Review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Ilias E — 11 Feb 2013

Hitchcock made so many brilliant films in his long career that it's easy to overlook certain gems among showier works like Psycho, Vertigo and The Birds, yet in its quiet, unassuming way, Shadow of a Doubt is as perfect as anything the master ever made.

I don't necessarily cite it as a fault - indeed, he often uses it to advantage - but there is certainly much in Hitchcock that is artificial and studio-bound. Here, however, by effectively casting (then) small-town America as a central character in the drama and opting to shoot on location in Santa Rosa, California, Hitchcock achieves with Shadow of a Doubt a vividness of setting virtually unparalleled elsewhere in his oeuvre, possible exceptions being the San Francisco of Vertigo or the Covent Garden of Frenzy.

This might also be Hitchcock's most perfectly cast movie, with even the most minor of characters perfectly realised. Joseph Cotton is cast superbly against type as the charismatic wolf in sheep's clothing, Uncle Charlie, but the heart and soul of the picture is the beautifully judged performance of Teresa Wright as Charlie's adoring niece and namesake.

I would personally rank the adorable Miss Wright as my favourite heroine in all of Hitchcock.