Marnie (film)

Marnie
Original film poster
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Jay Presson Allen
Based on Marnie
1961 novel
by Winston Graham
Starring
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography Robert Burks
Edited by George Tomasini
Production
company
Geoffrey Stanley Productions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • July 22, 1964 (1964-07-22)
Running time
 130 minutes
Language English
Budget $3 million
Box office $7 million[1]

Marnie is a 1964 American psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by Jay Presson Allen was based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Winston Graham. The film stars Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery.

The music was composed by Bernard Herrmann, his last of seven critically acclaimed film scores for Hitchcock. Marnie also marked the end of Hitchcock's collaborations with cinematographer Robert Burks (his twelfth film for Hitchcock) and editor George Tomasini (who died later in the year).

Plot

Margaret "Marnie" Edgar (Tippi Hedren) steals $10,000 from her employer's company safe and flees. She had used her charms on Sidney Strutt (Martin Gabel), a tax consultant, to get a clerical job without references. After changing her appearance and identity, she makes a quick trip to a horse stable in Virginia, where she keeps a horse named Forio, and then to Baltimore for a surprise visit to her mother, Bernice (Louise Latham). Though Bernice seems to care more for a young neighbor named Jessie than she does for her own daughter, Marnie gives her money.

When Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), a wealthy widower who owns a publishing company in Philadelphia, sees Strutt on business, he learns of the robbery. He recalls Marnie from a previous visit. Unaware of this, Marnie applies for a job at Mark's company; intrigued, he hires her as a typist, and they see each other socially. When Marnie has a panic attack during a thunderstorm, he hugs her and quietly kisses her. Marnie also has bad dreams and a phobia of the color red.

Marnie repeats her crime at Mark’s company, stealing a large sum of money and fleeing. Mark tracks her down at the stable where she keeps Forio. Unexpectedly, he blackmails her into marrying him, much to the chagrin of Mark's former sister-in-law, Lil (Diane Baker), who has had an eye on him ever since her sister's death. Lil learns that he is spending extravagantly on Marnie and becomes suspicious. On her honeymoon cruise, Marnie admits to Mark that she cannot stand to be "touched by a man". Mark begins by respecting her wishes, but later, after days of frustration, he pulls her gown off, upsetting her. When he sees how frozen she is, he covers her with his robe and apologizes, but then rapes her. The next morning, she attempts to drown herself in the ship's pool, but Mark manages to save her.

Upon their return home, Mark discovers that Marnie's mother is still alive; he hires a private investigator to find out all he can about the woman. Meanwhile, Lil overhears that Mark has "paid off Strutt" on Marnie's behalf, so she mischievously invites Strutt to a party at Mark's house. There, a furious Strutt recognizes Marnie, but does not expose her after Mark threatens to take his business elsewhere. When Marnie later admits to additional robberies, Mark offers to pay back all her victims.

Invited to ride in a fox hunt, Marnie enjoys herself, but becomes perturbed when the hounds corner the fox and begin to pull it from its den. When another rider wearing a traditional scarlet coat comes into view, her phobia kicks in and she bolts on Forio. After a wild gallop, the horse falls and suffers a catastrophic injury, forcing Marnie to shoot him. Crazed with grief, Marnie goes to Mark's office to rob his safe again, but this time, she cannot bring herself to do it. Mark surprises her and eggs her on to take the money, but still she cannot.

He then takes Marnie to Baltimore to see her mother to extract the truth from her about Marnie's past. It is revealed that Bernice was a prostitute. When Bernice attacks Mark hysterically, Marnie's long-suppressed memories suddenly surface. She remembers that when she was a child, a drunken sailor (Bruce Dern), one of Bernice's clients, had tried to comfort her during a thunderstorm. Bernice, fearing he was molesting Marnie, attacked him. A fight ensued in which Bernice's leg was injured, the source of her long-term limp. Frightened, Marnie struck the sailor with a fireplace poker and killed him. The red blood from his wound caused her phobia of that color. Bernice calmly admits everything, and she tells how she got Marnie and how much she has always loved her. Now understanding the source of her fears, Marnie asks Mark what to do; he lets her know that he is on her side and will defend her. She responds, "I don't want to go to jail; I'd rather stay with you."

Mark and Marnie on their honeymoon cruise

Cast

Production

Development and writing

Alfred Hitchcock began developing the film adaptation of Winston Graham's novel Marnie in 1961. He commissioned Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter of Hitchcock's recently released Psycho, to work on the script. Stefano made extensive notes and wrote a 161-page treatment.[2] The director's first choice to play the title role, Grace Kelly, by then Princess Grace of Monaco, withdrew from the project when the citizens of Monaco objected to her appearing in a film, especially as a sexually disturbed thief. Also, when Kelly married Prince Rainier in 1956, she had not fulfilled her contract with MGM, which could have prevented her from working for another studio. As a consequence of Kelly's departure from the film, Hitchcock put it aside to work on The Birds (1963).[2]

After completing The Birds, Hitchcock returned to the Winston Graham adaptation. Evan Hunter, who had written the screenplay for The Birds, developed Marnie with Hitchcock, and wrote several drafts. Hunter was unhappy with the rape scene in the original novel as he felt the audience would lose sympathy for the male lead. The director, however, was enthusiastic about the scene, describing to Hunter how he intended to film it.

Hitch held up his hands the way directors do when they're framing a shot. Palms out, fingers together, thumbs extended and touching to form a perfect square. Moving his hands toward my face, like a camera coming in for a close shot, he said, "Evan, when he sticks it in her, I want that camera right on her face".[3]

Hunter wrote a draft containing the rape scene but also wrote an additional, substitute sequence, which he pleaded with Hitchcock to use instead. Hunter was dismissed from the project on 1 May 1963.[4] His replacement, Jay Presson Allen, later told him that "you just got bothered by the scene that was his reason for making the movie. You just wrote your ticket back to New York."[3][5] Just as Hunter had been unaware of Stefano's earlier work on Marnie, Presson Allen was not informed that she was the third writer to work on the adaptation.[6]

Casting

According to royal biographer Craig Brown, Hitchcock offered Princess Grace the title role in March 1962, and she accepted; but in Monaco, the reaction to the announcement was extremely negative. "Monegasques did not like the idea of their princess being filmed kissing another man," Brown wrote. "Little did they know that Hitchcock also had plans for him to rape her." Grace's announcement that she would donate her $800,000 fee to Monaco charities did nothing to appease the critics, and she dropped out of the project in June 1962.[7]

The role of Marnie became a sought-after role in Hollywood. In his book Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie, Tony Lee Moral revealed that a studio executive at Paramount Pictures suggested actress Lee Remick to Hitchcock for the title role. Eva Marie Saint, star of Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), and Susan Hampshire unsuccessfully pursued the role. Hitchcock also considered two other actresses who were, like Hedren, under his personal contract, Vera Miles and Claire Griswold, wife of director/actor Sydney Pollack. Instead, Hitchcock opted to use Tippi Hedren, a one-time model he had seen in a commercial for a diet drink in 1961, then cast successfully in The Birds. According to Hedren, he offered her the role of Marnie during filming of The Birds. Hedren told writer Moral that she was "amazed" that Hitchcock would offer her this "incredible role", calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity". In 2005, more than 40 years after the film's release, Hedren declared in an interview that Marnie was her favorite of the two films she made with Hitchcock, because of the intriguing, complex, challenging character that she played.[8]

Male lead Sean Connery had been worried that being under contract to Eon Productions for both James Bond and non-Bond films would limit his career and turned down every non-Bond film Eon offered him. When asked what he wanted to do, Connery replied that he wanted to work with Alfred Hitchcock, which Eon arranged through their contacts.[9] Connery also shocked many people at the time by asking to see a script; something Connery did because he was worried about being typecast as a spy and he did not want to do a variation of North by Northwest or Notorious. When told by Hitchcock's agent that Cary Grant did not ask to see even one of Hitchcock's scripts Connery replied, "I'm not Cary Grant."[10] Hitchcock and Connery got on well during filming. Connery also said that he was happy with the film, "with certain reservations."[11]

Marnie became a milestone for several reasons. It was the last time a "Hitchcock blonde" would have a central role in one of his films. It was also the final occasion when he would work with several of his key team members: director of photography Robert Burks, who died in 1968; editor George Tomasini, who died soon after Marnie's release, and music composer Bernard Herrmann, who was fired during Hitchcock's next film, Torn Curtain (1966), when Hitchcock and Universal studio executives wanted a more contemporary "pop" tune for the film.

Marnie continues to have its admirers. Actress Catherine Deneuve indicated that she would have loved to have played Marnie.[12] Actress Naomi Watts dressed up as Hedren's Marnie (whose outfits were by Edith Head) for the March 2008 issue of Vanity Fair magazine.[13]

Although they played mother and daughter, Latham (42) was only eight years older than Hedren (34). In the script the mother character was only 15 years older than the daughter character.

Filming

In a making-of documentary for the DVD release, unit manager Hilton A. Green explains that shooting had been scheduled to begin on November 25, 1963, but had to be postponed because the nation was in mourning for John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated three days before.

Music

Hitchcock had noticed a strong similarity between Herrmann's score for Joy in the Morning and Marnie and believed Herrmann was repeating himself.[14] Herrmann's music for Marnie included excerpts in his special album for Decca Records. Lyrics were written to Herrmann's theme that were to be sung by Nat King Cole.

Reception

Contemporary reviews were mixed. Eugene Archer of The New York Times wrote a lukewarm assessment, calling it "at once a fascinating study of a sexual relationship and the master's most disappointing film in years." Archer's main criticisms were "an inexplicably amateurish script" and the casting of "relative newcomers" Hedren and Connery in roles that "cry for the talents of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant."[15] A review in Variety wrote that the opening was slow, but once it got going Hitchcock's story "generally keeps the action fairly fast-paced—provided audience can overlook certain puzzling aspects, such as why the lady became a thief—and gets strong performances from his two stars and other cast members."[16] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "As a story it seems naggingly improbable and, as drama, a nightmare from which the spectator constantly pulls away, struggling to wake up in a less disordered universe. No question, though, that it is at least fitfully effective."[17] Edith Oliver of The New Yorker called the film "an idiotic and trashy movie with two terrible performances in the leading roles, and I had quite a good time watching it. There is something bracing about Hitchcock at work, even when he is at his worst."[18] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the film "opens quite brilliantly," but that "things get out of hand" after the marriage, "with both leading players floundering badly as Hitchcock piles up his demands on them." The review suggested that "the trouble seems to be that the film falls between the two stools of straight suspense (what is Marnie's secret?) and the full-dress character study that would only have been possible with a more experienced actress."[19]

Marnie currently holds an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews.[20]

The film was a moderate box office success; it grossed $7 million in theatres[1] on a budget of $3 million. In North America, it earned estimated rentals of $3,250,000.[21] Marnie was the 22nd highest-grossing film of 1964.

In a making-of documentary on the DVD, Robin Wood, author of Hitchcock's Films Revisited, discusses the special effects of the film as having their roots in German Expressionism:

[Hitchcock] worked in German studios at first, in the silent period. Very early on when he started making films, he saw Fritz Lang's German silent films; he was enormously influenced by that, and Marnie is basically an expressionist film in many ways. Things like scarlet suffusions over the screen, back-projection and backdrops, artificial-looking thunderstorms—these are expressionist devices and one has to accept them. If one doesn't accept them then one doesn't understand and can't possibly like Hitchcock.

In the 2012 Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films ever made, Marnie received nine total votes – six from critics and three from directors.[22]

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Box Office Information for Marnie. The Numbers. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  2. 1 2 De Rosa 2001, p. 199
  3. 1 2 Hunter 1997, p. 35
  4. ↑ Hunter 1997, p. 37
  5. ↑ Gottlieb & Brookhouse 2002, pp. 204–5
  6. ↑ De Rosa 2001, pp. 199–200
  7. ↑ Brown, Craig (2018). "Can This Marriage Be Saved? A real actor joins the longest-running soap opera in history". New York Magazine, April 30-May 13, 2018. p. 8-14. Retrieved 2018-05-05.
  8. ↑ Worden, Leon. "SCV NEWSMAKER OF THE WEEK: Tippi Hedren". Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. Retrieved 2005-03-05.
  9. ↑ Broccoli & Zec 1999
  10. ↑ "Canny Scot". Time. January 10, 1964.
  11. ↑ "PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: SEAN CONNERY". Playboy magazine. November 1965.
  12. ↑ Andrew, Geoff (September 21, 2005). "Catherine Deneuve". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  13. ↑ Vanity Fair photograph
  14. ↑ Smith 1991, p. 268
  15. ↑ Archer, Eugene (July 23, 1964). "Hitchcock's 'Marnie,' With Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery". The New York Times: 19.
  16. ↑ "Film Reviews: Marnie". Variety: 6. June 10, 1964.
  17. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (August 6, 1964). "Hitchcock 'Marnie' Nightmare of Color". Los Angeles Times: Part IV p9.
  18. ↑ Oliver, Edith (August 1, 1964). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker: 65.
  19. ↑ "Marnie". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 31 (367): 116. August 1964.
  20. ↑ "Marnie". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors, not total gross.
  22. ↑ "Votes for Marnie". Sight & Sound. BFI. 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2018.

Bibliography

  • Broccoli, Albert R.; Zec, Donald (1999). When the Snow Melts: The Autobiography of Cubby Broccoli. Trans-Atlantic Publications.
  • De Rosa, Steven (2001). Writing with Hitchcock: The Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and John Michael Hayes. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571199909.
  • Gottlieb, Sidney; Brookhouse, Christopher, eds. (2002). "An Interview with Evan Hunter". Framing Hitchcock: Selected Essays from the Hitchcock Annual. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814330614.
  • Hunter, Evan (1997). "Me and Hitch". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. 7 (6): 25–37. ISSN 0037-4806.
  • Moral, Tony Lee (2017) [2013]. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442214330.
  • Smith, Steven C. (1991). A Heart at Fire's Centre: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520229396.
  • Spoto, Donald (1983). The Dark Side of Genius. Ballantine Books.
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