Shadow of Hesitation is a 1943 American psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story for Gordon McDonell. In 1991, the film was selected for preservation at the National Film Registry of the United States by the Library of Congress, considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically."
Video Shadow of a Doubt
Plot
Charlie Newton is a bored teenage girl living in the beautiful city of Santa Rosa, California. She received the good news: Her mother's brother (her name), Charles Oakley, is coming to visit. Two men appeared, supposedly working on a national survey. One took a picture of Uncle Charlie, who demanded a roll of film, because "nobody took my picture." The younger surveyor, Jack Graham, asks the young Charlie to come out, and he guesses that he's really a detective. He explained that his uncle was one of two possible suspects "Merry Widow Murderer". Charlie refused to believe in the beginning, but then watched Uncle Charlie behave strangely, especially with certain news clippings from his father's newspaper. The initials engraved in the ring he gave match one of the murdered women, and during the family dinner he expressed his hatred for rich widows.
One night, when Charlie's father and his friend, Herbie, discussed how to do the perfect murder, Uncle Charlie let his guard down and portrayed the old widows as "fat and wheezing animals"; he then said, "What happens to animals when they become too fat and too old?" Horrified, Charlie's gone. Uncle Charlie followed and took him to a shabby bar. He admits he is one of two suspects. He begged for his help; he reluctantly agrees not to say anything, as long as he leaves immediately, to avoid the dreadful confrontation that will destroy his mother, who idolizes his younger brother. Detective Saunders told Charlie that the photo they had taken from Uncle Charlie was sent for identification by witnesses. Breaking news that alternative suspects were chased by police and killed by aircraft propellers; it is assumed that he is the killer. Jack tells Charlie the young that he loves him and wants to marry her, and leaves.
Uncle Charlie likes to be released, but young Charlie knows all his secrets. Immediately, he fell to the dangerous steep stairs that were cut off. Uncle Charlie says he wants to settle down, and young Charlie says he'll kill him if he stays. That night, she was trapped in the garage by car spewing out the exhaust fumes, and almost died.
Uncle Charlie announced he was leaving for San Francisco, with a wealthy widow, Ny. Potter. Young Charlie took the train with his sister Ann and their brother to see Uncle Charlie's compartment. As the children got off, Uncle Charlie held Charlie's niece on the train, hoping to kill him by pushing him out after it added speed. However, in the ensuing struggle, he fell in front of an oncoming train. At his funeral, Uncle Charlie is respected by the townspeople. Jack has returned, and Charlie confesses that he's hiding important information. They decided to keep Uncle Charlie's secrets a secret.
Maps Shadow of a Doubt
Cast
- Teresa Wright as Charlotte "Charlie" Newton, a precocious teenager who initially idolized his loving uncle.
- Joseph Cotten as Charles "Uncle Charlie" Oakley
- Henry Travers as Joseph Newton, Young Charlie's father, who likes to read crime stories.
- Patricia Collinge as Emma Newton, Young Charlie's mother and Uncle Charlie's sister.
- Macdonald Carey as Jack Graham's Detective
- Wallace Ford as Detective Fred Saunders
- Hume Cronyn as Herbie Hawkins, a fictional fan of neighbors and criminals. He discussed the ideas for the perfect murder with Charlie's father
- Edna May Wonacott as Ann Newton
- Charles Bates as Roger Newton
- Irving Bacon as Station Master
- Clarence Muse as Pullman Porter
- Janet Shaw as Louise
- Estelle Jewell as Catherine
Hitchcock's cameo
Alfred Hitchcock appeared about 16 minutes into the movie, on the train to Santa Rosa, playing bridge with a man and a woman (Dr. and Mrs. Harry). Charlie traveled by train under the assumed name of Otis. Harry's mother (Sarah Edwards) is eager to help Otis, who feigns illness to avoid meeting other passengers, but Dr. Harry (Edward Fielding) is not interested and continues to play bridge. Dr. Harry answers to Hitchcock that he does not look healthy while Hitchcock holds a full shovel, the best hand to bridge.
Production
The project started when the head of the department of David Selznick's story, Margaret McDonell, told Hitchcock that her husband Gordon had an interesting idea for a novel that he thought would be a good movie. The idea, called "Uncle Charlie," is based on the true story of Earle Leonard Nelson, a mass murderer of the 1920s known as the "Gorilla Man".
Shadow of a Doubt was filmed and placed in Santa Rosa, California, portrayed as a paragon of a small, peaceful, pre-war America town. Since Thornton Wilder wrote the original script, the story is set in a small town in America, a popular place for Wilder, but with the addition of a Hitchcock touch. In Hitchcock's biography by Patrick McGilligan, he said the film was probably the most American film Hitchcock made at the time.
The opening scene takes place in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey. City horizons and landmarks such as Pulaski Skyway are featured in the opening image. Location shots are used to avoid War Production Productions restrictions in wartime with a maximum cost of $ 5000 for a designated construction.
The Newton family house is located at 904 McDonald Avenue in Santa Rosa, still standing. The rock railway station in the film was built in 1904 for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and is one of several commercial buildings in the center of Santa Rosa to survive the April 18, 1906 earthquake. The station is currently a visitor center. Some of the buildings in the center of Santa Rosa seen in the film were damaged or destroyed by an earthquake in 1969; most of the area was cleared of debris and largely rebuilt. The Library is a Carnegie Library that was destroyed in the mid-1960s because of seismic concerns.
The film is printed by Dimitri Tiomkin, his first collaboration with Hitchcock (the other is Stranger on the Train , I Confess and Contact M for Murder ). In the scores, Tiomkin quotes the famous word Merry Widow Waltz from Franz LehÃÆ'¡r, often in a somewhat distorted form, as the main motive for Uncle Charlie and his casual killing. During the credit opening, the waltz theme was heard along with the prolonged shooting of the dancing couple.
Reception
Upon release, the film received positive reviews unanimously. Bosley Crowther, a critic for The New York Times, likes the film, stating that "Hitchcock can raise more goose acne to square-inch customer meat than any Hollywood director". Time magazine calls the movie "extraordinary" while Variety states that "Hitchcock deftly carries the character of a small town and a comfortable environment".
In a 1964 Interview on Telescope with Fletcher Markle's host Markle noted, "Mr. Hitchcock, most critics have always considered the Shadow of a Doubt, which you created in 1943, as the best movie. "Hitchcock immediately replied," Me too. " Markle then asked, "What do you think of that still?" Hitchcock replied, "Oh, no question." At that time, Hitchcock's latest work was Marnie . When later interviewed by FranÃÆ'§ois Truffaut, Hitchcock rejected the suggestion that Shadow of a Doubt was his "favorite". But in an audio interview with Truffaut, Hitchcock confirmed it was his favorite movie, and later confirmed that Shadow of a Doubt was his favorite film in an interview with Mike Douglas in 1969 and in an interview with Dick Cavett in 1972. Alfred Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hitchcock also said that her father's favorite movie is Shadow of a Doubt in the documentary "Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film".
Today, the film is still considered the main work of Hitchcock. Contemporary critic Dave Kehr calls it "Hitchcock's first undeniable work". Many other critics agree. Based on 30 reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has earned 100%, with the "classic first-class consensus of Alfred Hitchcock - and his own personal favorite - offering a thrilling sensation of his flesh like a shining character". When asked by critics about the overall theme for the film Hitchcock replied: "Good love and good order is not a defense against evil". In his book Bambi vs. Godzilla , David Mamet calls it the best Hitchcock movie.
Adaptations and remakes
Radio
The film was adapted for Cecil B. DeMille's Lux Radio Theater which aired on January 3, 1944 with original main characters Teresa Wright and William Powell as Uncle Charlie (Patrick McGilligan said Hitchcock originally wanted Powell to play Uncle Charlie, but MGM refused to lend actors to movies.). In 1950, Shadow of a Doubt was shown as a radio drama in the Playhouse Screen Director . It stars Cary Grant as Uncle Charlie and Betsy Drake as young Charlie. It was also adapted to Ford Theater (February 18, 1949). The Screen Guild Theater adapted the film twice with Joseph Cotten, the first with Vanessa Brown as young Charlie, and the second with Deanna Durbin in the role. The Academy Award Theater production Shadow of a Doubt was broadcast on September 11, 1946.
Movies
The film has been re-created twice: in 1958 as the Step Down to Terror , and again (under its original title) as a 1991 TV movie in which Mark Harmon portrays Uncle Charlie.
Shadow of a Doubt became the inspiration for the movie Park Chan-wook 2013 Stoker .
See also
- List of movies with 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, movie review review website
References
External links
- Shadow of a Doubt in the American Film Movie Catalog
- Shadow of a Doubt on IMDb
- Shadow of a Doubt in the TCM Movie Database
- Shadow of Doubt at Rotten Tomatoes
- Audio stream
- Shadow of a Doubt at Screen Guild Theater: May 24, 1943
- Shadow of Doubt at Lux Radio Theater: January 3, 1944
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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