Shadow of a Doubt was one of Hitchcock's personal favorites. Many people have never even heard of this one, but those who know Hitchcock usually consider this one of his best films. I must admit, I also fall into this catagory.
Shadow of a Doubt is about two people, Uncle Charlie (played by Joseph Cotton) and his neice (Teresa Wright) who was named after him. On the surface, Uncle Charlie is a good man, or that's what his family thinks, but his is actually a man being followed by the police for murder. Uncle Charlie decides to get away from the cops and go to stay with his family. His family truly loves him, especially his neice, Charlie. As you would expect, his niece worships the ground he walks on. After all, she was named after him and they have so much in common. As the movie goes on, many of Uncle Charlie's secrets began to be revealed to his neice. Eventually she has to make a choice that could destroy the entire family. Should she let Uncle Charlie go about his ways and love him the same, or should see reveal his deep, dark secrets and uncover the truth?
From the view of analyzing the film, this is one of Hitch's best. First of all, he dives into the subject of one of the most sacred things known to man, the family unit. He also goes into great depth analyzing the similarities and differences between the two Charlies. Lastly, and most impressively, he uses a concept of "pairs" in the movie. Every chance he gets he doubles people and things up...Two Charlies, two possible murderers, two cops, etc. Watch the movie looking for things paired up and you will see what I mean.
While many people have never heard of Shadow of a Doubt, it is
considered one of true Hitchcock classics that everyone should see.
For some interesting facts about SHADOW OF A DOUBT, click here.
If you saw this film and think of it in any negative ways, I
want you to e mail me about it.
I want to hear every bit of critism
out there so that I can make this page better.
Unfortunatly there are not many web pages out there for Shadow of a Doubt, but there are several Hitchcock pages that have mini features on the film, so check out our Hitchcock links
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