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Cinema Basement's Alfred Hitchcock special: Shadow of a Doubt

A review by Brooks Rich

It was hard to decide where to start the two month long coverage of Hitchcock. He was in his biggest period of transition from the silent era to 1949 going, of course, from silent films to finding himself in the British studio system before eventually moving to Hollywood and becoming the Hitchcock we all know. So I figured.... let's start with the film Hitchcock considers his favorite, 1943's Shadow of a Doubt. 

Young Charlie Newton, played by Teresa Wright, lives in the quiet, bucolic town of Santa Rosa, California. She extends an invitation to her namesake, Uncle Charlie, played by the legendary Joseph Cotten, to come visit her and her family. He comes to visit, making a show of his affection for his sister, Charlie’s mother, and seeming to care deeply for the family. But Uncle Charlie starts to act suspiciously, and soon Charlie suspects he may be a wanted serial killer known as the Merry Widow Murderer. 

One of my favorite sub-genres is evil invading a quiet town.... stories that explore the darkness that exists just under the surface. Bad people live everywhere, even in places with white picket fences and well-manicured lawns. Hitchcock makes one of the very first, if not the first, instances of evil invading a small town with Shadow of a Doubt. 

The cat and mouse game between Charlie and her uncle is the main attraction here. As soon as Charlie starts to suspect her uncle, the film's attitude towards him changes. He becomes a sinister figure instead of a role model and a hero to his niece. What really works is... Charlie is the only one to suspect her uncle. The rest of the family just fawns over him, especially Charlie's mother. 

I've always felt that Jpseh Cotten doesn't get the respect and admiration he deserves. Sure, a lot of people know his work and love him, but his name isn't up there with classic actors like Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart. This might be Cotten's best role, but he is also fantastic in the 1949 film The Third Man. We can argue what his best role is.... but Uncle Charlie is my personal favorite role of his. He is so sinister and menacing, but still manages a charm to his character which is really creepy. He's a perfect villain and foil for the innocent Charlie. 

See this film immediately if you have missed it. Most of Hitchcock's major masterpieces come in the '50s, but I put Shadow of a Doubt right up there with films like North by Northwest and Dial M For Murder. 

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