Marnie [M]

Meet Marnie, a compulsive liar, thief, and deeply troubled woman. After making off with ten thousand dollars from her previous employer, Marnie is hired by the handsome Mr Rutland, whom she then attempts to rob. Having outsmarted and tracked her down, Rutland presents her with a choice: marriage or jail. But as Marnie begins to have fits of aggressiveness and obsessive behaviour, it becomes apparent to Rutland that there is more to this beauty than meets the eye. 

From director Alfred Hitchcock comes this chilling, but subdued by comparison, psychological thriller that explores the frailty of the human mind. 

Marnie is a beautiful woman, compulsive liar, and thief, who is deeply troubled. She experiences fits of great terror when she’s sees the colour red, she is terribly frightened of thunder and lightning, she cannot bear to be touched by any man, she suffers from terrible nightmares, and she cannot understand what her dreams mean nor can she remember much of childhood. After making off with ten thousand dollars from the safe of her previous employer, Marnie goes to work for the handsome Mark Rutland, whom she then tries to rob. Having the advantage of crossing paths with her before, Mark tracks her down and presents her with a choice: marriage or jail. After developing a strong attachment to Marnie, Mark is then shocked to discover that she suffers from these nightmares and fits of anxiety. As her behaviour becomes worse, Mark forces Marnie to confront the demons from her past, but doing this will bring some very nasty truths to light. 

I don’t know, this didn’t really feel like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The music was a little more romantic, and although there were suspenseful and terrifying elements in the story, the film ended with some form of peaceful closure that didn’t really keep you on edge like other Hitchcock films. 

I do have to say though, that Hitchcock’s use of suspense and humour went hand in hand. There is one scene where Marnie is emptying Rutland’s safe and then trying to sneak out very carefully without being noticed by the cleaning lady. Unfortunately she drops a shoe with a great thud, but the cleaning lady doesn’t seem to notice. We later learn that she is deaf. 

Tippi Hedren is Marnie and I have to say that she delivered a much more dramatic and impressive performance than she did in The Birds. Here she was impulsive, smooth, charming, and a lovely tragic. She was mesmerising. 

Sean Connery stars as Mark Rutland and he was just gorgeous. You cannot help but swoon. His performance was charming, quick-witted, concerned, romantic, and a complete gentleman. I loved him. 

Starring Diane Baker, Martin Gable, Louise Latham, Bob Sweeney, Milton Selzer, Mariette Hartley, Alan Napier, Bruce Dern, Henry Beckman, S. John Launer, Edith Evanson, and Meg Wyllie, Marnie was a chilling portrait of a disturbed woman that was filled with romance, theft, nightmares, horses, fits, and suspicion. A fine movie, but not Hitchcock’s finest.