Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Trivia
The producers assigned scouts to find an appropriate house to serve as a setting for this movie in Santa Rosa, where it to be shot on location. Alfred Hitchcock had provided specific instructions that the house was to be nice, but somewhat worn-down to emphasize the Newton family's middle-class background. The scouts selected the house which appears in the movie, and Hitchcock was delighted by the photographs of their selection. The house was well-built with both a charming interior and exterior. However, it was an older house that was slightly out of fashion at the time, needed a few cosmetic repairs, had a bit of an overgrown lawn and garage area, and the exterior painting was faded and chipped. Hitchcock believed that the expensive and sturdy, but weathered and worn, look to the house would give the suggestion that the Newton family could be anyone, just the average American family in any average American town. Hitchcock gave the scouts the authority to rent the house from its owners as a temporary filming location, much to the owners' pride and delight. He was horrified, however, when he appeared at the house to begin filming. The owners, excited by the prospect of a major movie being shot at their house, had freshly painted the entire house, manicured the lawn, and made a few repairs to the exterior. Hitchcock had to have his effects team artificially age the wear to the house and shoot around the owners' most-effective recent renovations. After shooting was completed, the house was returned to its "newly renovated" status.
In his interview with François Truffaut on "Shadow" (first published in 1967), Alfred Hitchcock said the dense, black smoke belching from the train that brings Charles Oakley to Santa Rosa was a deliberate symbol of imminent evil.
Alfred Hitchcock often cited this as his favorite movie.
Teresa Wright did not read the script before agreeing to sign on for this movie. Alfred Hitchcock described the plot to her in a meeting, and she agreed to take on the part immediately.
Alfred Hitchcock said that part of why he considered this to be his favorite movie was that he loved the idea of bringing menace to an otherwise idyllic small town.
Patricia Collinge (Emma Newton) wrote the garage scene between Charlie (Teresa Wright) and Jack (Macdonald Carey).
Charlie's sister mentions that he'd had an accident on a bicycle when he was a boy. Earle Nelson, the serial killer on whom this story is loosely based, suffered from extremely serious mental illness which, along with his history of occipital headaches, was attributed to a near-fatal bicycle accident in his childhood in which he was seriously struck on the back of the head. Charlie's sister mentions how his personality had changed after the accident (getting into mischief), which is what happened with Nelson, who soon began to commit burglaries.
Edna May Wonacott (Ann Newton) and Estelle Jewell (Catherine) were locals of Santa Rosa, where this movie was shot on location. Many of the extras were also residents of the town, which was too far away from Hollywood to be affected by Actors Guild guidelines demanding the use of professional actors and actresses.
The $40,000 in 1943 that Charlie opened the bank account with would be the equivalent of $606,000 in 2020.
In a 1959 interview, Teresa Wright said that this was her favorite movie.
The project began when the head of David O. Selznick's story department, Margaret McDonell, told Alfred Hitchcock that her husband Gordon McDonell had an interesting idea for a novel that she thought would make a good movie. His idea, called "Uncle Charlie", was based on the true story of Earle Leonard Nelson, a mass murderer of the 1920s known as "The Gorilla Man".
Theatrical movie debut of Hume Cronyn (Herbie Hawkins).
This film was selected into the National Film Registry in 1991 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Although the year was 1942-43, World War II is never mentioned. However, when Young Charlie goes to the library to find out which article her uncle ripped out of the family's newspaper, the first paper she looks at has a headline that begins, "Hideki Tôjô Speaks for..."
Alfred Hitchcock wanted William Powell to play Uncle Charlie, but MGM refused to loan him out, so the role went to Joseph Cotten.
While at the dinner table, Charlie quotes from the Bible. The serial killer Earle Nelson, the inspiration for this film, frequently quoted from the Bible.
While saying her prayers, little Ann asks for Captain Midnight to be blessed. Captain Midnight was the main character in a popular radio serial in the late 1930s and 1940s. While the broadcasts were generally directed towards youths, the adventures of Captain Midnight as he flew around battling saboteurs and spies for a secret American government branch (the "Secret Squadron") were also popular with adults. In keeping with her intelligence and independence, Captain Midnight spoke fairly regularly about the science involved in flying and treated female characters similarly to male characters (no damsels in distress in this serial).
Alfred Hitchcock had wanted either Joan Fontaine or Olivia de Havilland for the role of Young Charlie, but they were unavailable.
Before leaving for the west coast, Charlie leaves his room and turns to follow his landlady. It is inferred that she would never be seen again. The real-life serial killer Earle Nelson, whose activities inspired this film, had a penchant for killing landladies and molesting them afterwards.
"Shadow of a Doubt" was the script title, but was listed as only a "temporary title" until a better title could be found.
Alfred Hitchcock considered Cary Grant for the role of Uncle Charlie.
This was only Teresa Wright's fourth film, but she received top billing over the more experienced Joseph Cotten, quite possibly because she was nominated for Academy Awards in her first three films, The Little Foxes (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), and The Pride of the Yankees (1942). At the 1943 Oscars, she had the distinction of being nominated for both Best Actress in a Leading Role (Pride of the Yankees) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Mrs. Miniver). She won the Supporting Actress Oscar. This movie broke her string of Oscar nominations.
When Hawkins is describing a fictional detective as a Frenchman, he is talking about the character Hercule Poirot, who appears in the stories of Agatha Christie and is often mistaken for being French although he is Belgian. In the world of film, Poirot is best known as the central figure in "Murder on the Orient Express," his most frequently filmed adventure.
Henry Travers was 68 years old when he played the father of 7 year old Charles Bates.
When young Roger looks at the picture of his grandparents taken in 1888, he remarks, "53 years ago," which indicates this film is set in 1941, before the U.S. entered the war. This explains why no one in the film ever refers to the war.
The Newton family home and the stone railway station (built in 1904) still stand in Santa Rosa. Nonetheless, Carnegie Library was demolished in 1964, due to seismic concerns, and some of the buildings that appear in the center of the town were damaged or destroyed by earthquakes in 1969.
Inspired by the 16-month killing spree of Earle Nelson, this film touches on a few similarities. Nelson's method was to connect with widows who owned boarding houses, try to trick his way into gaining ownership, to kill the proprietresses, have his way with them, then steal their money and jewelry, and move on. At the beginning of the picture, Uncle Charlie was in a boarding house owned by "Mrs. Martin." If he were to follow his usual method, he would have murdered Mrs. Martin before leaving town. Later, he tells his niece Charlie that the missing newspaper article was about someone he "used to know" - a previous victim.
When Charlie first enters his sister's house, he is shown to his room, and about to throw his hat on the bed, when his sister's husband stops him. This is an oblique reference to the old superstition that throwing a cowboy's hat on a bed can lead to bad luck.
The bridge in the opening of the movie is the Pulaski Skyway that carries U.S. Highways 1 and 9 between Jersey City, New Jersey and Newark, New Jersey.
The waltz in the underscoring is Franz Lehár's "Merry Widow Waltz," in reference to the press' nickname for the story's killer. The song was written for "The Merry Widow," a musical play that debuted in 1907, based on an 1861 play in which various would-be matchmakers try to find a suitor for a wealthy widow, with the intent that the marriage keep the money in the country so that the vying matchmakers could profit from it.
Teresa Wright and Patricia Collinge appeared in The Little Foxes (1941), where both were nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscars.
Even though Alfred Hitchcock preferred filming in sound stages, to ensure absolute control over his images, the wartime War Production Board restrictions of a maximum cost of US $5,000 of new materials for set construction forced the production into location shooting. In the end, with the use of old sets (train interior) and repurposed lumber, new sets totaled only US $2,979 (mostly parts of the house's exteriors, interiors, and garage).
As an inducement to get Teresa Wright to sign for this film, the producers agreed to hire MGM's best-known costume designer Adrian to create her wardrobe. The main title credits read "Miss Wright's gowns by Adrian. Costumes by Vera West". (West was the head of Universal's costume department.)
Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 400 movies nominated for the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.
The portrait that hangs on the wall of Charlie's room to the right of her door is one drawn by Willy Pogany of actress Mary Philbin, who was a leading lady at Universal Pictures just twenty years before.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of this movie on January 3, 1944 with Teresa Wright reprising her role.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation of this movie on May 24, 1943 with Joseph Cotten reprising his role.
The film was included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
The Italian dubbing of this movie was made in Spain during World War II. Since no young Italian actors were available, the two youngest members of the Newton family ended up with very noticeable Spanish accents.
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
The area shown after the Pulaski Skyway is known as the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey, which has also been used for location shots in Wise Guys (1986) and War of the Worlds (2005).
The cast includes one Oscar winner (Teresa Wright) and four Oscar nominees (Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Hume Cronyn and Alfred Hitchcock).
"Academy Award Theater" broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation of this movie on September 11, 1946 with Joseph Cotten reprising his role.
Included among the American Film Institute's 2001 list of 400 movies nominated for the top 100 Most Heart-Pounding American Movies.
Uncle Charlie is connected to all three children (Young Charlie, Ann and Roger) in the family. Uncle Charlie is closest to Young Charlie. Like Ann, Uncle Charlie was always reading when he was young. Like Roger, Uncle Charlie is the youngest in the family.
(At around 5 mins) When "Spenser" leaves the boarding house, the number 13 on the front door may have some significance for the superstitious.
There are still other references to the number two. For instance just in the bar scene: the bar Uncle Charlie takes Charlie into is named 'TIL-TWO, on the double doors are two painted clocks showing the time as two to two, the waitress has worked there 2 weeks, Uncle Charlie orders two double brandies.
When this film was made in 1943 Santa Rosa, California was a small town with less than 20 thousand residents (12,605 in 1940 and 17,902 in 1950), since then it has grown to a fairly large city with 178,127 residents in 2020.
Although he is billed in the credits as playing the "Station Master", familiar character actor Irving Bacon evidently had his dialogue cut from the film, as he is visible only from the back, walking away from the camera in two long shots in the first train station scene.
Robert Quarry makes his film debut in an uncredited role as a teenager in what would be his only shared credit with Joseph Cotten. Three decades later, Cotten and Quarry would successively play the main rival to the Dr. Phibes character played by Vincent Price in the films The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), respectively.
Director Cameo
Alfred Hitchcock: On the train to Santa Rosa, California playing cards. He has the entire suit of spades in his hand, including the symbolic Ace. Being the director, he was "holding all the cards".
Spoilers
In an interview with François Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock said this was his favorite movie. Truffaut discussed with Hitchcock about the use of "two" in this movie: two Charlies (Uncle Charlie and Young Charlie), two scenes at the railway station (the arrival and departure of Uncle Charlie), two men on the run (one man in the east and Uncle Charlie in the west), two men on the run are killed (one by the plane and other by the train), two policemen, and the two visits of police into the house.
Alfred Hitchcock used the idea of "You destroy the thing you love" in this movie. In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich, Hitchcock mentioned the idea of "You destroy the thing you love" through Oscar Wilde. Young Charlie loved Uncle Charlie. But she ended up destroying him at the end of the movie. In an Interview with François Truffaut, Hitchcock mentioned that it is implied at the ending (Young Charlie with Jack Graham in front of church) that Young Charlie will be in love with her Uncle Charlie for the rest of her life.
Alfred Hitchcock puts lots of personal elements in this movie. For example, Hitchcock's middle name is Joseph. Young Charlie's father's name is "Joseph" Newton. Like Roger, Hitchcock was the third and youngest child in the family. Hitchcock's mother's name was Emma Hitchcock. Young Charlie's mother's name is Emma Newton. Uncle Charlie's bicycle accident in the movie happened to Hitchcock when he was young. Ann Newton reads the book "Ivanhoe" in the beginning of this movie. Hitchcock knew the story of Ivanhoe by heart when he was young. Young Charlie drives the car in the family. Hitchcock's wife Alma Reville loved driving. Like Hitchcock, Herbie Hawkins is obsessed about the subject of the murder, and he is also mother dominated.
This film is famous for being Hitchcock's vampire film, even though it only mentions Dracula once in passing. There are several obvious vampire and Dracula references: Vampires are often depicted attacking the neck -- so too would a strangler. The intentional black smoke cloud of the approaching train is a nod to Dracula's mist form. Uncle Charlie's obvious avoidance of being in direct sunlight, and he often flinches when he is in it. Uncle Charlie grabs Charlie by the chin and twists her face slightly to show her neck while claiming she is the most important thing in the world to him. The sparkling wine Uncle Charlie gives the family at dinner is specified to be red ('the red bottle,' 'brandy') suggests blood. The importance of the newspaper here echoes how Dracula is a story told through letters and news articles. At the party after Uncle Charlie has delivered his speech, the partygoers discuss how nice it is to have an American speaker instead of a foreigner -- Dracula's "foreign" status has always been an important part of the story (e.g., Bela Lugosi's accent). During the final struggle on the train, Uncle Charlie almost appears to be trying to bite Charlie's neck. The emerald ring becomes almost like a crucifix, a worn amulet to protect against harm. The wooden-step trap echoes a wooden stake. The carbon-monoxide trap echoes Dracula's ability to turn to mist or fog. Emma's rather random speech upon hearing Uncle Charlie say he will leave is delivered as though she is under a spell -- it echoes the performance by Helen Chandler as Mina under Dracula's spell. Uncle Charlie grabs Charlie by the wrists multiple times, a subtle reference to the veins there. There are multiple shots of Uncle Charlie catching himself making inappropriate motions with his hands (e.g., strangling the napkin) -- many movie vampires catch themselves reaching for victims with their hands. Uncle Charlie is shown putting flowers in his lapel button hole, and little Ann is always putting flowers behind her ear; these may be subtle references to flowers for the dead. Uncle Charlie's aversion to having his picture taken.
Little Roger Newton is played by child actor Charles Bates, whose name combines the first name and the last name of Alfred Hitchcock's two most famous serial killers: Charles Oakley from this film and Norman Bates from Psycho (1960).
