Marnie (1964)

Marnie
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Jay Presson Allen from the novel by Winston Graham
1964/USA
Universal Pictures/Geoffrey Stanley/Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Marnie Edgar: I don’t believe in luck.

Mark Rutland: What do you believe in?

Marnie Edgar: Nothing.[/box]

I’m not as fond of Hitchcock when he goes into psychoanalytic mode.  Despite this, Marnie is a stylish and enjoyable thriller.

We quickly learn that Marnie, using many different aliases, is a cunning habitual thief.  Her MO is to get bookkeeping positions with companies and use her time to figure out how to access the safe.  She has just made her getaway from one such crime as the movie begins. The business owner tells client Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) and Mark remembers having seen the woman before.  So when she coincidentally applies for a job as a payroll clerk at the Rutledge family company, Mark insists she be hired without any real references.  He is a student of instinctual animal behavior and sees the attractive Marnie as a case study.

After he catches Marnie in the act, he blackmails her into marrying him.  But it turns out Marnie cannot bear to be touched by men.  We have previously learned that Marnie has phobias of the color red and thunderstorms and suffers from recurrent nightmares.  Now Mark takes on the bigger task of turning amateur psychoanalyst to get to the bottom of Marnie’s disfunction.  With Diane Baker as Marnie’s rival and Louise Latham as Marnie’s mother.

Hitchcock’s psychoanalytics always seem painfully simplistic to me – Spellbound being another film I cannot really get behind.  But for various  reasons, I have a real fondness for Marnie.  Sean Connery’s sex appeal is not the least of its these.  I also like Edith Head’s fashions and many of the set pieces.  Recommended.

Marnie