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That's what good ole' Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) tells her beloved niece, also called Charlie (Teresa Wright) during a climatic conversation in this powerful Hitchcock thriller. You see, Uncle Charlie has long been "awake" and seen the world, while Young Charlie is about to wake up and discover what the world is like.
Shadow of a Doubt follows the relationship between both relatives as Uncle Charlie visits his sister in the "ordinary" small town of Santa Rosa, California. His intention is to lay low after realizing that some men are after him. But the visit puts a strain in the previously idyllic relationship as Young Charlie starts suspecting something's wrong with her uncle. Is it all a dream, or was it a dream before?
Like Foreign Correspondent, this is my second watch of this excellent thriller. But this rewatch managed to sneak into my Hitchcock Top 5, pushing FC out. The way that Hitchcock builds the suspense and intrigue in this film is masterful, as you find yourself in Young Charlie's shoes trying to figure out what's going on, what's a dream and what's not.
The way we see this wonderful and beautiful relationship deteriorate under the weight of suspicion and mistrust is flawless; and it's on the script, but it's also on Wright and Cotten's excellent performances. It's a pity that the script feels the need to squeeze an unnecessary love relationship between Young Charlie and a persistent detective, but hey, that's a common occurrence in the Hollywood of yesterday.
Other than that, I found Hitchcock's exploration of small town America to be spot on. How the smallest of suspicions can absolutely disrupt that utopia. The paranoia of things we can't understand, or we don't want to understand, because we want to stay in that dream. Blind.
Grade:
SHADOW OF A DOUBT
(1943, Hitchcock)
Freebie
(1943, Hitchcock)
Freebie
"You live in a dream. You're a sleepwalker, blind. How do you know what the world is like?"
That's what good ole' Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) tells her beloved niece, also called Charlie (Teresa Wright) during a climatic conversation in this powerful Hitchcock thriller. You see, Uncle Charlie has long been "awake" and seen the world, while Young Charlie is about to wake up and discover what the world is like.
Shadow of a Doubt follows the relationship between both relatives as Uncle Charlie visits his sister in the "ordinary" small town of Santa Rosa, California. His intention is to lay low after realizing that some men are after him. But the visit puts a strain in the previously idyllic relationship as Young Charlie starts suspecting something's wrong with her uncle. Is it all a dream, or was it a dream before?
Like Foreign Correspondent, this is my second watch of this excellent thriller. But this rewatch managed to sneak into my Hitchcock Top 5, pushing FC out. The way that Hitchcock builds the suspense and intrigue in this film is masterful, as you find yourself in Young Charlie's shoes trying to figure out what's going on, what's a dream and what's not.
The way we see this wonderful and beautiful relationship deteriorate under the weight of suspicion and mistrust is flawless; and it's on the script, but it's also on Wright and Cotten's excellent performances. It's a pity that the script feels the need to squeeze an unnecessary love relationship between Young Charlie and a persistent detective, but hey, that's a common occurrence in the Hollywood of yesterday.
Other than that, I found Hitchcock's exploration of small town America to be spot on. How the smallest of suspicions can absolutely disrupt that utopia. The paranoia of things we can't understand, or we don't want to understand, because we want to stay in that dream. Blind.
Grade: