B


The Trouble with Harry is probably the most unusual Hitchcock film I have seen to date as it's pretty much a dark comedy almost without the usual Hitchcock thriller elements and his typical big-star cast. I think it works pretty well as an experiment for him, too bad he hasn't really made more movies in this drection (though Frenzy has some dark humor shining through as well).

The Trouble with Harry starts off on a very strong note. Edmund Gwenn definitely delivers the best performance in the movie and he also delivers most of the big laughs. As far as the comedy goes, I thought it was great in the first 30 minutes, but lost track afterwards and became way too unfocused. All the good comedy during the movie's beginning is pretty much on Gwenn's behalf. John Forsythe's character on the other hand was too much of a caricature and cliché, so that he rather annoyed me. The other characters left me feeling indifferent as many of their attempts at delivering good dark humor failed.

As the movie nears its conclusion it picks up the pace and the comedy a bit (once again, Gwenn's brilliant here), but the very resolution and the twist are obvious a mile ahead. Still, it's a fun film and better than some of the other Hitch films I have seen in recent times. However, it's nowhere near his best works.