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> Shadow of a Doubt |
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Staring:
Teresa Wright,
Joseph Cotton,
Macdonald Carey,
Patricia Collinge,
Henry Travers
Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $11.86
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Universal Studios
EAN: 0025192831324
Format: Black & White, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-02-07
Running Time: 108
Studio: Universal Studios |
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Product Description
Charming uncle Charlie travels from Philadelphia to Santa Rosa, Calif. to visit his sister's family. His namesake niece soon suspects him of being the
Amazon.com essential video
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbor (Hume Cronyn). Charlie was named after her favorite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) gets along famously with his admiring niece. But the film's chilling prologue has already revealed Uncle Charlie's true identity as the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, and the suspense grows almost unbearable when young Charlie's trust gives way to gradual dread and suspicion. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbor (Hume Cronyn). Charlie was named after her favorite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) gets along famously with his admiring niece. But the film's chilling prologue has already revealed Uncle Charlie's true identity as the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, and the suspense grows almost unbearable when young Charlie's trust gives way to gradual dread and suspicion. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style. --Jeff Shannon
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 A lesser-known Hitchcock classic, 2010-03-16
Charles Oakley (Joseph Cotten) is being followed by a couple of mysterious men so he decides to visit his sister's family out west in Santa Rosa, California. His niece Charlotte Newton (Teresa Wright), who was named after "Uncle Charlie," is especially happy about his visit. But a couple of journalists who've picked the Newton family for a survey of the "average American family" seem to make Uncle Charlie nervous. One of them reveals to "young Charlie" that they're actually detectives who suspect her uncle of being a notorious serial killer called the "Merry Widow Murderer." Uncle Charlie's strange behavior makes young Charlie suspicious as well.
Nominated for an Academy Award in 1943, "Shadow of a Doubt" is considered to be one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest films (he often said it was his favorite among his American films). According to Patrick McGilligan's biography Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light this is what Hitchcock called a "run for cover" film, similar to his later "North by Northwest," one of my favorites. The initial script was written by Thornton Wilder who wrote Our Town, lending not only an "American" flavor to the film but also a touch of morbidity (Hitchcock's scripts always went through multiple rewrites, almost always by him and his wife, Alma Revile).
I've been trying to gradually watch all of Hitchcock's movies and I'm always impressed by how skillfully he creates and heightens suspense through the story, sometimes while providing subtle humor at the same time; young Charlie's father (Henry Travers, who later played Clarence in "It's a Wonderful Life") share's a keen interest in crime stories with a neighbor, Herbie (Hume Cronyn in his debut), and the two constantly discuss ways to commit the perfect crime, often in front of Uncle Charlie.
Shadow of a Doubt DVD, 2010-03-15
It's old, black and white and great. Joseph Cotten is excellent in this Hitchcock classic. As you find out . . . things are not always what they appear.
Although the dialog many times seems dated, the suspense is still there and Cotten puts in a wonderful performance as Uncle Charlie, the lovable uncle who may be a very sinister character. My understanding is that this was Hitchcocks personal favorite movie.
For this DVD, the picture quality is excellent, possibly because it is black and white. There is an informative but short featurette that details the filming of the movie and not much else.
"Shadow of a Doubt" Weak Hitchcock, 2010-04-11
Alfred Hitchcock said that this was his favorite among his films but, after having seen it for the third or fourth time, I still cannot see why. Hitchcock often stated in interviews that his greatest enjoyment in making films was the working out of the details beforehand and that he often wished he didn't have to actually make the picture. This film and some of his others, particularly in the writing and acting departments, clearly demonstrate that.
Joseph Cotten's performance as "Uncle Charlie" is wooden and even the dinner conversation about the fat widows "eating the money and drinking the money" of their dead husbands lacks conviction. Patricia Collinge, superb in "The Little Foxes" of 1941, is merely annoying here given the inane lines she is burdened with. Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn "humorously" and endlessly discussing different types of murder is silly. Worst of all are the fatal performances of the two child actors portraying Teresa Wright's younger sister and brother who manage to drag down every scene they appear in. All these are things Mr. Hitchcock should not have allowed to get away from him, especially when one considers the excellence of earlier pictures such as "Rebecca" and "Foreign Correspondent".
The scenes involving the missing newspaper page, Teresa Wright's race to get to the library before it closes and her close call with asphyxiation, all intended to generate great suspense, tend to fall flat. This picture betrays the same weaknesses as "Saboteur", made the year before for the same studio. The same weaknesses in acting and writing also show up, but to a lesser extent, in "Spellbound", "Rope", "I Confess" and "Stage Fright" the last of which is saved only by the droll performance of Alastair Sim.
Alfred Hitchcock really comes into his own in the early 1950's beginning with "Strangers on a Train" (1951) and ending with "The Birds" (1961) -- films which comprise a body of work that has deservedly won praise from movie-lovers throughout the world.
Never gift engraved hot jewelry!, 2010-03-28
Hitchcock's favorite Hitchcock according to Hitchcock. Over-the-top performances by Teresa Wright (on a loss-of-innocence journey) and Joseph Cotton (on the run as a serial killer who is also a close family relative). There is a play-off between melodrama and suspense that just keeps building. Up to the last few reels, doubt lingers as to who really is the serial killer (the script could go in at least two directions). Film score by Dimitri Tiomkin is a knockout underlining and amplifying the unrelenting tension. Hitchcock experimented with overlapping and simultaneous dialog to good (often amusing) effect. There are a few plot discrepancies (such as an apparently free telegram service and detectives who prefer to do just about anything except make an arrest); Hitchcock's continuing fixation on trains (coming and going); and an exaggerated, station-platform shadow "cast" by an arriving train (carrying Cotton's character into the small town where Wright's character and her family live). Film restoration is outstanding. So are the extras.
A white-knuckle ride from beginning to end!
WILLIAM FLANIGAN, Ph.D.
Great., 2010-04-14
Bought this dvd for my sister, and she loves it
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