Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
#26 in my 2007 movie challenge, Shadow of a Doubt may well be the favorite Hitchcock movie of the sixteen* I’ve seen. It’s in black and white, and stars Teresa Wright as a small-town teenager whose uncle Charlie, for whom she is named, may be hiding something. Charlie is alerted to her uncle’s possible wrongdoings, and then goes all girl detective as she seeks, and fails, to prove his innocence. Joseph Cotten is appropriately creepy as the uncle, and veers scarily between animated interactions with young Charlie’s family, and monotone threats to himself, the detectives, and the newly clued-in young Charlie. Hitch gives the viewer a credible psychological backstory for Uncle C, as well as squirm-inducing scenes of Uncle C manhandling young C that imply far more than they show. The movie tells a good story with suspense, and Hitch hasn’t yet cemented his famous fetishes, like torturing pretty blonds, that were unpleasant hallmarks of his later films. What I noticed on this viewing was how masterfully Hitch ratcheted up the anxiety of the viewer using domestic commonplaces like a Martha-ish mom and bickering small children. It was strangely affirming to my current struggles with depression and anxiety to see the darker side of domesticity.
*The 39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Rebecca
Foreign Correspondent
Shadow of a Doubt
Spellbound
Notorious
Rope
Dial M for Murder
Rear Window
To Catch a Thief
Vertigo
North by Northwest
Psycho
The Birds
Marnie