Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

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 | California | Visit | Detective

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 23

8:45 AM

TCM

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)
• 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)
• Filmes Alcântara (Portugal)
• 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:

"Shadow of a Doubt" was the script title but was listed as only a "temporary title" until a better title could be found.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: While Charlie watches the cab take her family to Uncle Charlie's speech, the shadows of crew members are visible against the bushes in the background.

Quotes:

[to the telegraph operator]
Young Charlie: Mrs. Henderson, do you believe in telepathy?
Mrs. Henderson: Well, I ought to. That's my business.
Young Charlie: Oh, not telegraphy. Mental telepathy. Like, well, suppose you have a thought, and suppose the thought's about someone you're in tune with, and then across thousands of miles, that person knows what you're thinking about and answers you, and it's all mental.
Mrs. Henderson: I don't know what you're talking about. I only send telegrams the normal way.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Telescope: A Talk with Hitchcock" (1964)

Soundtrack:

Merry Widow Waltz

When Hitchcock Comes to Middle America

It's been reported that the primary appeal of doing "Shadow of a Doubt" for Alfred Hitchcock was the idea of bringing a sense of menace to a small, every day American town. In that, this movie brilliantly succeeds. It doesn't join "Rear Window" or "Psycho" as one of my favorite Hitchcock films, but it has much to recommend it.

Joseph Cotten didn't get many chances to play a sinister villain, but he's very good at it. His natural ease and charm work to his advantage in creating a smarmy character who you're never completely sure about. He has a lot of chemistry with Teresa Wright, who plays his niece and supposedly has a closer than normal connection with him. In fact, in typical Hitchcock fashion, their relationship in the early scenes of this film takes on a sort of creepy romantic quality that's never overtly addressed but is always there as subtext.

As Wright begins to suspect that her Uncle Charlie might not be such a great guy after all--and may in fact be much worse than simply not a great guy--the balance of power shifts and she begins to play against him. One of the things I liked most about this movie was how strong a character Wright's Charlie is allowed to be. She's not a ninny, like a character in her situation would be in any number of other films. She doesn't swoon, cry and squeal helplessly. After Uncle Charlie tries to kill her by locking her in a garage with a running car, and she comes to looking directly into his face, she doesn't bite her knuckles as you might expect, but rather says with a cold hard determination, "Go away." It's very effective, and the whole movie is like that.

It has a great supporting cast, both well cast and acted. There's not a throwaway character among the bunch, and everyone makes much of varying sized roles. Patricia Collinge is a stand out as Uncle Charlie's sister, whose radar is going off even as she doesn't want to believe anything sinister can be happening. Henry Travers is the father of the family...his attitudes toward Charlie change after he comes to the bank where he works and makes inappropriate jokes. It wasn't until the end credits that I even realized who Hume Cronyn was playing; I've never seen him so young.

"Shadow of a Doubt" isn't as obviously distinguished visually as other Hitchcock films, but it bears his unmistakable mark nonetheless. There aren't as many shots you come away from the film remembering as there are in, say, "Rear Window." But the whole thing has the feeling of being completely controlled from beginning to end. I really liked the way small-town America was portrayed in this film. It's not full of a bunch of rubes who say things like "aw shucks" and do silly things for us to laugh at. Hitchcock is skillful at showing the contrast between the small-town life of young Charlie's family and Uncle Charlie's jaded big-city life of crime. But he doesn't condescend or patronize.

If you want to see higher-tier Hitchcock, you could do much worse than this film. It's got an engaging story, wonderful acting and complex characters, and a few scenes that qualify as genuine nail biters. Very good!

Grade: A