Believing that an unexpected inheritance will bring them happiness, a married couple instead finds their relationship strained to the breaking point.Believing that an unexpected inheritance will bring them happiness, a married couple instead finds their relationship strained to the breaking point.Believing that an unexpected inheritance will bring them happiness, a married couple instead finds their relationship strained to the breaking point.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title "Rich and Strange" is an allusion to words of Ariel's song in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest": "Full fathom five thy father lies, / Of his bones are coral made, / Those are pearls that were his eyes: / Nothing of him that doth fade, / But doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange."
- GoofsIn an early scene, Emily is shown using a marker to draw a caricature of herself into a photograph with Commander Gordon. The photo is shown again two more times in the movie, and each time the drawing is slightly different.
- Quotes
Emily Hill: Love is a very difficult business, Mr. Gordon... You'd be surprised. It makes everything difficult and dangerous... You know, i don't think love makes people brave like it says in books... I think it makes them timid. I think it makes them frightened when they're happy and sadder when they're sad... You see, everything's multiplied by two... sickness, death, the future.
- Alternate versionsWhen originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'A' rating. All cuts were waived in 2000 when the film was granted a 'U' certificate for home video.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Perspectives: Jonathan Ross: Alfred Hitchcock - Made in Britain (2013)
- SoundtracksFor He's a Jolly Good Fellow
(uncredited)
Traditional
Source music
It's old and it's a comedy, but its title really says it all. Rich and very, very strange. Hitchcock's sense of humor is very plain here, and there are several laugh-out-loud scenes (when Fred Hill tries to set his watch, and later when he tries to get into bed, for example). But as the movie goes on, they become less frequent.
The action stops focusing on the comedic aspect of this young couple's acquiring a great sum of money and spending it on a world cruise. Instead it focuses on the serious aspects of their dual extra-marital affairs on the ship, and later their actions when it wrecks and sinks.
And once there, the movie is hardly comedic at all. Hitchcock's darker side comes out when a sailer drowns while his comrades watch on in fascination, and the scene with the rescued black cat is especially disturbing.
So what to say about Rich and Strange? The acting is fine, Hitchcock's directing is up to par (especially with the silent opening scenes), and the plot is engaging. But the movie goes from screwball hilarity to morbid survival, and then ends where it began so abruptly that the viewer is left wondering when he or she dozed off and missed the last half of the movie.
It's not stereotypical Hitchcock at all, but by no means does this make it a bad movie. The film is quite good but hard to stomach on account that it is so bizarre.
7/10
- TexMetal4JC
- Jul 10, 2001
Details
- Runtime1 hour 23 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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