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Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge ... see more see more... , Wallace Ford , Hume Cronyn , Edna May Wonacott , Charley Bates , Irving Bacon , Clarence Muse , Janet Shaw , Estelle Jewell , Virginia Brissac , Frances Carson , Sarah Edwards , Edward Fielding , Vaughan Glaser , Ruth Lee , Eily Malyon , John McGuire , Shirley Mills , Constance Purdy , Isabel Randolph , Grandon Rhodes , Edwin Stanley , Minerva Urecal , Earle Dewey , Byron Shores

Teresa Wright plays Charlie, a small-town high-schooler who enjoys a symbiotic relationship with her favorite uncle, also named Charlie (Joseph Cotten). When young Charlie "wills" that old Charlie pay... read more read more... a visit to her family, her wish comes true. Uncle Charlie is his usual charming self, but he seems a bit secretive and reserved at times. Too, his manner of speaking is curiously unsettling, especially when he brings up the subject of rich widows, whom he characterizes as "swine." When a pair of detectives (MacDonald Carey and Wallace Ford), posing as magazine writers, arrive in town and begin asking questions about Uncle Charlie, young Charlie's curiosity is aroused. Why, for example, has Uncle Charlie torn an article out of the evening newspaper? Rushing to the library, Young Charlie locates the missing item: the headline screams WHO IS THE MERRY WIDOW MURDERER? As the horrified Charlie reads on, the conclusion is inescapable: her beloved Uncle Charlie is a mass murderer, preying upon wealthy old women. And what happens next? Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville (Mrs. Hitchcock) based their screenplay on a story by Gordon McDowell, who in turn was inspired by real-life "Merry Widow Murderer" Earle Leonard Nelson. The casting, from stars to bit players, is impeccable; the best of the batch is Hume Cronyn, making his film debut as a wimpy murder-mystery aficionado. Lensed on location in Santa Rosa, California, The Shadow of a Doubt wasAlfred Hitchcock's favorite film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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PG, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Release Date: January 12, 1943

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DVD Release Date: March 6, 2001

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Stats: 1,157 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,157)

  • fb1664868775
    November 13, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Hitchcock's first masterpiece is an amazing character study and features my favorite performance from the great Joseph Cotton. A must see.
  • cosmo313
    November 1, 2011
    cosmo313
    This is the story of a girl named Charlie who is rather fond of her uncle, whom she is named after. One day Uncle Charlie comes from the east coast out to Santa Rosa, California to visit Young Charlie and the rest of the family for a while. Things start off well enough, but then ... read moreUncle Charlie begins to act as if he's got dark secrets to hide, something made more curious due to his increasingly odd behavior and the activities of some men desperate to talk to him.

    Filmed in beautiful black and white with some great lighting and camera work, this is a top notch psychological suspense thriller filled with great mood and wonderfully established tension and suspense that keeps rising and rising until a fine and thrilling climax. Hitchcock gives his usual masterful direction, and Dimitri Tiomkin provides an excellent musical score.

    The real highlight though, are the performances, especially the two show stopping ones from Joseph Cotten as Uncle Charlie, and Teresa Wright as Young Charlie. They have some wonderful tense cat and mouse moments with one another, and it is just a joy to watch Wright as she tries to unravel the mystery, and an even bigger delight to watch Cotten shift from sly, playful, and charming one minute to creepy, suspicious, and menacing the next.

    This is a real gem and a wonderful picture. My only real gripe are the performances from the two little kids. They're annoying, loud, and obnoxious. On the plus side though, the little girl reminded me a lot of young Abigail Breslin (young as in her early roles). You should really give this a watch. It's some great stuff.
  • stevenecarrier
    June 30, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    Alfred Hitchcock and I wouldn't have gotten along. He claimed that "Shadow of a Doubt" was his favorite film and it's my least favorite of his. He claimed that Jimmy Stewart ruined "Vertigo" and he ended up hating the film and never speaking to the actor again, I on the other han... read mored think it's his crowing achievement and a fantastic Stewart performance. For me, "Shadow of a Doubt" is just to disparate for me to embrace. While each of the elements seem interesting on their own, none of it congeals. The film has no back story, you are supposed to be caring for Charlie (or at least that's what the overwrought score seems to convey). How can we care for this main character (and Young Charlie) if we don't know anything about them. We know she is good and he is bad, but WHY? How can we possibly love a character when we know so little about their decision making process? To me, this is lazy filmmaking. The film tries to be thrilling, funny, dark, romantic and fails every step of the way due to the lack of characterization. All we end up with is a film that will only scare the naive morons of Middle America... (which is what the film is about, so maybe it works?... nahhh)
  • spielberg00
    June 24, 2011
    spielberg00
    One of the best, most suspenseful Hitchcock films ever made!
  • jennifxu
    April 29, 2011
    jennifxu
    I love it when Hitchcock gets perverse. And there's nothing more perverse than a niece lustin' after her uncle, and he lustin' for her right back.
  • SirPant
    January 13, 2011
    SirPant
    Shadow of a Doubt is a masterclass in film direction. Hitchcock's use of light and shadow and the compositions of his shots make this film a contender as one of his best from a technical point of view. As for the film itself, the acting from the two leads, Joseph Cotten and Teres... read morea Wright are spot on, it's a wonder why neither actor worked with Hitchcock more (apart from the 'Hitchcock presents' stints they both did). It's not my favourite of his but it's up there, apparently it was his favourite though, it certainly brought him stateside recognition and is a brilliant incite as to what was to come. Brilliant.
  • webalina
    December 6, 2010
    webalina
    Hmm...I heard so much good about this film. And now that I've seen it, I wonder why. I found it kinda dull. A young woman named Charlie gets a visit from her mom's beloved younger brother, and Charlie's favorite uncle, also named Charlie. But slowly she discovers secrets about he... read morer uncle that could threaten her life if the secrets were exposed. Sounds interesting enough, but I didn't find myself particularly engrossed in it (this is the 4th time I've tried to watch it, and only the first time I made it all the way through), I kept waiting for a big climax or reveal that never came, and I would have completely changed the ending. An OK film, but not nearly up to par with my fave Hitckcock films -- Rear Window, Rebecca and The 39 Steps.

    UPDATE -- This film seems to be growing on me. I think Joseph Cotten's performance as the seemingly endearing but actually creepy uncle is what keeps me coming back.
  • garyX
    November 1, 2010
    garyX
    A young woman is elated when her favourite uncle comes to stay with her family but becomes increasingly suspicious that he is in fact the "merry widow murderer". An early work from Alfred Hitchcock, Shadow Of A Doubt contains many of the themes that would reoccur in his work. It'... read mores almost an attack on the idea of the concept of the "blood is thicker than water" family unit and another example of Hitch's enemy within stories as the seemingly innocuous Joseph Cotten is revealed to have a dark secret. There are some great examples of Hitchcock's genius contained within the story, particularly some beautifully framed shots and his use of light and shadow, and he toys with the audience as he places us in Charlie's position as Cotten's facade slips. The highlight for me was his rancorously misogynistic tirade at the dinner table accompanied by an incredibly sinister look straight into camera. Hume Cronyn and Henry Travers also bring some wonderfully black comic relief so all the ingredients are there for another classic. Unfortunately I found the pacing rather off; the first half of the film is actually really rather dull, with nothing happening but family bliss and the bland detectives on the case are almost treated as an afterthought leaving a "hero" figure glaringly absent; Teresa Wright is appealing but too helpless and victim-like to be a strong protagonist. The second half of the film certainly makes up for the dull first, but Hitchcock covered similar ground with the superior Suspicion. Anyone looking for a film to play drinking games to should also check this out; a shot every time someone says "Charlie" would flatten a concrete elephant...
  • ajv2688
    October 23, 2010
    ajv2688
    Hitchcock's 1940s movies are really the best. If you love his movies, you can't miss this one.
  • guaybanex
    August 29, 2010
    guaybanex
    A cerebral cat-and-mouse game that crackles with suspense and tension. One of Hitchcock's brainiest ... and often overlooked.

    "Shadow" is not a murder-mystery, but is a granddaddy of the psychological thriller genre. The murders have happened and there's no doubt as to who... read more committed them - celebrated favorite uncle and brother Charlie. When he comes to visit none is more excited to see him than his admiring niece "Charlie" who's fawning and admiring begins to melt away as she begins to suspect her uncle of horrific crimes.

    Hitchcock is less interested in catching the killer and more interested in exploring the reaction and actions of a loved one when they discover a dark secret. And as the stakes get higher, the actions get even more dire.

    Academy Award winner Teresa Wright (for Mrs Miniver) is luminous and Orson Welles mainstay Joseph Cotten is perfect.

    There's no doubt why "Shadow" was one of Hitchcock's favorites.

View All Shadow of a Doubt Reviews

Critic Reviews

April 24, 2009
TIME Magazine

A superb film. Full Review

Dave Kehr
April 24, 2009
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Alfred Hitchcock's first indisputable masterpiece. Full Review

Variety Staff
June 10, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Hitchcock deftly etches his small-town characters and homey surroundings. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

You've got to hand it to Alfred Hitchcock: when he sows the fearful seeds of mistrust in one of his motion pictures he can raise more goose pimples to the square inch of a customer's flesh than any ot... Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
May 16, 2008
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

The suspense builds effortlessly throughout. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
December 3, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

The collaboration between Thornton Wilder and Hitchcock proves to be extremely fertile for it allows both American writer and British director to dissect small-town life way beyond the former's Our Town. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

One of Hitchcock's finest films of the '40s. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
February 17, 2006
Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine

Like Lynch's fever-dream of transcendental perversity Blue Velvet, Shadow of a Doubt is about awakening, the simultaneous darkening and enlarging of the world. Full Review

Dan Lybarger
August 2, 2005
Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online

Hitch's personal favorite and certainly one of his best.

Steve Crum
June 8, 2005
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

First rate Hitchcock thriller with deceptive Cotten, innocent but sharp Wright.

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