Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Genre: Filmnoir / Thriller
Duration: 108 minuten
Alternative title: Een Schijn van Twijfel
Country:
United States
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright and Macdonald Carey
IMDb score:
7,8 (75.030)
Releasedate: 15 January 1943
Shadow of a Doubt plot
"What horror did her secret life hold… that made her dread this man of her dreams?"
Charming Uncle Charlie is on the run from two strange men. He moves in with his only sister, her husband and their three children. However, he has an evil secret that his sister's oldest daughter, also named Charlie, is beginning to suspect.
Actors and actresses
Charlie Newton
Charlie Oakley
Jack Graham
Joseph Newton
Emma Newton
Herbie Hawkins
Fred Saunders
Ann Newton
Roger Newton
Station Master
Reviews & comments
Dievegge
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- 3180 messages
- 8228 votes
Today, the population has increased almost tenfold, but in the early 1940s, California's Santa Rosa was a town of less than 20,000. They mainly knew crime from detective novels. Hume Cronyn plays a comedic side character who devises fictional ways to commit murder, without a clue of what is really going on right under his nose.
When Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) arrives in town, a plume of black smoke rises from the train, symbolizing the evil that is permeating the idyllic resort. Noir elements such as smoke, shadow and reflections are used symbolically. Shortly before the end there is a conversation between the two main characters with uncle Charlie in the shadows and his niece in the light.
Teresa Wright plays the niece who finds it hard to believe that such an apparently good fool could commit such misdeeds. Her sunny smile gives way to a look of fear and despair. Eleven-year-old Edna May Wonacott adds some humor as the little sister who is too intelligent for her age. Hitchcock himself has a curious cameo as the train passenger with the perfect playing cards.
The director manages to tell the story with images. In the early chase scene, the camera reveals that the fugitive is hiding on the roof so the viewer knows more than the detectives. When Uncle Charlie looks down on his niece from the top of the stairs, you can see him thinking he wants to get her out of the way because she knows too much. It is an exciting, atmospheric thriller with layered characters, a cozy location, a dose of humor and a touch of romance.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Another successful Hitchcock and for me personally one of his better works if I don't consider it one of his best films. The premise of this thriller is very finely worked out with a charming amiable wolf in sheep's clothing who turns everyone around his finger with his charming character.
Everyone is overjoyed when Uncle Charlie comes to visit, but after a few days the niece of the same name experiences strange things about her uncle and gradually the puzzle pieces start to fall into place. A very strange fact in the peaceful quiet town where nothing happens and everyone turns out to be a model family. The contrast between the sugar daddy on the one hand and the murderer on the other could not be greater. Although the film gets off to a slow start, Hitchcock still maintains a certain tension and panache in the film.
Joseph Cotten Does an excellent job and is certainly not inferior to, say, Cary Grant or James Stewart. Teresa Wright is also doing well. It is also nice to find a comical light-hearted note in the film with the father and his friend who fantasize about a murder. Nice discovery in advance and worth a big 4.0 *!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Alathir
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- 2133 messages
- 1638 votes
Decent but not the best Hitchcock, certainly not. There is a kind of subcutaneous tension in it. It must be quite unpleasant to live with a murderer in the house. How she remains silent is admirable, the question is whether it is smart because she almost twice dies herself. 2 cunning killing techniques to make it look like an accident. The story is simple as is often the case with Hitchcock. Less is more sometimes is just better. In fact, there is never really a mystery. No attempt is made to keep it mysterious either. That is also different. I didn't really know any of the actors, but I haven't seen many films from these times either.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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