Shadow of a Doubt easily falls into line with Alfred Hitchcocks other B-grade genre flicks, but let’s get one thing straight here people: Hitchcock was a born and raised English man, and their style of cinema is a bit different from ours. Over here in America, we tend to look down on thriller and action movies (when I say look down I mean that in a critic way) but give thumbs up to serious dramas. It’s the exact opposite over there, as they love their thrill-seeking, high explosive pictures. Hitchcock had some trouble because he shot this in America, so many of the A-list actors/actresses of the time felt too embarrassed to star in this. Such a shame.

Shadow of a Doubt tells the story of an uncle who comes to visit his family, only he isn’t exactly visiting per say. His niece soon catches onto this, and realizes, amidst all the flashy presents and piles of cash, that there is something much, much more to uncle Charlie. I found this to be an exciting thriller, with noir-ish undertones scattered here and there (certain lighting cues, off-centered camera angles). Even towards the beginning when uncle Charlie’s train pulls into the station, the train (at Hitchcock’s request) is spewing out a thick, black smoke, which only can symbolize that the devil has come to town. It’s a nice contrast to the train leaving the station at the end, as it’s puffing out nice little balls of white smoke but, then again, for those who have seen this film they see this as very fitting.

The true power of this film is found in the so called “B-list” actors and actresses. Joseph Cotten can play the most sweet and innocent maniacal man this side of Robert Mitchum, Night of the Hunter style. Teresa Wright does an excellent job portraying the “all-American girl” of for the time this was shot. She fits perfectly and it quite the lovely actress (what I’m really getting at is that she’s a fox).

Many people seem to overlook this or just pass it off, but I really enjoyed it. It kept my eyes glued to the screen the whole time, and so what if the detective isn’t the greatest actor in the world? A movie definitely worth viewing.