Disgracefully under-rated first-class comedy from the master of
suspense. It bombed in America with even Hitch's official biographer
labelling it "an indulgence" but was a surprise hit in
Europe. Pastiching Hitch's usual guilt displacement theme, everyone
in small town Vermont is falling over themselves to take
responsibility when a corpse crops up in their midst. Unstarry,
under-stated turns from veteran oddballs Edmund Gwenn (as a lovely
ruddy old sea captain) and John Forsythe as the Chandler piss-take, Sam
Marlowe. A joy from deathful start to vivacious finish, constantly
buoyed up by Bernard Hermann's hyper-whimsical score (his first for
Hitch).
