Movie to watch on Halloween - 5
Shadow of a Doubt is a 1943 American psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock and penned in part by Alma Reville, Hitch's partner in crime and "right-hand woman". The movie itself is generally regarded as one of Hitch's five best movies (the others being Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and North by Northwest). Moreover, it's actually his own personal favourite out of all the movies that he made and also the one he enjoyed making the most.
When considering Shadow of a Doubt to be his favorite movie, Hitchcock cited his love for the idea of bringing menace into a small, idyllic American town. He stated this on multiple occasions, even though there were some inconsistencies in his later comments. The movie allowed him also to explore his fascination with murder in a comprehensive way, looking at the psychology of human perception and society's fascination with the subject.
The story follows Charlotte "Charlie" Newton (Teresa Wright) and her family who live in very quiet Santa Rosa, California. An unexpected visit by Charles Oakley (Joseph Cotton), her charming and sophisticated Uncle Charlie, brings much excitement to the family and the small town. That excitement turns to fear as young Charlie slowly begins to suspect that her uncle may be concealing a dark secret.
Actress Teresa Wright reportedly considered it also her favorite movie. She admired Hitch's work greatly and actively pursued the role of young Charlie because of her adoration for his work. Her performance in the movie is often highlighted as one of its greatest strengths, showing a compelling range from infatuation to fear as her character grows to understand the evil in her life. In the end, it became her own best performance as a movie actress ever.
On the other hand, Cotten found playing his character in the movie to be a challenging but interesting role to take on. He initially told Hitchcock that he was nervous about playing a murderer, not knowing how they behaved, but Hitch insisted that the character was not driven by guilt and considered his actions a "sociological contribution". Hitch's direction helped him to understand the character's mindset: Uncle Charlie viewed his actions as a mission, not a crime, and felt no remorse.
The movie became thus also one of the most famous and celebrated of Cotton's career, solidifying his reputation as a versatile actor who could convincingly portray both heroes and villains. Afterall, Wright and himself did do all the heavy lifting in the acting department for the movie while Hitch used in the movie his camara techniques much more sparingly, like playing a trump card. For example, he has Cotton look directly into the camera for the moment as he snatches the newspaper back from Wright.
Special mention should also be made of Dimitri Tiomkin's score. He was the best composer Hitch worked with before Bernard Hermann, and one of the few who really understood how a Hitchcock movie needed to be scored. His sparse string arrangements really captures that sense of spiralling terror without overpowering the scene and turning it into melodrama. Hitch could exploit our fear of heights and made us afraid to take a shower, but in his own personal favourite film he was then at his most manipulative, making us afraid of our own family.
Cotton has one of the best scenes of his whole career, in a dinner tale conversation. His dark side takes over, and he finds himself saying these extraordinary words: “The cities are full of women, middle-aged widows, husbands dead, husbands who’ve spent their lives making fortunes, working and working. And then they die and leave their money to their wives, their silly wives. And what do the wives do, these useless women? You see them in the hotels, the best hotels, every day by the thousands. Drinking the money, eating the money, losing the money at bridge. Playing all day and all night. Smelling of money. Proud of their jewelry but of nothing else. Horrible, faded, fat, greedy women… Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals, hmm? And what happens to animals when they get too fat and too old?”
[media=https://youtu.be/8wq7FU3mC2o]
When considering Shadow of a Doubt to be his favorite movie, Hitchcock cited his love for the idea of bringing menace into a small, idyllic American town. He stated this on multiple occasions, even though there were some inconsistencies in his later comments. The movie allowed him also to explore his fascination with murder in a comprehensive way, looking at the psychology of human perception and society's fascination with the subject.
The story follows Charlotte "Charlie" Newton (Teresa Wright) and her family who live in very quiet Santa Rosa, California. An unexpected visit by Charles Oakley (Joseph Cotton), her charming and sophisticated Uncle Charlie, brings much excitement to the family and the small town. That excitement turns to fear as young Charlie slowly begins to suspect that her uncle may be concealing a dark secret.
Actress Teresa Wright reportedly considered it also her favorite movie. She admired Hitch's work greatly and actively pursued the role of young Charlie because of her adoration for his work. Her performance in the movie is often highlighted as one of its greatest strengths, showing a compelling range from infatuation to fear as her character grows to understand the evil in her life. In the end, it became her own best performance as a movie actress ever.
On the other hand, Cotten found playing his character in the movie to be a challenging but interesting role to take on. He initially told Hitchcock that he was nervous about playing a murderer, not knowing how they behaved, but Hitch insisted that the character was not driven by guilt and considered his actions a "sociological contribution". Hitch's direction helped him to understand the character's mindset: Uncle Charlie viewed his actions as a mission, not a crime, and felt no remorse.
The movie became thus also one of the most famous and celebrated of Cotton's career, solidifying his reputation as a versatile actor who could convincingly portray both heroes and villains. Afterall, Wright and himself did do all the heavy lifting in the acting department for the movie while Hitch used in the movie his camara techniques much more sparingly, like playing a trump card. For example, he has Cotton look directly into the camera for the moment as he snatches the newspaper back from Wright.
Special mention should also be made of Dimitri Tiomkin's score. He was the best composer Hitch worked with before Bernard Hermann, and one of the few who really understood how a Hitchcock movie needed to be scored. His sparse string arrangements really captures that sense of spiralling terror without overpowering the scene and turning it into melodrama. Hitch could exploit our fear of heights and made us afraid to take a shower, but in his own personal favourite film he was then at his most manipulative, making us afraid of our own family.
Cotton has one of the best scenes of his whole career, in a dinner tale conversation. His dark side takes over, and he finds himself saying these extraordinary words: “The cities are full of women, middle-aged widows, husbands dead, husbands who’ve spent their lives making fortunes, working and working. And then they die and leave their money to their wives, their silly wives. And what do the wives do, these useless women? You see them in the hotels, the best hotels, every day by the thousands. Drinking the money, eating the money, losing the money at bridge. Playing all day and all night. Smelling of money. Proud of their jewelry but of nothing else. Horrible, faded, fat, greedy women… Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals, hmm? And what happens to animals when they get too fat and too old?”
[media=https://youtu.be/8wq7FU3mC2o]
