Shadow of a Doubt

One of the most susepenseful films I have ever seen. I was absolutely blown away by the intense game of cat and mouse played between Cotten and Wright. In my opinion, Joseph Cotten's Uncle Charlie is a much greater Villain then Anthony Perkins infamous Norman Bates character. Shadow of a Doubt reminded me a lot like M, for they are both twisted stories, yet both the villains from there respective films are still so human. A really underappreciated Hitchcock, arguably his finest.

Replace young woman with young man, and serial killer with pedophile, and the description of this movie becomes auto-biographical for me.

Shadow of a Doubt is quite unique among the Hitchcock films I've seen in that it has no major mystery to it. The ending on the train was a bit awkward, and I really found myself wishing they'd gone with something less dramatic. I'm thinking something like the ending of The Birds, only instead of vaguely frightening birds it'd just fade out on an image of uncle Charlie smiling as he leaves on the train, making it clear that he hasn't changed at all. But I quibble; I enjoyed the film a lot.

There's not a lot of mystery for most of the heart of Shadow of a Doubt, so the movie relies on the cat-and-mouse game between Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright, which carries the movie along and provides it with its suspense and tension. It's really interesting to see Cotten as a force of evil when he's typically cast as a well-meaning blunderer of sorts. Other than some hokey characterizations and dialogue early on, and a really obnoxious kid actress, this is a first-class Hitchcock noir.

One of hitchcock's best. Cotten plays uncle Charlie perfectly as con man who has an entire small town eating out of his hand. Hitchcock adds small touches everywhere from the precocious little girl, to the silly discussions between the father and his neighbour.