Review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by L J — 01 Sep 2007
"The whole world's a joke to me.".
Joseph Cotten is brilliantly cold and charming by turns as the complex Uncle Charlie who IS the 'Merry Widow' murderer!
A superb tale of the "typical American family" unaware of the threat in their own home, this is a story in quite a contained setting - indeed, this could easily work as a stage-play (and probably has).
Teresa Wright is so good as Charlie's open-hearted niece ("Little Charlie"), you really do feel her sense of betrayal when she learns the truth about her uncle.
Wallace Ford (from Freaks) has a minor supporting role as one of the detectives. All performances are solid here (even the two kids); gotta love Hume Cronyn's murder-mystery geek! The banter between him and Henry Travers is priceless.
Apparently this was Hitch's favourite of his own movies. Understandably.
This review of Shadow of a Doubt (1943) was written by L J on 01 Sep 2007.
Shadow of a Doubt has generally received very positive reviews.
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