The Trouble with Harry Page #5

Synopsis: There is a dead well-dressed man in a meadow clearing in the hills above a small Vermont town. Captain Albert Wiles, who stumbles across the body and finds by the man's identification that his name is Harry Worp, believes he accidentally shot Harry dead while he was hunting rabbits. Captain Wiles wants to hide the body as he feels it is an easier way to deal with the situation than tell the authorities. While Captain Wiles is in the adjacent forest, he sees other people stumble across Harry, most of whom don't seem to know him or care or notice that he's dead. One person who does see Captain Wiles there is spinster Ivy Gravely, who vows to keep the Captain's secret about Harry. Captain Wiles also Secretly sees a young single mother, Jennifer Rogers, who is the one person who does seem to know Harry and seems happy that he's dead. Later, another person who stumbles across both Harry and Captain Wiles is struggling artist Sam Marlowe, to who Captain Wiles tells the entire story of what h
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock
Production: MCA Universal Home Video
  Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.1
Rotten Tomatoes:
90%
PG
Year:
1955
99 min
1,320 Views


one for the beer can|and one for Harry.

- How about the rabbit?|- And one for the ra...

What's the matter?

- What's wrong? What's bitten you?|- I only fired three bullets.

Three! One for the shooting sign,|one for the beer can -

And one for the little man|who's lying in the grave.

No, Sammy, no. That's just it.|One for the rabbit.

If I shot the rabbit,|I didn't shoot Harry.

Oh, Sammy boy, what have you|tried to make me do?

Tried to make a murderer out of me.

Well, don't sit there. Help me!|You helped bury him.

Even if you didn't kill him, why dig|him up now that he's nicely planted?

I promised Jennifer|that we'd bury him.

Keep my word, he should stay buried.

Besides whether you killed him|or not, you've incriminated yourself.

You'll have more of a job explaining|a body that you didn't kill and bury,

than a body that you accidentally|killed and buried, right, Captain?

You're not supposed to bury bodies|whenever you find them.

It makes people suspicious.

Supposed to tell the police|or advertise or something.

Oh, Sammy, you don't understand.|You don't comprehend one bit.

You wouldn't like me to go through|life not knowing if I've killed him?

Very inconsistent. First, you tell me|you've got no conscience.

Now you talk about something that|sounds remarkably like a conscience.

Oh, Sammy, come on. Help me.

I don't care if I killed him or not,|for all that matters.

But I'll get the shakes|whenever I see a policeman.

All right.

If I had my choice, I'd rather be|thought a murderer than proved one.

Thank you. With two of us digging,|we'll have Harry out in nothing flat.

Can't see much from here. I'd better|get in down there and look at him.

- Let me do the honours.|- OK, Sammy. You've got good eyes.

Hey, that isn't a bullet wound.

Isn't a bullet wound?|Well, what d'ya know.

That's what they call a blow|with a blunt instrument.

Huh? What are you thinking, Sammy?

I think, Captain Wiles,|we're tangled up in a murder.

Murder? If it's murder, who done it?

- Who did it?|- That's what I say, who done it?

Apart from Jennifer Rogers,|who else'd want to kill him?

Apart from Jennifer?

- Yeah. Do you think that she would -|- Oh, it's ridiculous.

You said she was surprised to see|the body when she came up here.

You said she hit him on the head.

Coming home from Madagascar once,|we had a fireman on board

who hit his head on a brick wall|and died two days later.

Where could he find a brick wall|on board a ship?

Hmmm, that's what we always wondered.

Couldn't have been Jennifer. No.

Besides, what's it matter who did it?

It'll be better for all of us|if he's buried and out of the way.

Nothing doing. I'm not burying|someone else's bad habits.

Hmm? Suppose it was Miss Gravely?

What?

No, it's not as funny as all that.

You said yourself she wasn't|particularly startled

to see you dragging Harry|up the path.

You artists have got no idea|of etiquette.

She is a lady of gentle habits and|upbringing who hides her feelings.

If I wasn't holding Harry's ankles,|she'd have never mentioned him.

Really?

When she said...

'What seems to be the trouble,|Captain?',

it was nothing more|than a pleasantry, so to speak.

Like, 'Nice day, isn't it?' 'I'm|sure, yes. ' Or something like that.

Going to help me bury him again?

Um... I don't know.

'Course, it might have been|Dr Greenbow or the tramp.

- Or Jennifer?|- I told you it couldn't...

Well, no point in arguing about it.|Let's get rid of him.

OK. You helped me in my hour of need.|I guess it's up to me to help you.

We'll file Harry away|once and for all.

No more nonsense about it.

Come aboard, Miss Gravely,|come aboard.

It's just an old salt's|snug anchorage.

Small, not palatial like yours,|But homely, very...

Won't you sit down, Miss Gravely?

Thank you.

It's funny. Funny how we got to be|so friendly in one afternoon.

I knew you weren't as prim|and starchy as they made out. No.

Not by a long shot.

- Really?|- No.

I'm a man who can recognise|the human qualities in a woman.

When I first saw you|down where Harry was -

- Captain Wiles.|- Yes, ma'am?

Before you make your kind thoughts|known to me,

I should like to offer you some|explanation of my sudden invitation

to coffee and blueberry muffins|this afternoon

and my...|and my sitting with you here now.

No, ma'am,|you don't have to explain anything.

You came to my aid at a moment of|crisis, for which I'm truly grateful.

Thank you, but it's just that|I owe you some reason.

No, no, no.|I won't hear a word of it.

You saw the predicament I was in|with that body on my hands

and you shut your eyes to it in a|most sporting fashion, if I say so.

- Captain Wiles.|- Yes, ma'am?

I'm trying to tell you the reason|I asked you to coffee and muffins.

It was because... I felt -

- Sympathy.|- Gratitude.

Gra...? But I'm the one|who should be grateful.

No, I was grateful.|I... I am grateful.

I'm grateful to you|for burying my body.

Your body?

The man you thought you killed...

was the man I hit over the head with|the leather heel of my hiking shoe.

You?

And with a metal cleat|on the end of it.

But why?

He annoyed me.

I was walking towards home when he

suddenly came at me|with a wild look in his eye

and insisted...

- we were married.|- Oh, you knew each other before.

Believe it or not, I had never|seen him before in my life and...

if I ever had,|I never would have married him.

He must have mistaken you|for someone else.

Oh, no, he very definitely|pulled me into the bushes.

- Yes?|- I came out again.

Go on.

He pulled me back.

Twice.

He swore at me,|horrible, masculine sounds.

- I didn't understand it, of course.|- Of course you didn't.

- We fought.|- Then what?

I won. My shoe had come off|in the struggle, and I hit him.

I hit him as hard as ever I could.

You killed him.

I must have done it.|I was annoyed, Captain.

- Very annoyed.|- Naturally.

I don't think|I've ever been so annoyed.

Consequently, I... I didn't|realise my own capabilities.

Whew! Seems to me...

Mrs Rogers knocked him silly,|and you finished him off.

Why should Mrs Rogers|knock him silly?

She was really his wife.

Poor woman.|I thought she had better taste.

You know, Captain,

when I ran away I decided I would|never tell a soul what had happened.

Then I met you, and I thought...

how convenient it was that you|should think that you had shot him.

- Forgive me for thinking that.|- Only natural.

That's why I felt... I still feel|under an obligation to you.

Oh, not at all. Let's forget it.

Oh, no, we mustn't do that.|It would hardly be fair to you.

For you to go through life knowing|you had buried a man you didn't kill.

You would have my crime|on your conscience.

It's a pleasure,|I'm sure.

But no.

Now I realise that Harry man|was out of his mind,

and my action was justifiable,

there's no reason we shouldn't let|the authorities know about it.

- The authorities?|- Everything will be cleared up.

I'm sure Calvin Wiggs and the police

won't make a fuss about it|when we explain.

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John Michael Hayes

John Michael Hayes (11 May 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an American screenwriter, who scripted several of Alfred Hitchcock's films in the 1950s. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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