MARNIE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sensuality, mature thematic elements

Rated:

An enthralling psychological thriller, Marnie is one of Hitchcock's most underestimated masterpieces. Audiences and critics alike loathed it when originally released in 1964, but like Vertigo, with time has been hailed as director Alfred Hitchcock's definitive work. If you cannot find yourself enthralled by the tantalizing mystery surrounding the beautiful, compulsive thief and her charming but dangerous husband, you must have a heart of granite. Even said, the film is not for younger or more impressionable viewers, for it contains some Freud psychology and mild sexual elements.

Marnie Edgar (Tippi Hedren) is a pathological thief and a compulsive liar. A beautiful and charismatic young woman, Marnie takes on various identities and forged credentials in order to gain employment with wealthy companies and business owners. After several months of faithful service, having gained the trust of her coworkers and employer, she empties the safe of its contents and vanishes into thin air, leaving her former identity safely locked up in a locker at the bus station. During these periodical times of concealment she returns to her former home on the docks where her mother lives alone, a half-cripple who spends her time and energy babysitting. Half the money Marnie steals, she uses to keep her mother financially independent; the other half goes into trust. But despite her best attempts to gain affection from her mother, Mrs. Edgar refuses to break her emotional distance.

The most recent of Marnie's robberies was to Mr. Strutt, who has a wealthy investor by the name of Mark Rutland (Sean Connery). Having only met Mark once, Marnie fails to recognize him when, a few weeks later, she seeks employment at his firm. Mark, however, immediately recognizes the lovely face (despite the change in hair color) and agrees to hire her on a temporary basis with the intention of closely observing her. Finding himself drawn to her passion and sense of helplessness, Mark believes there is some psychological reason for Marnie's problems. A drop of red ink on her blouse sleeve sends her into hysterics. She goes wild during a thunder storm. Marnie is also attracted to her employer, finding him a willing ear and charming companion, but more pressing is her desire to steal from him. In one decisive move she cleans out his safe and makes a run for safety, only to have him come after her with a proposition she cannot refuse.

Marnie is a film you will either love in retrospect or hate during the duration. From a purely cinematic viewpoint, it's one of the finest films ever made. Hitchcock was at the top of his game when he produced Marnie, shortly after finishing Psycho and The Birds. The suspense is carried more through unexplained actions -- nightmares, fear of thunderstorms, the flashing color red which Marnie is prone to be terrified of -- than tightly-knit chase and escape scenes so prevalent in some of his earlier works. I've always been a fan of psychological more than the in-your-face thrillers; and in this sense, Marnie fulfilled what I was anticipating and went a few steps further. There is actual character development within the story, and all my early assumptions as to Marnie's reasons for her problems proved to be wrong.

The casting on this piece is just brilliant. Hitchcock originally postponed the filming due to his disappointment that Grace Kelly could not accept the starring role. As much as I enjoy Princess Grace, I believe Tippi Hedren was the ideal choice. She has much more passion and empathy and is more of an excitable actress; she brings just the right amount of self-hatred, terror, and emotional tension to the role. Sean Connery came to this production right off his defining James Bond career; his Mark Rutland oozes just the right amount of sexual tension needed. Diane Baker portrays his alluring and scheming cousin, who is determined to win him over; she's an Audrey Hepburn look-alike if I've ever seen one.

There is a definite sexual element to the film which might disturb some viewers. Hitchcock even fired one of his screenwriters over the movie's most controversial scene. Part of Marnie's problem is her inability to handle being touched by men. After her marriage to Mark, she flies into hysterics and breaks out into a cold sweat when he tries to kiss her on their wedding night. For a time he plays along with her peculiar distaste for the thought of sexual intimacy but then takes advantage of her one night. In an angry swipe he dashes her nightgown to the floor (we see only her bare legs and shoulders); then repents and wraps his robe around her. The scene following implies they do consummate the marriage (it's non-graphic; we see her face as she's lain back upon the bed and then his as he comes in to kiss her) but is undeceive in whether or not Marnie was raped. She failed to resist but her husband also took advantage of her emotional absence in order to gain what he wanted.

In scenes following, they continue to room apart and Marnie tells him she'll scream if he touches her. Hoping to discover the reason for her hatred of being handled, Mark presents various avenues of explanation. They hold a brief discussion on Freud. He's seen reading various controversial volumes on the subject. There is a reference made to prostitution. There are also some thematic elements -- a suicide attempt, and a violent horse riding accident where the animal is so injured it must be put down immediately. His owner is shown pulling the trigger while in the background, the horse gives a violent twitch. Being the horse lover I am, this scene more than anything else about Marnie shook me. Language also intrudes, with a half dozen minor abuses of deity and just as many minor profanities.

One final thing: I'm not an advocate of excusing personal behavior due to traumatic past incidents. I believe there are emotionally unstable people, but they should be responsible (unless proven insane) for their actions. Part of the fabric of Marnie asks us to accept the theory that she is a "compulsive" thief because of a rotten childhood. While the ending revels pivotal psychological truths dealing with the female mind, it also asks us to excuse her actions. Marnie is a fascinating film lovers of psychology in particular will find emotionally stimulating, but we shouldn't accept its theories too easily.