"We're not just an uncle and a niece. It's something else"
After watching Psycho for
the first time last month and being completely blown away by its brilliance I
thought that if I’m going to call myself cineliterate then I need to be
watching more of Alfred Hitchcock’s work. While browsing my LoveFilm streaming
account I came across Shadow of a Doubt from
1943 and gave it a go. Unsurprisingly it’s very good.
Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton (Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver) is a teenager, just graduated from High School living
in the small idyllic town of Santa Rosa, California with her
mother (Patricia Collinge), father (Henry Travers - It’s a Wonderful Life) and younger siblings (Edna May Wonacott
& Charles Bates). Charlie is fed up with the mundane nature of her small
town life and complains that nothing ever happens to her. Soon after she
receives the wonderful news that her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten – Citizen Cane), whom she is named after,
will be coming to stay. His visit comes shortly after he is seen hiding out in
his Newark boarding house room, spying two men from across the street. Young
Charlie is initially delighted by the arrival of her Uncle but she begins to
suspect that all is not well with him around.
