Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

★ 7.5 1h 47m 1,140 votes IMDb

Thriller Mystery

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

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Cast

Teresa Wright as Young Charlie Died 2005 · Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA Teresa Wright (October 27, 1918 – March 6, 2005) was an American actress. Her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination came in 1941 for her debut work in The Little Foxes. She recei...

Joseph Cotten as Uncle Charlie Died 1994 · Petersburg, Virginia, USA Joseph Cheshire Cotten (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story...

Macdonald Carey as Jack Graham Died 1994 · Sioux City, Iowa, USA Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives. For almost three decades,...

Henry Travers as Joseph Newton Died 1965 · Prudhoe, Northumberland, England, UK British-born Henry Travers was a veteran of the English stage before emigrating to the U.S. in 1917. He gained more stage experience there on Broadway working with the Theatre Guild, and began his l...

Patricia Collinge as Emma Newton Died 1974 · Dublin, Ireland

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Cast Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Hume Cronyn, Wallace Ford, Edna May Wonacott, Charles Bates, Irving Bacon

John Chard 9/10 Aug 06, 2019

Merry Widow Murderer - Hitchcock style!

Shadow Of A Doubt was believed to have been Hitchcock's own favourite movie, the one that he was most proud of as he felt his critics hadn't got any justifiable ammunition to shoot him down with. The film stands out because it doesn't have the tongue in cheek dark humour traits that light up most of the maestro's classics. The cheeky bonus is that of having the central premise of the main protagonist being a hero of the people. His family all adore him, where he is on the surface a man that all men want to be, and it's here that Hitchcock moulds a chilling filmic arc, in fact, it's a masterstroke of filmic manipulation.

The plot involves Uncle Charlie returning to his adoring family in Santa Rosa after avoiding his apprehension for the murder of a widow. His niece Charlie treats Uncle as a hero, she worships the ground he walks on, but as the detectives close in, niece Charlie starts to piece together things and suspects herself that Uncle may just in fact be The Merry Widow Murderer. We are then pitched into the cat & mouse story and become privy to Uncle Charlie's switch from debonair handsome hero, into that of the devil incarnate. The reoccurring theme of The Merry Widow Waltz adds to the uneasy feel, while the relationship between Uncle & Niece is one that I'm sure Hitchcock was revelling in. Make no bones about it, it's in itself bordering on being unhealthy, and it's something that helps make this a more edgier thriller than other genre pieces of the era.

Joseph Cotten is special as Uncle Charlie, his duality acting hits the spot on both fronts, whilst Teresa Wright is beguiling as the niece because she really makes the character infectious. Thus it's with these two great performances that the pics final reel brings socko results. Screenplay is written by the wonderfully talented Thornton Wilder, and with the master directing with swagger in tow, this rounds out as a triumphant classic that shouldn't be missed by fans of such terminologies. 10/10