Review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Katy R — 19 Jan 2009

One of Hitchcock's early fully-American movies (American money, production team, actors, and location) is also one of the director's favourite films. That's probabaly because the story really played on one of his favourite story devices - the seduction of evil and empathy for the devil in a serene, almost too peaceful setting (see Psycho as the ultimate indication). There's a macabre sense of the supernatural between the Uncle and niece's strange kinship and that really adds to the unnerving flavour of the movie. Some of Hitchcockâ??s directorial quirks are fantastic, especially the use of close-ups.

What makes the film stand out is Joseph Cottonâ??s character. This personification of darkness is one of Hitchcockâ??s most interesting largely because we find out very little about him, we only get snippets of what makes him tick. Itâ??s a fascinating example of Hitchcockâ??s delectation with evil and something that makes his films so enjoyable. Hume Cronyn and the father make a fantastic comedy double act that juxtaposes the Uncleâ??s overt dread with their amusing if ultimately unsympathetic takes on how they would adventurously murder each other leaving no trace of the culprit.

Shadow Of A Doubt is one of Hitchcockâ??s most fascinating movies.