Pursued by the police, shifty Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) skips town to stay with his sister's family in tranquil Santa Rosa, but it's not long before his beautiful niece, Young Charlie (Teresa Wright), begins to suspect that the new house-guest is a right wrong'un.
Shadow of a Doubt was apparently Hitchcock's favourite of all his own films, which I fail to understand: while many of the director's movies grab hold and don't let go till the end credits, this one took me several evenings to get through, which is indicative of just how mundane I found it. Certain potentially interesting themes—the sexual tension between Charlie and her uncle and the notion of evil lurking unsuspected in American suburbia—amount to very little and the manner in which the film unfolds is surprisingly dull, the whole affair lacking Hitch's usual excellent pacing, masterful storytelling and visual flair.
Wright is a delight to behold and Cotten makes for a genuinely creepy villain but overall I found the film to be far from Hitchcock's best work.
Shadow of a Doubt was apparently Hitchcock's favourite of all his own films, which I fail to understand: while many of the director's movies grab hold and don't let go till the end credits, this one took me several evenings to get through, which is indicative of just how mundane I found it. Certain potentially interesting themes—the sexual tension between Charlie and her uncle and the notion of evil lurking unsuspected in American suburbia—amount to very little and the manner in which the film unfolds is surprisingly dull, the whole affair lacking Hitch's usual excellent pacing, masterful storytelling and visual flair.
Wright is a delight to behold and Cotten makes for a genuinely creepy villain but overall I found the film to be far from Hitchcock's best work.