Review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Luke P — 14 Feb 2008

Hitchcock declared Shadow of a Doubt his personal favourite of all the films he made, as he liked bringing danger to a small town. It certainly is fun to peek behind the net curtains of small-town America at it's dark heart, a theme thats still being explored in films today.

A slow but steady buildup leads to a frenetic final act, as the uncle's facade slips and his true nature is revealed to the one person who thought so highly of him; his niece. The film is interesting in that the hero and villain are essentially the same person, as Joseph Cotten's Uncle Charlie is a hero to all his family but a villain to us, the audience.

Cotten is absolutely superb, as is Teresa Wright as the niece who adores him but then despises him, but doesn't have the heart to alienate him from the family. There relationship starts off sweet, but as the film progresses, it turns sour and disturbing.

You are hooked from start to finish with the various twists and turns of the plot, led by the fine performances, and theres even some humour chucked in, with the two old guys discussing how they would murder each other.

In my opinion this isn't Hitchcock's best (even if the big man himself loved it), but it is still a taut, tense film, with a superb creepy lead performance from Joseph Cotten.