Review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Leah B — 28 Feb 2009

I went into this movie thinking it would be yet another example of good but lesser Hitchcock, considering I'd never heard of it before and it's not spoken about in the same ring as other perfect films like 'Vertigo' or 'Psycho'. But 'Shadow of a Doubt' sort of reminds me of 'Rope', another Hitchcock film I'd never heard of but turned out to be one of my very favorites- and both 'Shadow of a Doubt' and 'Rope' deserve to be placed up there with 'Rear Window' and 'Strangers on a Train'.

The story follows a normal family who's much loved Uncle Charlie comes to visit. The main heroine, Charlie (named after her favorite uncle), is then informed by a couple of detectives that her beloved uncle may be the infamous 'Merry Widow Murderer', and when she starts to humor them and actually consider the possibility, she finds out a few things she never really wanted to know. And that Uncle Charlie isn't so great after all.

I don't know if I would rank 'Shadow of a Doubt' up there with my very favorites, but it's certainly very, very good. And it deserves to be watched for generations, just like all of Hitch's movies.