Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

roboticman What if the person who you looked up to, the person who you loved most, the person who you trusted and could go to when you're in trouble...What if that person wasn't who they seemed to be? That is what Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 suspense thriller Shadow of a Doubt does so beautifully.In the quiet innocent town of Santa Rosa, California, terror is about to enter in the form of a man named Charlie. He is visiting his sister for a while. She has a daughter that is named after Charlie. Young Charlie looks up to Uncle Charlie as a father figure, someone she loves and who loves her too. But she soon realizes that Uncle Charlie might be on the run from some cops.Hitchcock is widely regarded as the master of suspense which he rightly deserves. There definitely is suspense in this movie but he doesn't use it as much like in Rope or Strangers on a Train where the suspense is built around the movie, this movie focuses on the fear of a person who you know is guilty of a crime but you keep refusing that it's true.Joseph Cotten, who is more well known for Orson Welles' movies like Citizen Kane or The Third Man, masterfully plays Uncle Charlie. It's very similar to the performance of Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter or Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs: he's a person who comes around as a complete gentleman, but as you get to know him, he could lash out at you to complete his goal, no matter what. Just the way he talks or how clenches his fists together as he's talking to you is only something Hitchcock can do perfectly.The town is also a perfect setting too. This takes place and was filmed in Santa Rosa, California, my home town. It's kind of cool that one of the most acclaimed directors of all time filmed one of his best movies in a place where I've lived my whole life. Santa Rosa is also the perfect town too, the perfect town where everyone is happy and the landscape is beautiful, unknown of the terror that'll take place.The other actors are also pretty good, but the guy that puts the most effort is Joseph Cotten.Alfred Hitchcock put a lot of effort into the movie and it shows. This is a movie that is the definitive Hitchcock movie. And it just so happened to be, his personal favorite.

glstrom-14260 I love that TCM celebrated the genius that is Alfred Hitchcock, and had heard so many great things about this (including that it was his favorite). I thought the acting and cinematography was fantastic but the credibility of the plot and ensuing relationships really were challenged throughout the film. Wonder how they knew who to follow if they don't know what he looks like (no artists sketch even). The gushing about great uncle Charlie by his namesake, so bored with ho hum life then sharing intimate moments that lovers would have, especially when in kitchen receiving her ring. I get that she likes the guy but body language not typical niece uncle fare. So then the so called interviewers show up, old dudes somehow being ogled by her teenage friends, and next thing you know the guy is in love with her, what??? How old is she, 18? So they get a photo we never see, convenient conversations get him off the hook and now he is speaking for some tux worthy woman's club for what?? Never mind, have a finger sandwich . How many times do you have to be grabbed violently to only go back to walking along the street with suspected serial killer like nothing happened? Found the ring pretty quickly too though we never see where it was hidden (for a guy on the lam wasn't too careful, busy choking napkins and spouting off about uselessness of widows)$40,000 does not fit in your wallet or amount to a stack 1/2 high by the way in case you're wondering about credulity, Blaring orchestral violin music worthy of chase scene as we ascend the porch in to the house? Save some of that drama for the train or something worthy of suspense, and why would the song the were all humming have any indication that he choked some musician widow back east? Certainly had its' moments but as a complete psychological thriller I will take Gaslight any day. Bonus because Joseph Cotten is in that one too

dougdoepke After 200+ reviews, there's not much left to say. Generally speaking, Hitch was not known as an actor's director, even calling them "cattle" on one occasion. Yet here in Shadow are two of the most impressive turns in the director's legendary canon. Wright's small town girl must go from wide-eyed innocence to suppressed dark suspicion as she suspects more and more about her treasured uncle. As niece Charlie, it's her reactions that must register the movie's deepening suspense. It's an abrupt range that despite the demands remains impressively memorable. A standout Oscar performer, mainly from the 40's, Wright has regrettably slipped into semi-obscurity despite her obvious talent. Never glamorous, she could project a surprising range behind that winning smile, as she does here. On the opposite side is Cotten's Uncle Charlie, registering here a dark dimension along with a sincere handshake. His Uncle Charlie is not all bad. Instead Charlie's small town upbringing has not equipped him for what he sees as a cruel wider world. Thus he's matured into two sides, one a fortune-hunting killer, the other a latent small town citizen. Thus, his return to Santa Rosa is not only an escape but a wish to be reborn into the community womb. In that regard, catch actor Cotten's often fleeting dark moments before his sunny side again surfaces. Nonetheless, his murderous side has already doomed those small town hopes.In a larger sense, Charlie's internal struggle with her uncle has become a struggle for her maturing soul, as she too must face realities of a wider world brought suddenly home to her. In that regard, the movie's impact remains as much a matter of actors as it does of plot, and Hitch's concern for story was never better combined.

grschreck75 Shadow of a Doubt was, according to the Director himself, Hitchcock's favorite of his films, most likely because it opened a door for his later work. He had moved past the point of merely trying to thrill an audience, instead towards shocking them. Coming from an outsider's perspective, Hitchcock saw America for what it was at the time: a culture obsessed with war and violence that wanted to bury the past. America had been involved in World War II for several years at this point, those left behind were mainly older people who had little to do outside of work. He knew people wanted to see a good murder-mystery, and he finally poked at people's interest in the subject, by putting them in the story.Beginning in the average home life of the time, Hitchcock unsettles everything by introducing Uncle Charlie. The viewer is immediately introduced to Charlie's world, where we understand right away that he is a murderer evading the police. But to his family, Uncle Charlie is a charming, charismatic, handsome man, who is also obviously disturbed in some way. The way the characters choose to ignore this fact is telling. Uncle Uncle Charlie obviously has some sort of past abuse of some form or another in order to be a violent criminal, and his character lets his resentment known a number of times. The fact that no one had even attempted at this point to examine what made someone this way is revolutionary, and is not merely a coincidence. Uncle Charlie seems intent on burying the past the same way everyday people at time also attempted. Regardless, he is desperate to bring the family together, even though it can't be ignored that he is a criminal trying to hide himself in a normal setting. The fact that Hitchcock had chosen to bring a killer into a family setting is the source of the film's suspense. He was trying to get under the skin of everyday people at the time. All he had to do to in order to achieve this, was put Uncle Charlie at a dinner table with everyday people. The dinner scene carries the entire significance of the film. All focus is put on Uncle Charlie during the scene. We see, in close up, Uncle Charlie summarize his harsh feelings towards his targets, in a way that the audience is unable to ignore. It defines the entire work, and it is masterfully executed. Make sure to watch intently as it happens.The entire film hints at something unseen. Alfred Hitchcock knew that suspense came from a more mysterious place, and this is him executing that at a masterful level.