# The Alfred Hitchcock Film Festival: Shadow Of A Doubt **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027 "2003-12-09T22:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/1 "2003-12-09T22:24:24Z")
Hitchcock’s favorite film, this 1943 feature has Teresa Wright in a fairly typical role and Joseph Cotten in an interesting departure rom his normal persona. This movie is an excellent example of Hitchock’s high comedy in contrast with the suspense and violence on the surface of his films. As Young Charlie becomes more and more suspicious of her uncle, her family couldn’t seem to get any more mundane. The dinner sequence is an example: as Charlie becomes more and more uneasy about the family remembering the “Merry Widow” waltz, the father keeps blathering about murder. The visual component of the film has all of the typical Hitchcock touches, though the increaing shadow on the town did get a tad wearisome. This was only Hitch’s second outing with Joseph Valentine. The film does however sport one of the finest shots Hitchock ever composed. As the train rolls into town, billowing smoke from frame left, the young brother stands in a vast open station and stares innocently up as he is slowly covered in the shadow that this train both literally and figuratively brings to the town. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/2 "2003-12-09T23:10:58Z")
Haven’t seen it. Will not avoid it if it happens across my field of vision. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/3 "2003-12-10T00:36:46Z")
This is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, not least because I’m a major Joseph Cotten fan. I was reminded of it recently while watching _The Minus Man_, which, while very different from _Shadow of a Doubt_, was also about a charming and likable serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/4 "2003-12-10T00:40:59Z")
I’ll register my vote for this being one of my favorite Hitchcock films, too. I have it on video tape – it might be time to dust it off and watch it again (I’d certainly be better able to comment more specifically with a more recent viewing under my belt). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/5 "2003-12-10T00:56:27Z")
And, of course, the trademark stairway scene\*: Charlie coming down the stairway with the ring on her hand. In addition, Uncle Charlie tried to kill her by sawing a step on a stairway. \*Hitchcock often stages crucial scenes on stairways. I think I first made the connection with this film. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/6 "2003-12-10T01:42:23Z")
The stairs aren’t quite as nice as Notorious’ stairs, I’d say. The early chase through the city was excellent, however. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/7 "2003-12-10T12:52:37Z")
It’s the movie where the number two is a dominant visual theme. Just as a start: There are two Charleys, there are two cops chasing Uncle Charley, two trains at the finale, the cafe is called the “Two O’Clock Club”… Most scenes happen twice, like the two Charlies each on a bed at the opening. I’m having mind fog and don’t recollect others, but the number two echoes and re-echoes through that film. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/8 "2003-12-10T13:45:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > \*\*The stairs aren’t quite as nice as Notorious’ stairs, I’d say. \*\* True, but both take a back seat to **Frenzy** and especially **Psycho**. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-alfred-hitchcock-film-festival-shadow-of-a-doubt/218027/9 "2003-12-10T16:26:47Z")
They have a different function in those films, though,