Joseph Cotten is both the killer and the idyllic mask of a smalltown man he wears, and it's in his performance as Uncle Charlie that the film gains traction and, soon, nail-biting momentum. I'd wager most of you have never even heard of Hitchcock's second Universal picture, much less sampled its still-unnerving portrait of a monster hiding in plain sight. Even with seventy years of gray in its wiry beard, Shadow of a Doubt remains one of the droll director's best an undisputed masterpiece that has sadly, tragically fallen into obscurity. Such bloodthirsty roles didn't garner much Academy respect, attract the attention of Hollywood stars or warrant their own television shows, much less fill audiences with anything more complex than dread. Serial killers weren't exactly the stuff of screen legend in 1943. Be it drama, horror or comedy, psychological stunner, monster movie or international spy thriller, is it any mystery that filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was known as the Master of Suspense? Is it any wonder his movies still hold hypnotic sway over filmfans all these years later?Ī young woman comes to suspect her beloved uncle may be something else entirely. A fake psychic tries to squirm out of a thief's vice-like grip as he pushes a syringe closer and closer. A serial killer retrieves his pin from a woman's grasp, one dead finger at a time. A purple dress billows out beneath a dying woman like spilled blood. A physicist discovers killing a man isn't as easy as it might seem, wrestling with his victim right up until the violent end. A husband barges into his new wife's bedroom and has his way with her as she retreats into a near-catatonic state. Countless birds gather on a jungle gym as a woman smokes a cigarette nearby. The hiss of a shower masks the approach of a madman with a knife in his hand. An airplane buzzes then roars past as a man dives for cover.

An assassin's gun slides out from behind a curtain as an ordinary man races to thwart his plot. Four people work to keep the demise of a fellow smalltown resident a secret from a local deputy. A woman searches for clues in a suspected murderer's apartment just as the man returns home. A housemaster slowly, oh so slowly, pieces together the heinous crime perpetrated by two former students. A wolf in sheep's clothing allows the beast lurking within to bear its teeth. Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, October 31, 2012Ī man confronts his accuser atop the Statue of Liberty, where one false move will spell death.

'Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals?'

Movie shadow of a doubt cast