1943 – Alfred Hitchcock
Re-Watched October 13, 2019
Hitchcock’s favorite film of his own still shines through the hazy memory of small-town America
I love how Hitchcock chooses to reveal things. He has a tendency to use big symbols but his true mastery of the craft reveals itself in the little details that populate his pictures. In Shadow of a Doubt, young Charlie (played by the talented and winsome Theresa Wright) discovers that the ring her uncle gave her might belong to a widow that he may or may not have killed. The way Hitchcock shot this twist reminded me of the reveal of the empty wine bottle from Notorious – there is such an obvious delight in these closeups and that feeling is transmitted directly to the viewer.
Shadow of a Doubt should be considered one of the finest Noirs of all time and that Joseph Cotten is one of the most underrated actors of his generation. After all, he starred in this film, Hitchcock’s favorite film of his own, and The Third Man, the greatest British movie of all time, in addition to playing the central supporting role in the most celebrated film of the American canon, Citizen Kane. Get this man a retrospective, TCM!