Marnie – Blu-ray Movie Review (I interviewed Tippi Hedren)

Reviewed by John E. Johnson, Jr.

Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity - John E. Johnson, Jr.

Marnie

Synopsis

Marnie Edgar (Hedren) is a compulsive thief, and applies for a job as a secretary to a businessman, Mark Rutland (Connery). When she faints during a thunderstorm, Mark  knows there is something in her past that causes her to feel such an emotional response. When she sees red, her mind goes over the edge, trying to suppress memories of something terrible. She tries to steal from Mark, and to complicate things, he falls in love with her.

He marries Marnie, and discovers that she is totally repulsed by sex. Now, he really wants to find out what is bothering her.

Specifications

  • Universal
  • 1964, Color, Rated PG, 2 Hr 11 min
  • 2.0 DTS, 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
  • Starring: Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren, Diane Baker
  • Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Rating

  • Entertainment:
  • Video:
  • Audio:
  • Extras:
  • Violence: Mild, but intense
  • Sex: Implied
  • Language: No

Commentary

Marnie was one of two films (The Birds – 1963 – was the second) that made Tippi Hedren a major star in the early 1960’s. Although The Birds is discussed by pundits as a “masterpiece”, in my opinion, it is Marnie that shines. The Birds was more like the B flicks of the 1950’s, with giant grasshoppers, wasps, spiders, scorpions, etc. Those films were made for an audience paranoid about the cold war and the possibility of a nuclear exchange between the USA and USSR. We didn’t realize how close we came to actually having a war, when we discovered that the USSR was building missile bases in Cuba.

I had a chance to talk directly with Ms. Hedren while on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. She was a guest speaker, as the cruise theme was Alfred Hitchcock movies.

Marnie

She is a very petite woman, in her ’80’s (she sure has a good plastic surgeon as seen in the photo I took of her above), and seemed emotionally vunerable. This pertains to the fact that Hitchcock pursued her sexually, and told her he would destroy her career if she didn’t give in to his lust. He did indeed destroy her career, not letting her make any films for the remainder of her 8 year contract, and by that time, the fire around her had gone to ashes, and she was 40 years old. Nevertheless, she did perform in a few spots over the years, but certainly not like she would have if Hitchcock hadn’t destroyed her chances.

Also on board was a professor from UCLA who specialized in Hitchcock films, and holds a chair financed by the Hitchcock trust. I was tempted to ask him how he felt about being paid by a trust created from money made by a sexual predator, but decided not to, as everyone was having fun on the cruise, and I didn’t want to spoil the audience’s afternoon with such a question (it still should be asked, and I still wonder what his answer would have been). A movie, The Girl, was released in 2012, which chronicles what Hitchcock did to Tippi Hedren.

Technical

The transfer is very good, and even though it is mono sound, in those days, movies didn’t need surround sound or CG, because there were such great scripts and truly fine actors.

Extras

There are only three Bonus Features, but it doesn’t matter, because the movie stands by itself.