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Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

 -  Thriller  -  15 January 1943 (USA)
8.0
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Ratings: 8.0/10 from 32,530 users  
Reviews: 202 user | 103 critic

A young woman discovers her visiting "Uncle Charlie" may not be the man he seems to be.

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(screenplay), (screenplay), 2 more credits »
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Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
Uncle Charlie
Macdonald Carey ...
...
Patricia Collinge ...
...
Wallace Ford ...
Edna May Wonacott ...
Charles Bates ...
Irving Bacon ...
...
Janet Shaw ...
Louise
Estelle Jewell ...
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Storyline

Charlotte 'Charlie' Newton is bored with her quiet life at home with her parents and her younger sister. She wishes something exciting would happen and knows exactly what they need: a visit from her sophisticated and much traveled uncle Charlie Oakley, her mother's younger brother. Imagine her delight when, out of the blue, they receive a telegram from uncle Charlie announcing that he is coming to visit them for awhile. Charlie Oakley creates quite a stir and charms the ladies club as well as the bank president where his brother-in-law works. Young Charlie begins to notice some odd behavior on his part, such as cutting out a story in the local paper about a man who marries and then murders rich widows. When two strangers appear asking questions about him, she begins to imagine the worse about her dearly beloved uncle Charlie. Written by garykmcd

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

widow | visit | murderer | suspect | detective | See more »

Taglines:

A Blast of DRAMATIC Dynamite exploded right before your eyes!

Genres:

Thriller

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

15 January 1943 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Shadow of Doubt  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the waltz that is referred to throughout the film is "The Merry Widow Waltz". See more »

Goofs

When Uncle Charlie leaves his room, the two men outside follow him. A shot from above shows them with very short shadows, showing that is around noon. They separate for a short while and when they meet, their shadows are much longer, though not enough time has passed for it to be that much later. See more »

Quotes

Uncle Charlie: You think you know something, don't you? You think you're the clever little girl who knows something. There's so much you don't know, so much. What do you know, really? You're just an ordinary little girl, living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there's nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day, and at night you sleep your untroubled ordinary little sleep, filled with peaceful stupid dreams. ...
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Phenomena (1985) See more »

Soundtracks

"The Merry Widow Waltz"
(1905) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Lehár
In the score throughout the movie
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

The Master at his best.
7 January 2004 | by (Toronto, Canada) – See all my reviews

I own the Hitchcock collection (14 films in toto), and while this isn't my favourite of the bunch ('Psycho' is one of my favourite movies of all time, and 'Birds' never gets old), I like to watch it every now and again to remind myself what it means to make a "suspense film", and why Hitchcock was and always will be the master of this craft.

To give away even the slightest story detail would ruin it for new viewers, because it is essential that everyone begin with the wrong impressions of the major characters. This allows Hitch to pull off his famous 'twists' throughout the course of the movie, hitting you every now and then with something you simply weren't expecting.

One of my favourite elements in the movie is the ongoing dialogue between Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn, avid mystery readers who are constantly discussing the best ways to murder each other. Apart from being a bit of comic relief in an otherwise very dark film, it also demonstrates how lightly people think of murder and murderers...until they encounter them face-to-face.

My advice then, if you want to see this movie, is not to learn anything about it beforehand. Going in with no knowledge will increase the movie's initial impact, and will help you to appreciate why Hitchcock was the 'Master of Suspense'. This is a taut thriller with no gratuitous violence, foul language, or mature situations.

(Hitch considered it 'a family film'.)

Enjoy!


103 of 135 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

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