The Trouble with Harry (1955)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn
Runtime: 99 minutes

Synopsis: Residents of a small community located in Vermont react differently when the body of a man called Harry is found in the woods.

Performances: 7/10
Screenplay: 8/10
Special Effects: N.A.
Costumes/Makeup: 4/10
Editing: 8/10
Cinematography: 9/10
Score/Soundtrack: 9/10 

Verdict: "The Trouble with Harry" is not exactly the first movie that comes to mind when Alfred Hitchcock's name is mentioned. And while it's certainly not on par with "Psycho", "Rear Window", or "Vertigo" to name a few of his true masterpieces, it's still a really fun movie that worked for me on many levels. First of all, the movie looked amazing from a technical point of view. Robert Burks proved once more why he was Hitchcock's go-to cinematographer, providing both beautiful and intriguing shots that certainly contributed to my enjoyment of the film and the overall. "The Trouble with Harry" was also greatly edited and scored. I never felt that the picture was unnecessarily dragging, nor that the soundtrack was cheesy and over the top. In fact, it perfectly accompanied the general mood of what is one of Hitchcock's favorite films of his. The performances were all great, even though they felt a bit dated at times. However what I enjoyed most was how the sense of mystery was handled using small details such as not showing the dead character's face, or not revealing to the audience a line of dialogue that comes back more than once later on. This sense of mystery was also perfectly balanced with a sense of comedy that, despite being a risk and not really Hitchcock's domain, worked pretty well. I would've given this classic a higher rating had it not been for some details that bothered me just a little bit. I found some scenes to be hard to buy, either because they felt written to serve the plot, or because the props, sets, or costumes weren't realistically designed (for example, and without spoiling anything, there was a scene that involved a lot of digging, but the characters' clothes stayed clean despite all the dirt and sweat). But those are just nitpicks that a lot of people won't even notice, especially when you take into account the date of release and budget of the film. I really loved "The Trouble with Harry", and if you're a fan of the master of suspense, you'll love it as much as I did for sure.        

Final Grade: 8/10