- In a cramped apartment in a dilapidated section of Philadelphia, Charles Oakley (Joseph Cotten) lies smoking on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The blank look on his face says he's sick of the world, and we gather that his problems involve that pile of cash on his nightstand and the two undercover men maintaining a vigil outside of his apartment. Thousands of miles away, Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) strikes a similar pose. Her ennui stems from being "an average girl in an average family" in the average town of Santa Rosa, California. Suddenly, she realizes who could really shake things up around here: Uncle Charlie. Imagine her surprise, then, when she goes to send a telegram only to discover that Charlie is already on his way! As his train smokes darkly into town, we get the feeling that he's going to shake things up alright.
- Before Uncle Charlie came to town, you see, the Newtons were a stereotypically charming American family. Emma (Patricia Collinge), Uncle Charlie's sister, handles the household chores with a smile while her husband Joe (Henry Travers) splits his time between his banking job and his mystery novels. Young Ann (Edna May Wonacott) loves reading too, though nothing as pedestrian as a mystery novel, while her younger brother Roger (Charles Bates) is at the age where he counts anything that needs, or doesn't need, counting. And then there's Charlie. She's always felt a special connection with her uncle that extends beyond their shared name. To Charlie, they're "not just an uncle and a niece," and she has a feeling that inside her uncle "there's something nobody knows about...something secret and wonderful." Well, she's half right.
- While Charlie ponders such fragmented clues as a half-remembered waltz, some missing newspaper clippings, and the initials on a ring, the police simultaneously start to take an interest in Uncle Charlie's secrets, posing as interviewers of, you guessed it, an average American family. When Detective Graham (Macdonald Carey) confides in young Charlie, however, she is initially skeptical. How could her dear uncle be a serial killer? Still, the seeds of doubt are planted, and they propel her to the library, where she makes a shocking discovery: Uncle Charlie is the "Merry Widow Murderer." Unfortunately, their mental connection works both ways, and Uncle Charlie quickly perceives that his favorite niece is on to him. Now young Charlie must find a way to deal with her homicidal uncle without destroying the rest of her family in the process.
- Let's start with this film's wonderful writing, at least some of which was contributed by Thornton Wilder. Everything Ann and Roger say is hilariously charming, as are all of the interactions between Joe and his dimestore mystery-obsessed neighbor, Herbie (Hume Cronyn). Equally impressive but of a decidedly different tone are Uncle Charlie's terrifying diatribes on what the world is really like. Then there's the acting. Every member of the Newton family is spot on, particularly Teresa Wright, whose body language rivals that of the silent film stars. Joseph Cotten, too, obviously deserves a lot of credit for bringing Uncle Charlie's devil to life. Finally, there's the film's excellent direction and cinematography. When Hitchcock isn't capturing the pristine beauty of small-town America, he's using smoke to wonderfully diabolical ends. In short, Shadow of a Doubt is one of my favorite films of all time and may even be my favorite Hitchcock film. I can deliver no higher praise than that.
- I spotted Hitchcock playing cards on the train (and with a handful of spades no less).
- Hitchcock gets in a "BM" reference with the initials on the ring. Ahhh, British humour.
- Is every David Lynch film based on this film?
