Review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by G R — 02 Sep 2009
Story of a young woman (Teresa Wright) living in a small town with her family and looking forward to a visit from her favorite uncle (Joseph Cotten). The trouble is that she begins to suspect her uncle might be a serial killer known as the Merry Widow murderer.
The picture shows Hitchcock's great skill at developing suspense. While he would make many great thrillers over his career, this film stands out for me because it achieves this result without the fantastic locales or the spectacular set pieces of some of his later films.
Teresa Wright who would be nominated for three Oscars and win one in the two years leading up to this film is very effective in her role. Equally as effective is Joseph Cotten at is most sinister.
The strong supporting cast includes MacDonald Carey, Henry Travers (Clarence from it s a Wonderful Life) and Hume Cronyn.
The script that so effectively works at building the suspense in the small town locale was co-written by Thorton Wilder (Our Town).
As has often been cited this was reportedly Hitchcock's personal favorites amongst his own films.
This review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) was written by G R on 02 Sep 2009.
Shadow of a Doubt has generally received very positive reviews.
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