shadow of a doubt beginning scene film techniques

You can always tell what the former is thinking, and it's impossible to fully understand the latter, as his movie star charm contradicts the implied desperation of the conflict. Fontaine shines brightly (delivering the only Oscar-winning performance in a Hitchcock film), while she and Grant each add layers of complexity to their characters. One of Hitchcock's many paranoid thrillers, Suspicion examines the struggle of a woman ( Joan Fontaine) who suspects her husband (Cary Grant) of horrific crimes.

Though, the fact that Hitchcock considered Shadow of a Doubt to be his favorite of his many films counts for something, landing this entry in the top 30, respectively, though not enough to crack the top 25. Instead, Hitchcock frames him as a slimy monster nearly every second he's on screen, so there's very little room for ambiguity. The film wants to operate in shades of gray, but its second lead seems transparently evil in every one of his scenes, including the ones where he's supposed to be playful and charming with his younger relatives.Ī more thoughtful, intriguingly tense movie would make Cotten's character genuinely likable and charismatic when he's not showing his villainous hand to complicate our feelings toward him, in the same way that the attitude of the protagonist ( Teresa Wright) is supposedly complicated. It's an uncomfortable sequence that's as poorly constructed as it is offensive, and it completely knocks the wind out of an otherwise enjoyable film.īuilt around an excellent premise - suspecting your favorite family member of unspeakable crimes - Shadow of a Doubt stumbles on the path to reaching its full potential due to spotty pacing and a subpar performance from Joseph Cotten. It's all fun and games until the finale, which hinges on one of the worst scenes of Hitchcock's career: We, the audience, identify a suspect as the camera slowly zooms in on him while he plays the drums in blackface. The pair reluctantly goes on the run from De Marney's murder charge together, but as they come across the family and friends of Pilbeam's character, the duo plays it as if they're lovers trying to balance their personal happiness with her loved ones' expectations. Despite being relatively underwritten, their romantic dynamic crackles as the two easily find the comedy in every scenario without undermining the dramatic tension. One of Hitchcock's lighter thrillers, Young and Innocent is a straightforward wrong-man film elevated by the chemistry of its leads, Derrick De Marney as fugitive and Nova Pilbeam as a young woman roped into his antics.

Shadow of a doubt beginning scene film techniques