Search - Marnie on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1964 DVD Release: 05/30/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 11 mins Studio: Universal Studios Members Wishing: 11 Genres: Mystery, Melodrama, Romantic Mystery, Psychological Thriller See Also: Marnie

Condemned as being a "disappointing" and "unworthy" Alfred Hitchcock effort at the time of its release, Marnie has since grown in stature; it is still considered a lesser Hitchcock, but a fascinating one. Tippi Hedren plays Marnie, a compulsive thief who cannot stand to be touched by any man. She also goes bonkers over the sight of the color red. Her new boss, Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) is intrigued by Marnie -- to such an extent that he blackmails her into marriage when he stumbles onto her breaking into his safe. Rutland is in his own way as "sick" as his wife because of his fetishist desire to cohabit with a thief. After innumerable plot twists and turns, Marnie is "cured" by a facile but mesmerizing flashback sequence involving her ex-hooker mother (Louise Latham). Among the critical carps aimed at Marnie was the complaint that the studio-bound sets -- particularly the waterfront locale where the film ends -- were tacky and artificial; curiously, this seeming "carelessness" adds to the queasy, off-setting mood that Hitchcock endeavored to sustain. Even when the direction seems to falter, the film is buoyed by the driving musical score of Bernard Herrmann (his last for Hitchcock). Among the supporting actors in Marnie are Mariette Hartley as a secretary and Bruce Dern as a sailor; twelve years later, Dern would star in Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tippi Hedren - Marnie Edgar
Sean Connery - Mark Rutland
Diane Baker - Lil Mainwaring
Martin Gabel - Sidney Strutt
Louise Latham - Bernice Edgar, Mamie's mother

An unsung Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece finally gets its due with the Universal Collector's Edition of Marnie. The film is an intoxicating romantic mystery that was unfairly assaulted by critics and ignored by audiences upon its original release (not unlike Hitchcock's Vertigo). Thankfully, this edition does much to restore the film's reputation and comes loaded with special features that will appeal to Hitchcock fanatics and classic movie buffs. The insightful "making of" documentary, "The Trouble With Marnie," features in-depth interviews with most of the movie's living principals minus Sean Connery. Standout personalities include title star Tippi Hedren and screenwriters Jay Presson Allen and Evan Hunter (who went uncredited). Highly entertaining and humorous, the documentary helps shed light on why Marnie didn't click in 1964. The DVD also features Hitchcock's hilariously cheeky trailer for the film and an extensive digital portfolio of photographs from the shoot. The DVD further helps restore the film's reputation with a pristine anamorphic widescreen transfer that shows off Marnie's original use of color (crucial to the story) and Hitchcock's complex mise-en-scène. The Dolby Digital Mono sound mix only enhances Bernard Herrman's lushly beautiful score. Other DVD reissues should use Universal's Hitchcock series as a template for future releases. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide