery" featuring 38 photos, five pages of production notes, some cast and crew information, and a full screen theatrical trailer for the film. Hitchcock fans should be pleased with this new DVD edition of The Trouble with Harry. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide