Suspicion, unfortunately these days, seems more famous for its debatable ending, well that and the accusation that Joan Fontaine got a pity Oscar after being ignored for the far superior Rebecca the previous year. What isn't in doubt, though, is that it finds Hitchcock on interesting form. Often talked about as being a grim story in essence, it's something of a comedy drama flecked in mysterious romantic dabblings.
Cary Grant is cynical society playboy Johnnie Aysgarth, who romances and then weds Lina McLaidlaw (Fontaine), possibly only for his treasure seeking leanings? True to form, Aysgarth gets into a number of financial escapades that leaves Lina exasperated, more so when a shady partnership with his friend Beaky (a suitably doofus turn from Nigel Bruce) ends with Beaky meeting a mysterious death in Paris. As Lina thinks deeper about it, the more she is convinced that Johnnie is going to have her murdered in order to get his hands on her inheritance.
And then there's that ending that has divided opinions across the cinema spectrum, a vastly different ending to the one in the source novel, Before The Fact (Frances Iles). Personally I think Hitchcock got it right, it feels like he has submarined the viewers with a cheeky glint in his eye. Once the comedy tone of the first half dissipates, Hitchcock builds the suspense greatly to reveal a picture about mistrust and paranoia, where we, along with Fontaine's fretful wife, are just not sure about Johnnie's intentions or state of mind. The director then takes his characters, and us the viewers, to the cliff's edge, and delivers an ending that most probably had him chuckling away with carefree abandon.
Far from the top tier of Hitchcock movies, Suspicion is however, impeccably acted, well paced and devilishly cheeky. And of course there's "that" magnificent glowing drink scene to marvel at... 7/10
Cary Grant is cynical society playboy Johnnie Aysgarth, who romances and then weds Lina McLaidlaw (Fontaine), possibly only for his treasure seeking leanings? True to form, Aysgarth gets into a number of financial escapades that leaves Lina exasperated, more so when a shady partnership with his friend Beaky (a suitably doofus turn from Nigel Bruce) ends with Beaky meeting a mysterious death in Paris. As Lina thinks deeper about it, the more she is convinced that Johnnie is going to have her murdered in order to get his hands on her inheritance.
And then there's that ending that has divided opinions across the cinema spectrum, a vastly different ending to the one in the source novel, Before The Fact (Frances Iles). Personally I think Hitchcock got it right, it feels like he has submarined the viewers with a cheeky glint in his eye. Once the comedy tone of the first half dissipates, Hitchcock builds the suspense greatly to reveal a picture about mistrust and paranoia, where we, along with Fontaine's fretful wife, are just not sure about Johnnie's intentions or state of mind. The director then takes his characters, and us the viewers, to the cliff's edge, and delivers an ending that most probably had him chuckling away with carefree abandon.
Far from the top tier of Hitchcock movies, Suspicion is however, impeccably acted, well paced and devilishly cheeky. And of course there's "that" magnificent glowing drink scene to marvel at... 7/10