Shadow of a Doubt

1943
PG
1h 48m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

73K

YOUR RATING

Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, and Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Play trailer1:23

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99+ Photos

Film Noir Drama Mystery Thriller

A teenage girl, overjoyed when her uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.A teenage girl, overjoyed when her uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.A teenage girl, overjoyed when her uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

73K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 3 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:23

Shadow of a Doubt

Photos130

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
In his interview with François Truffaut on "Shadow" (first published in 1967), Sir Alfred Hitchcock said the dense, black smoke belching from the train that brings Charles Oakley to Santa Rosa was a deliberate symbol of imminent evil.

Goofs
While Charlie watches the cab take her family to Uncle Charlie's speech, the shadows of crew members are visible against the bushes in the background.

Quotes
Uncle Charlie: The cities are full of women, middle-aged widows, husbands dead, husbands who've spent their lives making fortunes, working and working. And then they die and leave their money to their wives, their silly wives. And what do the wives do, these useless women? You see them in the hotels, the best hotels, every day by the thousands, drinking their money, eating their money, losing the money at bridge, playing all day and all night, smelling of money, proud of their jewelry but of nothing else, horrible, faded, fat, greedy women.
Young Charlie: But they're alive. They're human beings.
Uncle Charlie: Are they? Are they, Charlie? Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals, hmm? And what happens to animals when they get too fat and too old?

Connections
Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

Soundtracks
The Merry Widow Waltz
(1905) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Lehár
In the score throughout the movie

User reviews336

Featured review

9/10

Hitchcock does it again

In one of his most chilling and memorable intrigues Alfred Hitchcock lays bare the myth of small town virtue with a perverse piece of Americana about a wholesome family unaware of the gruesome skeleton lurking in its closet. The arrival of everyone's much loved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton, in his favorite role) is the catalyst to disaster, with eldest daughter Charlie in particular welcoming the arrival of her affectionate namesake as a relief from the humdrum routine of suburban life. But evidence soon begins to suggest the elder Charles might actually be a cold-blooded serial killer, and a lethal game of charades begins between uncle and niece: she knows the truth, and he knows that she knows the truth. The tension builds to an alarming climax, in a trademark sequence (another one for the Hitchcock highlight reel) showing the Master of Suspense at the top of his form. The film was shot in sunny Santa Rosa, California, where the shadows are darker because the sunlight is so much brighter.