Shadow of a Doubt
“Shadow of a Doubt” is one of those movies that I wasn’t entirely sure whether I’d seen prior to this new watch. As it played out, though, images returned to my mind, and Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller exerts its hold. Before he started to really settle into his tropes in his American career, his work really leaned into crime and film noir, with this film being one of his finest examples.
There’s not really romantic tension in the film, which is very unique for Hitchcock, by and large. Yes, Teresa Wright’s Charlie Newton has a burgeoning romance with one of the detectives investigating her uncle Charlie, played by Joseph Cotten, but it is not a fundamental part of the story being told. By the time that starts, Charlie seems to have some hint that something is not quite right with uncle Charlie. Early on in the film, we have seen that Charlie is a suspect for being the “Merry Widow Killer.” He decides to lay low by staying with his sister’s family, including listless niece Charlie. He’s followed to their quiet California town, and at a certain point, his actions hint at something sinister.
The screenplay by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson and Alma Reville is a distinct one for a Hitchcock film in that the mystery and discovery is solely on the characters end, not ours. This isn’t the only time he did this- “Rope” and “Vertigo” are later examples- but it might be his most entertaining film with this concept. We do see Charlie’s veneer of decency slip, though, including during a dinner where he views widowed women as opportunistic that is one of Cotten’s best moments in the film. Ironically, it’s a moment when Charlie is trying to hide his true nature where young Charlie has her suspicions grow. The woman, suspicious of the nature of the people around her, was a common theme in this time of Hitch, along with “Rebecca” and his underrated “Suspicion,” and Teresa Wright’s spin on it might be the best. The way that she follows the clues, the way she acts with uncle Charlie afterward- they have a scene in a bar that is brilliantly acted and directed- and finally, the choices she makes after uncle Charlie is gone. This is a gripping thriller that works because all three main areas- acting, directing and writing- are on point, as well as choices like how Hitch shoots small-town America, and how certain sequences are edited. The ending provides a fascinating dilemma- the main character has a choice to make, and while it’s what’s best for those around them, it also condemns them into keeping a terrible truth to themselves, one that could break them later in life. That’s the harsh reality of film noir, and one Hitch is more than adept at showing, in part because of his actors understanding what the roles require. “Shadow of a Doubt” is one of his best films.
