Hitchcock

Although I have long enjoyed Alfred Hitchcock movies, one of his major films that I had never seen was "The Trouble With Harry." This was one that most libraries didn't carry. However, when I discovered that my "new" library had a copy, I signed out a copy and promptly watched it. What a treat!

TTWH is a black comedy starring John Forsythe, Shirley MacClaine, Edmund Gwenn, and a very young Jerry Mathers ("Leave it to Beaver"). The movie is set in New England (Vermont). The movie revolves around a dead body and how the local folk react. I found it charming, romantic, and witty. Supposedly TTWH was one of Hitchcock's favorite films. If you are in the mood for something different, light, and humorous, I recommend "The Trouble With Harry."

As I was moving, I bought ($5!) a set of Hitchcock's old public domain works on DVD: "Alfred Hitchcock A Legacy of Suspense (20 Films)." Many of them I have already seen but I wanted something to watch while my stuff was still in boxes. My favorite so far has been "Rich and Strange". This is also not your typical Hitchcock film. It's about marriage, money, desire. It showed a marriage breaking apart but in the end they stayed together.

I tried watching "The Farmer's Wife", "Juno and the Paycock", "The Skin Game". The Farmer's Wife is a silent movie that seemed way too long. I could see where it was going and got bored. Juno was set in Ireland and based on a play. It was kind of interesting but without subtitles or captions it is virtually impossible to follow. I got through the Skin Game but had to suffer through terrible sound. Apparently, because these old movies were in the public domain, they have not been restored.

I also watched "Secret_Agent". This is a more "typical" Hitchcock film from 1936. Again, it was something of a challenge due to the lack of captions/subtitles.

The "Legacy" DVD also contains several more recognizable early Hitchcock: "The Lady Vanishes," The Thirty-Nine Steps," and "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Also several other early Hitchcock films that I have previously seen but will watch again one of these days: "Young and Innocent" and "Sabotage."