The Birds hitchcock folder icon shadow of a doubt 1943

Then there is a shot of a street where children play ball a slow fade-in reveals a house, and a similar one shows one of its windows. Next shot is of a junk car left by itself just a small distance away from the bridge and beyond it the city’s skyline is visible. This transition is rather bizarre because there is a big gap between the two shots in terms of atmosphere, but a while later we understand that it foreshadows the double life of the film’s protagonist. As the movie came out during WWII, it seems to have a direct parallel to the evil leaders loose in the world, particularly in the film's final scene.Shadow of a Doubt‘s opening is intriguing in the sense that it establishes the camera’s point of view as an invisible third person narrator that will explicitly point to us some of the most important clues about the story.Ĭouples in elegant dresses are dancing in a ballroom as the credits run and the image slowly fades in to the shot of a bridge, under which two men are eating sandwiches. The second half, including the increasing revelation of Uncle Charlie's dark views of humanity and the lengths to which he will go to protect himself, is what make the film so sinister.

On the other hand, there is a real small town feeling to this setting, helped in no doubt by Thornton Wilder being one of the screenwriters, and the characters of Charlie's father (Henry Travers) and his friend (Hume Cronyn) passing the time by talking about the perfect murder are absolutely priceless. Some of the tension is also missing because we're pretty darn sure Uncle Charlie is guilty. I considered a slightly higher rating, but thought the pace in the first half of the movie was a little slow. Trouble is just behind him though, and it gets worse when his niece (also 'Charlie', named after him, and played by Teresa Wright) begins to suspect him of being the 'Merry Widow Murderer'.

Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) is on the run from the law on the East Coast, and he settles in with his sister and her family in Santa Rosa. Hitchcock said this was his favorite film, and there is a quiet evil about it that makes it truly horrifying.

The Birds hitchcock folder icon shadow of a doubt 1943