The "Master of Suspense" produces and directs a comedy...huh? It sounds like the start of a bad joke - and a disaster of a movie. But no, it really happened, and it's really good! So good, that I am actually surprised I had never heard of the movie before.
The comedy is actually a romantic black comedy which stars the charismatic Shirley MacLean in her very first screen role ever - and she does not disappoint. The plot of the movie revolves around a dead body found in the woods (and hilarity ensures!) as Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) is hunting rabbits. Easy going starving artist, Same Marlowe (John Forsythe) comes upon Wiles, and joins in on the plot to cover up the body of the stranger they think the Captain has accidentally shot. The cast of characters also includes an absent minded doctor (who literally stumbles upon the body more than once, but never notices); Miss Gravely a middle-aged wall flower looking for love; shop owner Mrs. Wiggs; her son, the Sheriff, who is trigger happy as he gets paid by the arrest; and Jennifer Rogers (MacLean), a young mom who is new in town. The inter-woven relationships between the characters is funny in itself, but the movie becomes not a who-dunnit, but a who didn't do it as a number of them think they are responsible for the murder!
Wiles thinks he was hit by a stay bullet, until Jennifer's son presents him with the rabbit he actually shot. Jennifer thinks she is responsible after it is revealed that the body is that of her estranged husband, who she hit on the head with a milk bottle after he came to see her. And Miss Gravely is sure she is responsible after she hit him on the head with her spiked hiking boot, after he lunged at her from the woods, already suffering from the dizzying blow from Jennifer. Throughout the day, as events unfold and more is learned about the body and what happened to him, he is dug up and buried several times. With the Sheriff on their tail, they dig up the body for the final time, and bring it to Jennifer's home where he is placed in the bathtub so they can clean him up and place him back on the hill exactly as he was found. During the clean-up process the doctor comes by, and they learn from him that the man died of natural causes.
As if that wasn't enough of a happy ending for this black comedy, a millionaire comes to town and wants to buy all of Marlowe's art. Being the easy-going non-conformist that he is, he doesn't ask for money, but for simples gifts for each of the bonded group of friends. And after just asking Jennifer to marry him, his whispered request is something very practical...a double bed. Tee-hee!
For the record, here is my updated list of favourite Hitchock films:
1. The Birds
2. Rear Window
4. Vertigo
5. Psycho
6. North by Northwest
7. The Trouble with Harry (I can't say that it is my least favorite of all my favourites, but it's hard to compare comedy to suspense)
(Note: I've not seen Rebecca, To Catch a Thief, or Marnie. I have seen Rope, Suspicion, I Confess, and Dial M for Murder, but they do not belong on my list of favourites)
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