Actor edmund gwenn biography of william hill
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THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955) – Paramount Pictures – ★★★1/2
Color – 99 minutes – 1.85:1 aspect ratio
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Principal cast: John Forsythe (Sam Marlowe), Shirley MacLaine (Jennifer Rogers), Edmund Gwenn (Captain Albert Wiles), Mildred Natwick (Miss Ivy Gravely), Mildred Dunnock (Mrs. Wiggs), Jerry Mathers (Arnie Rogers), Royal Dano (Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs).
Screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story
Cinematography by Robert Burks
Edited by Alma Macrorie
Music by Bernard Herrmann
When Alfred Hitchcock first proposed The Trouble With Harryto Paramount studio execs in 1955, they were not very keen on the planerat arbete . But they were not really in a position to quibble; in his short tenure at the studio Hitchcock had delivered a monster hit in Rear Window, and his follow-up To Catch a Thief had all the makings of a hit as well.So they indulged him in his des
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There are very few character actors from the 1930s, '40s or '50s who rose to the rank of stardom. Only a rare man or woman reached the level of renown and admiration, and had enough audience appeal, to be the first name in a cast's billing, a name that got marquee posting. Charles Coburn comes to mind, but there aren't many others. However, one who made it was Edmund Gwenn.
Gwenn was born Edmund Kellaway in Wandsworth, London, on September 26, 1877. He was the oldest boy in the family, which at that time meant he was the only one who really mattered. His father was a British civil servant, and he groomed Edmund to take a position of power in the Empire. However, early on, the boy had a mind of his own. For a while, his inclination was to go to sea, but that ended when one of his forebear's in the Queen's Navy was court-martialed for exceeding his "wine bill". In addition to that, Edmund had poor eyesight and perhaps most importantly, he was his m
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Synopsis
Trouble erupts in a small, quiet New England town when a man's body is found in the woods. The problem is that almost everyone in town thinks that they had something to do with his death.
Production
Alfred Hitchcock had read Jack Trevor Story's short comic novel "The Trouble with Harry" when it was published in 1949 and considered it would make a good black comedy.
Whilst talking about the film to François Truffaut, Hitchcock said:[1]
I didn't change [the novel] very much. To my taste, the humor is quite rich. One of the best lines is when old Edmund Gwenn is dragging the body along for the first time and a woman comes up to him on the hill and says, "What seems to be the trouble, Captain?" To me that's terribly funny; that's the spirit of the whole story.
I've always been interested in establishing a contrast, in going against the traditional and in breaking away from clichés. With "Harry" I took melodrama out of the pitch-black night and brought it out in