Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Thornton Wilder (screenplay) &
Sally Benson (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 August 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A Blast of DRAMATIC Dynamite exploded right before your eyes!

Plot:

A young woman discovers her visiting "Uncle Charlie" may not be the man he seems to be.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Suspect | Murderer | Visit | Detective

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Teresa Wright	...	Charlotte 'Charlie' Newton
Joseph Cotten	...	Uncle Charlie Oakley
Macdonald Carey	...	Jack Graham
Henry Travers	...	Joseph Newton
Patricia Collinge	...	Emma Newton
Hume Cronyn	...	Herbie Hawkins
Wallace Ford	...	Fred Saunders
Edna May Wonacott	...	Ann Newton
Charles Bates	...	Roger Newton
Irving Bacon	...	Station Master
Clarence Muse	...	Pullman Porter
Janet Shaw	...	Waitress Louise Finch
Estelle Jewell	...	Catherine
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Bates	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Phillips (uncredited)
Frances Carson	...	Mrs. Potter (uncredited)
Earle S. Dewey	...	Mr. Norton - Traffic Cop (uncredited)
Sarah Edwards	...	Doctor's Wife on Train (uncredited)
Edward Fielding	...	Doctor on Train (uncredited)
Vaughan Glaser	...	Dr. Phillips (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man on Train Playing Cards (uncredited)
Ruth Lee	...	Mrs. MacCurdy (uncredited)
Eily Malyon	...	Librarian (uncredited)
John McGuire	...	Detective (uncredited)
Charles Metten	...	Teen at crosswalk (uncredited)
Shirley Mills	...	Shirley (uncredited)
Constance Purdy	...	Mrs. Martin - Landlady (uncredited)
Robert Quarry	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Isabel Randolph	...	Mrs. Margaret Green (uncredited)
Grandon Rhodes	...	Rev. MacCurdy (uncredited)
Byron Shores	...	Detective (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Mr. Green - Bank President (uncredited)
Minerva Urecal	...	Mrs. Henderson - Clerk at Telegraph Office (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Thornton Wilder		(screenplay) &
Sally Benson		(screenplay) &
Alma Reville		(screenplay)
Gordon McDonell		(story)

Produced by
Jack H. Skirball	....	producer

Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography by
Joseph A. Valentine		(director of photography) (as Joseph Valentine)

Film Editing by
Milton Carruth

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(as R.A. Gausman)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Tummel	....	assistant director
Ralph Slosser	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert F. Boyle	....	associate art director (as Robert Boyle)
Edward R. Robinson	....	associate set decorator (as E.R. Robinson)
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
Robert Pritchard	....	technician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adrian	....	gowns: Teresa Wright
Vera West	....	costumes

Music Department
Charles Previn	....	musical director

Other crew
Adele Cannon	....	set continuity

Thanks
Thornton Wilder	....	acknowledgment: for his contribution to the preparation of this production (as Mr. Thornton Wilder)

Production Companies

• Skirball Productions (for)
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Filmes Alcântara (1945) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• MCA Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (VHS)
• Státní Pujcovna Filmu (194?) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• David O. Selznick Productions Inc.  Alfred Hitchcock through the courtesy of

Also Known As:

Shadow of Doubt (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Spain:13 | South Korea:15 (2004) | Brazil:14 | USA:PG (re-rating) (1984) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 | Ireland:PG | Peru:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #9011) (original rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

904 McDonald Avenue, Santa Rosa, California, USA

Company:

Skirball Productions

Trivia:

The name "Charlie" is spoken approximately 170 times.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When young Charlie is reading the newspaper in the library, the camera casts a shadow on her back.

Quotes:

Mrs. Poetter: There's one good thing in being a widow, isn't there? You don't have to ask your husband for money.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Merry Widow Waltz

Uncle Hitch

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?