Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Reviews

• "Average families are the best"

  Steffi_P2009-02-22

  Alfred Hitchcock's style as a director was a bit like a train – it ran perfectly well, but only along its own lines. He wasn't comfortable adapting his style to suit the material, but when the material suited his style he could do incredible things. Three years and five pictures into his Hollywood career, Hitch had been having some trouble finding projects he was comfortable with. He had made a couple of adventure thrillers in the vein of his late 30s British films, but the old magic wasn't there. Finally, with Shadow of a Doubt he came upon a project that was right up his street. It represents a welcome return to the domestic murder dramas that had given him his earliest successes (The Lodger, Blackmail), with a storyline ideal for Hitchcock. It is the purest example of murder in a "normal" setting, bringing the audience uncomfortably close to the killer, helped along with plenty of the grisly gallows humour that the Master loved. Hitch's British pictures had great charm and character, but they were often technically a little haphazard. By now though he knows exactly how to use the camera to manipulate the audience. He begins by carrying us into the story, sweeping in over the city through scenery both pretty and ugly, to home in on an average looking neighbourhood. From then on, every shot, move and edit is calculated to keep up the suspense and unfold the plot. Whereas those early films were swamped and sometimes spoiled by showy camera tricks, Hitch now uses those techniques sparingly, like playing a trump card. For example, he has Joseph Cotton look directly into the camera for a brief moment as he snatches the newspaper back from Theresa Wright. Another trick is to have the camera dolly back as a character advances, only at a faster speed than the actor is moving, which gives a very dizzying effect. Special mention should also be made of Dimitri Tiomkin's score. Tiomkin was the best composer Hitch worked with before Bernard Hermann, and one of the few who really understood how a Hitchcock film needs to be scored. His sparse string arrangements really capture that sense of spiralling terror without overpowering the scene and turning it into melodrama. He interpolates Franz Lehar's Merry Widow waltz at just the right level, making it noticeable but never overstated– throwing in just a bar or two at an opportune moment, sometimes disguising it in a minor key. We also have a great cast lined up here. This is among Joseph Cotton's finest performances, which is unusual because Hitch was not a brilliant director of actors. I believe the reason is that, although his soft, honest features meant he usually played clean-cut good guys (as well as making him the perfect choice for the friendly uncle no-one would suspect), he was actually at his best when playing villains. That air of affected friendliness, which gives way to a deadpan monotone, is ironically far more convincing than when he attempted to play genuine niceness. Theresa Wright also does a brilliant job of handling her character's transition from childlike innocence to knowing cynicism. The icing on the cake is a couple of spot-on comic relief supporting parts from Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn. It's quite appropriate that in his cameo for Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock is shown holding all the cards, because here he really did have all the elements working in his favour. It marks the beginning of his golden age and lays down the blueprint for such classics as Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho. This is about as close to perfect as Hitchcock's pictures get.

• One of Cotten's triumphs; Hitchcock's film is not unconventional, but unabashedly gripping

  Quinoa19842004-12-20

  One thing that strikes many who come upon Shadow of a Doubt, one of this filmmaker's triumphs, is the knowledge that it was Hitchcock's favorite among his own films- and many watch it with very high expectations, getting shot down as well, making it one of his more under-rated efforts. True, it doesn't go for the immense macabre that lay in Psycho, The Birds, and Frenzy, but it is very effective in telling its stories, and giving us character to either love, or love to hate. The whole concept to the story is very appealing- a (painfully) normal suburban family gets a calling from a relative- Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten)- who wants to come by for a little while. The oldest daughter, also named Charlie (Teresa Wright), almost feels like a kindred spirit to her uncle, happy as can be that he's come to visit. Things start to unravel, however, when two detectives on his trail come into town, bringing to young Charlie to light what could be going down, or what might not be, or what is as clear as psychopathic day. It's actually of interest to compare this film to Psycho, I think, in how it's so akin to to how Hitchcock tells the story of the ordinary people of the world getting involved with a certifiable gentlemen. And, perhaps, one could argue (I might, up to a point) that Cotten's performance rivals that of a Perkins' Norman Bates leading male in the sense of subtleties of the suspense in the film. He seems so... calm so much in the film, and even when he shows his hand as to who he really is, there's a lot of depth to his personality. We may hate him, but he is an understandable, frighteningly recognizable monster. And it solidifies in my book that Cotten had a wonderful range in his work, when he could go from playing a Jed Leland in Citizen Kane to this film, and then on to The Third Man's Holly Martins. Here, he digs into the character and you'll either find it unconvincing in the 40's sense, or a knock-out. As for Teresa Wright, she finds some good notes as well in playing off of Cotten, even in the earlier scenes. And those kids are just the right icing to the cake the film cooks up. It may take a couple of viewings to really warm up to this film, or you may like it right away. But Shadow of a Doubt contains not only fine acting, but also some trademark Hitchcock camera stylizing. My favorites included a particular shot closing in from medium close-up to extreme close-up on Uncle Charlie when he's in a memorable monologue at the dinner table. Another is the use of the dark value on the characters when they talk outside. And, of course, a climax that is genuine in theatricality. A+

• this captivates from the very beginning

  christopher-underwood2017-02-08

  With the rousing score of Dimitri Tiomkin and the wonderful camera work, this captivates from the very beginning. We switch from the tight, small lodging out into wide open and view a chase on foot from above, runners and shadows racing before us as we wonder just what is afoot. As it happens we are to find out that Joseph Cotton's character is guilty almost straight away yet spend the rest of the film in suspense as we doubt ourselves. This partly because of the tale of his personal history and partly because of the love and affection of his niece, a wonderful performance from Teresa Wright. Shot largely on location and using a lovely old property in which the large family tumble this way and that in marvellous abandon while the lady of the house tries to maintain control. I learn from the extras that in the end, more shots were required by Hitch and so a set had to be built anyway replicating the building. A very fine, involving, moving and suspenseful film.

• The Master at his best.

  Exploding Penguin2004-01-07

  I own the Hitchcock collection (14 films in toto), and while this isn't my favourite of the bunch ('Psycho' is one of my favourite movies of all time, and 'Birds' never gets old), I like to watch it every now and again to remind myself what it means to make a "suspense film", and why Hitchcock was and always will be the master of this craft. To give away even the slightest story detail would ruin it for new viewers, because it is essential that everyone begin with the wrong impressions of the major characters. This allows Hitch to pull off his famous 'twists' throughout the course of the movie, hitting you every now and then with something you simply weren't expecting. One of my favourite elements in the movie is the ongoing dialogue between Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn, avid mystery readers who are constantly discussing the best ways to murder each other. Apart from being a bit of comic relief in an otherwise very dark film, it also demonstrates how lightly people think of murder and murderers...until they encounter them face-to-face. My advice then, if you want to see this movie, is not to learn anything about it beforehand. Going in with no knowledge will increase the movie's initial impact, and will help you to appreciate why Hitchcock was the 'Master of Suspense'. This is a taut thriller with no gratuitous violence, foul language, or mature situations. (Hitch considered it 'a family film'.) Enjoy!

• Uncle Hitch

  abelardo642005-01-23

  Uncle Charlie did it for me. I mistrusted the uncle thing as a term of endearment ever since. Joseph Cotten is the perfect charming monster. Uncle Charlie's urbanity becomes his most frightening feature. So plausible. So real. Thornton Wilder was Hitchcock's partner in crime this time and it shows. The structure is Our Townish, the characters, deliciously rich. Patricia Collinge's performance is so spot on that you're longing for more. The scenes between Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn are how I imagine the story meetings between Thornton Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock. Teresa Wright's eyes tell the whole story from the audience's point of view, even if the audience is one step ahead of her. Brilliant, because in Joseph Cotten's eyes we find his need for redemption or are we falling in the trap of this master manipulator? We are torn, just like Teresa Wright. I've seen "Shadow of a Doubt" 3 or 4 times but every time you're forced to take the trip with the same amount of commitment. I've been toying with the thought of a remake, I've been doing this lately, although I hate the idea of remakes of great movies, this one is one of those that in the right hands could have a real impact. Using Thornton Wilder's original script as the Bible, Steven Sodebergh could do scrumptious remake for the new millennium. Tim Robbins as uncle Charlie, can you imagine? Natalie Portman as his niece. Joan Cusak and William H Macy as her parents. Wouldn't you go to see that?