Rhapsodies

 After watching a pair of dry and depressing art films I needed a change of pace. So I decided to take a look at one of my favorite director’s attempts at comedy. Make no mistake, Alfred Hitchcock has always had a sense of humor, and the wit in even his darkest thrillers are what makes his work so enjoyable. I thought it would be fun to watch all of the times he turned it all the way to the light side.

The first film my list, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, tells the story of the eponymous couple Ann and David Smith ( Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery). A loving couple with the occasional challenge. To deal with these challenges, they have some strict rules. The first is that whatever the fight might be, they dib; t leave the bedroom (the film opens up with day three of one of these fights) and to be completely honest to each other at all times. It’s because of this that Annie asks if he had it to do it all over again would he marry her. He says no but thinks it doesn’t matter since it’s strictly hypothetical.

The next day a man from Ann’s home town arrives at David’s office to tell him due to a technicality none of the marriage licenses printed that year are invalid and the Smiths are not technically married.

This was a funny, well-done film with Lombard owning every scene she’s in. If I have any problem with it is that as good as the film is, in loyally following the formula of the screwball comedy, he’s not really showing any signs of his own vision. In fact, if it wasn’t for his name on the credits and the obligatory cameo, you wouldn’t even know it’s a Hitchcock film. 

The next film on my list, The Trouble With Harry, takes place in the wonderful Vermont countryside in autumn where a retired sea captain (Edmund Gwenn) is hunting rabbit. After his last shot, he stumbles over a dead man. He immediately assumes he did it. But hides as more people keep coming by the body. We learn that his name is Harry and we find he is not a very nice person. We also learn that the captain is not the only person who could have killed Harry… some of them even have a motive. Because of this, he’s not the only person who wants to get rid of the body… However, it turns out that this is easier said than done. 

This was a fun film with a very dry and dark sense of humor with a wonderful ensemble cast who have a great time demonstrating just how crazy us Yankees can be!