IMDb > Suspicion (1941)
Suspicion
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Suspicion (1941) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   9,063 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 66% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
Writers:
Samson Raphaelson (screenplay) &
Joan Harrison (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Suspicion on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 November 1941 (USA) more
Tagline:
Love in his Heart . . . Tragedy in his Mind ! The stars of "Penny Serenade" and "Rebecca" in this most thrilling mystery . . . more
Plot:
A shy young English woman marries a charming gentleman, then begins to suspect him of trying to kill her. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Interview: 50 Years of Filmmaking With Martin Landau
 (From HollywoodChicago.com. 2 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)

Weekly DVD & Blu-Ray Chopping List 11/03/2009
 (From Fangoria. 31 October 2009, 9:00 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
"Good night, Lina." more (95 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Before the Fact (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
99 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Spain:13 | UK:U (tv rating) | Brazil:16 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | USA:Approved (certificate #7113)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock]about 45 minutes in, mailing a letter at the village post office. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Lina looks at Isobel's book while Johnnie is on the telephone, there is a large tear in the book jacket above Isobel's photo. In the next scene, when Lina takes the book on her visit to Isobel, the book jacket is undamaged. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Johnnie Aysgarth: Oh, I beg your pardon. Was that your leg? I had no idea we were going into a tunnel. I thought the compartment was empty.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Touch of Pink (2004) more
Soundtrack:
Vienna Blood Waltz more

FAQ

Where are the cliffs that Johnnie and Beaky were going to buy and develop?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is "Suspicion" based on a book?
more
55 out of 59 people found the following comment useful.
"Good night, Lina.", 27 October 2005
7/10
Author: Holdjerhorses from USA

That could have been Cary Grant's most chilling line in his long career.

*SPOILERS*

Except RKO didn't have the courage of its convictions. Having bought the rights to Francis Iles' novel, and despite Hitchcock's insistence on sticking with the original ending, neither preview audiences nor the studio were ready to accept Cary Grant as a murderer. So its present ending was hastily written and shot. It completely subverts all the fine work that's gone before.

Joan Fontaine was a brilliant actress and valiantly, passionately, breathlessly tries to make the shockingly amateurish dialogue in the final scene work -- "Oh, Johnny! You were going to kill yourself instead of me, like the audience and I have thought for the last 90 minutes! Oh, Johnny! It's as much my fault as it is yours! Oh, Johnny! I was only thinking of myself . . . ," etc.

Cary Grant does his best with this final abomination of a climax. "Lina! Lina! How much can one man bear! When you and the audience thought I was in Paris murdering Beaky I was really in Liverpool!" Etc.

Huh?

In other words, this beautifully produced, directed, acted and written psychological suspense thriller turns out to be about a charming lazy n'er-do-well who's sponged and embezzled his way through life, who marries a beautiful but neurotic aristocrat who, from day one, increasingly assumes the worst about her husband -- convincing herself (and us) that he's killed before and now is about to kill her?

"Just kidding," the tacked-on final scene says. "It was all innocent. You eating popcorn out there in the dark, and Lina, should be ashamed for even THINKING such things! Go home now."

It helps, out of self defense, to watch "Suspicion" with the original ending in mind. Yes, the milk is poisoned. Yes Johnny killed Beaky in Paris. Yes, he's a psychopath who lies, cheats, steals and kills. Yes, Lina believed him and loved him deeply -- the only man she's ever loved. Yes, her life is no longer worth living, now that she knows the truth about Johnny. Yes, she rightly suspects that milk is poisoned. So she writes a letter to her mother, telling the truth about Johnny's exploits, and that he is poisoning her as she writes -- and that she intends to die. She seals the letter and gives it to Johnny to mail. She drinks the milk. Johnny leaves and unknowingly drops Lina's letter into a mailbox, thus sealing his fate.

THAT'S a rewarding ending.

It also makes everything that's gone before (including writing, directing, performances and cinematography) plausible. It gives "Suspicion" a reason to exist.

But that's the novel's ending.

The film's "Lina and the audience are just paranoid" ending makes fools out of all the talent on display here. And of us.

Hold mentally to the original ending and you'll love it.

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Far better than Spellbound... nickrogers1969
Out of curiosity... TiffJobs
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Colour longer then Black/white hans_kristian_a
Woman in suit and tie at Isobel's cinicapr
Neck dimple reference Agrajag_HHG
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