Marnie [Blu-ray]

Tippi Hedren Director: Alfred Hitchcock, Diane Baker, Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren Alfred Hitchcock

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/06/2014
UPC:	0025192182280
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Sound:	[Digital Theater Systems]
Language:	English
Time:	2:11:00
Sales rank:	25,195

Special Features

The Trouble with Marnie; The Marine archives; Thearical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tippi Hedren	Marnie Edgar Rutland(as 'Tippi' Hedren)
Martin Gabel	Sidney Strutt
Sean Connery	Mark Rutland
Louise Latham	Bernice Edgar
Diane Baker	Lil Mainwaring
Alan Napier	Mr. Rutland
Bob Sweeney	Le cousin Bob
Mariette Hartley	Susan Clabon
Milton Selzer	Man at Track,Actor
Henry Beckman	First Detective
Edith Evanson	Rita - Cleaning Woman
Bruce Dern	Sailor
S. John Launer	Sam Ward
Meg Wyllie	Mrs. Turpin
Linden Chiles	Office Worker
Emmaline Henry	Bit Role
Milton Parsons	Bald Man
Hal Taggart	Man at Racetrack
Bernard Herrmann	Composer

Technical Credits

Alfred Hitchcock	Director,Producer
Waldon O. Watson	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Diane Baker	Director
Sean Connery	Director
Tippi Hedren	Director
William Russell	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Long considered a failure, Marnie, the most blatantly Freudian of all of Hitchcock's films is also one of his most fascinating -- a tightly wrought exploration of the director's pet themes. Voyeurism, obsession - it's all here, with a little white-collar crime thrown in for good measure. Marnie (Tippi Hedren), the iciest ice queen in Hitchcock’s gallery of cool blondes, is a job-hopping kleptomaniac whose wealthy employer (Sean Connery) is undaunted, even titillated, by her compulsive thievery. Threatening to turn her in unless she marries him, Connery attempts to cure his new wife of her frigidity and hatred of men. Using the color red to unusual and brilliant effect, Hitchcock takes the viewer on a mesmerizing journey into the mind of his profoundly disturbed heroine.

Barnes & Noble - Kryssa Schemmerling

Marnie could never be confused with prime Alfred Hitchcock, but it's a much better film than its tarnished reputation would lead one to believe. Modern audiences will likely find its psychological undercurrents a bit basic -- and therefore find the ending somewhat pat, predictable, and artificial -- but it somehow works nonetheless. There are some technical aspects -- the artificial locales of some sequences, the "red" motif -- that may seem primitive (although it's arguable that Hitchcock wanted just this kind of distancing effect to unsettle the audience as the characters themselves are unsettled). But Marnie has a basically intriguing story, and Jay Presson Allen's screenplay skillfully sets out its plot and fills out its characters so that they live and breathe. Hitchcock, of course, knows how to take advantage of the screenplay's strengths, tossing in surprising angles and building suspense through simple, but skillful, juxtapositions and tight editing. Tippi Hedren displays unexpected depth in the title role, Sean Connery is appropriately tough and tender, as called for, and there's a real sexual tension between them. Of the supporting cast, Diane Baker is alluring and dangerous and Louise Latham effectively chilling as the mother. Bernard Herrmann's score, pulsing with danger and passion, is a definite plus.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler