Margaret “Marnie” Edgar (Tippi Hedren) is a woman with a troubled past who robs businesses after becoming an employee. She has several Social Security cards from which to choose and, after gaining access for a period of time, simply takes money from the company safe and walks away. Originally from Baltimore, she’s visited a few different cities before coming to Philadelphia, where she gets a secretarial job at a publishing company owned by Mark Rutland (Sean Connery). She and Rutland begin a minor affair, and during this time she reveals an irrational fear of thunderstorms and the color red. Just as she’s about to skip town with the money she stole, Rutland confronts her and makes an offer: marry him or be turned over to the authorities. Rutland recognized Marnie from when he visited one of her previous employers and knows that she robbed them. She agrees to marry him, but continues to fear being exposed.
I really felt that there was a lot of lost potential in this film. The set-up of turning a predator into the prey could have been darker, with Rutland being a true villain. His role is too ambiguous here: he’s fallen in love with Marnie, so he blackmails her into marrying him; he wants her to trust and love him, so he rapes her on their honeymoon; he wants her to overcome her neuroses, so he causes her to nearly have a nervous breakdown. Maybe in 1964 Rutland wasn’t a villain, he was a nice guy trying to help Marnie. I don’t buy it. Hitchcock needed to make this more Sleeping With The Enemy and less When A Man Loves A Woman (in terms of tone and characters, not quality).
Still, it’s a well-crafted drama that forces the audience to change perspective and be on the side of the criminal.
3/5
Brian's Film Log 