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The Guardian
"My favourite Hitchcock: Shadow of a Doubt"
written by Dallas King
Wed 15 Aug 2012
reader comments
goldbug30
--------------- This film was a revelation to me when I first saw it. It's not generally held up amongst the 'top tier' of Hitchcock films, but it is as elegant and creepy a film as he ever directed. Joseph Cotten, who most people probably know as Jed Leland [Citizen Kane] or Holly Martins [The Third Man] is very scary in this role.
MikeMorris2
--------------- Agreed, it's got a special creepiness to it and Cotten is superb.
zerocinemablog
-------------------- Probably Hitchcock's best film. Certainly a contender, although there are 4 or 5 that are vying for supremacy. The uneasy, evolving... chemistry between Wright and Cotten elevates it to that kind of level.
buntyman
---------------- Cotten is indeed superb.
...The dinner table scene in Shadow... has much in common with the word game in Suspicion, with different modes of murder being lightly discussed in front of Cary Grant's Johnnie who may possibly have a thing for killing old rich people.
colddebtmountain
------------- Hitchcock was a maestro of character portrayal and the darker side of life was very well demonstrated in "Shadow of A Doubt".
He lets us know who not to trust very early on and then castigates us for feeling that way by polishing the edges off of the Joseph Cotten character.
The film admirably demonstrates his masterful way of twisting us around his directorial finger.
He even encourages us to find "good" in nasty characters just to highlight our gullible, trusting or misguided natures.
A film not so much about doubt as the shadows we do not go too near for fear of what we might find.
The comfort zone perhaps.
I think Hitchcock enjoyed black and white for its dramatic effect when his films were composed of several layers of grey and in that genre "Shadow of A Doubt" was one of his best, and beautifully acted too.
OldHazlittean
------------------------- Hitchcock's most underrated picture, in my opinion.
Not as obviously technically virtuosic as some others (e.g. Vertigo, The Birds, Rear Window) but the general plainness of the presentation -- the pale, even lighting, the masterfully small-town pacing etc - are a brilliant counterpoint to the submerged chiaroscuro character of affable ole Joe Cotten.
A small, sinister delight of a movie.
holzy
------------------- I watched this movie recently and finally realised its theme: perfection.
...The...angst that comes with discovering the perfect American small town family life is nothing more than a series of fragile burdens - the precocious child who talks across the demure mother's telephone conversation; the fidgeting child; the father's hobby nothing but misdirected inarticulate hunger for just one thrill in a dull, dull life; the endless constraints of public life...
A stunning film.
swanstep
-------------------- Very nice film. ...
While never as influential as Strangers On A Train or Psycho, Shadow of a Doubt continues to impact upon some of the best modern film-makers.
For example, Lynch's transitional jitterbuggers in Mulholland Drive seem to me to owe a lot to Shadow of a doubt's spooky, transitional ballroom dancers, and Lumberton in Blue Velvet owes more than a little to Shadow's Santa Rosa.
For another example, the Coens explicitly modeled The Man Who Wasn't There on Shadow Of A Doubt (setting it in Santa Rosa), but more importantly, the note that the Coens often reach for
(e.g., in Fargo and in No Country)
of having good characters express how they can't understand the genuinely evil ones (and that it seems to be almost dream-like in the daylight of their own lives) ....
PierreGn
------------------------ Probably the most powerful Hitchcock film, Cotten is truly creepy; but the film has lost a lot of its power through the sets,
costumes, cars, that give it a feel of a period film. I'm looking forward to a remake by Wim Wenders with Leonardo de Caprio as Uncle Charlie.
fabrisse
-------------- I adore this movie. Teresa Wright's performance is an anchor to reality, and she does a superb job.
Bracebridge
-------------------- Having grown up in small town Canada, this film isn't too far from the truth....This and Notorious
are my two favourite Hitchcock films
AntiFylfot
------------------- Teresa Wright's first films were Mrs. Miniver, Pride of The Yankees, The Little Foxes, Shadow of A Doubt and Best Years of Our Lives. Sensational actress.
-30-
Contemplating film noir made me think also about the movies by director Alfred Hitchcock. Not noir, but incorporating some noir elements because they are suspenseful and have dark shadowy visuals. Stark contrast of dark and light... etc.... Spooky... Not same as noir, but in the neighborhood...
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Hitchcock movies off the top of my head:
early ones he made in England:
The 39 Steps
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Lady Vanishes
ones he made in America after he moved here (1940s) --
Rebecca
Foreign Correspondent
Shadow Of A Doubt
Notorious
The above four films were far "ahead" of the early English ones -- his style had focused, progressed, and become more sophisticated and these movies would have broader audience appeal now, I think, than the earliest ones.
The last one from this stage of his career, Strangers On A Train, is kind of like a "bridge" or stepping stone to the movies of Hitchcock's Golden Age -- the 1950s:
Dial "M" For Murder
Rear Window
To Catch A Thief
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Vertigo
North By Northwest.
And then post-Golden Age, his sort of ultimate, experimental, Yikes-effect movie, Psycho, filmed in black-and-white after the director had been using color for a decade.
This movie probably takes up the most real estate in the public's collective imagination and awareness. (The shower-scene music: "Rrnnkkgh! Rrnnkkgh! Rrnnkkgh! Rrnnkkgh!"...)
-30-
To have a Film Noir Experience, people can go on Amazon Prime Video and watch a movie titled,
"Best of Film Noir"
I don't agree with all of their selections, but every movie they talk about is a good movie.
They include Alfred Hitchcock movies
Vertigo
and
Rear Window
Like all of Hitchcock's movies, they include elements of the noir genre, but in my opinion are not noir.
Kim Novak and James Stewart in Vertigo --
Grace Kelly and James Stewart in Rear Window.
These movies were both made in the 1950s, Hitchcock's "Golden Age." Both of these films are in color.
-30-
The Guardian
Top 10 film noir (from number 10 to number 1)
They Live by Night
Kiss Me Deadly
Blood Simple
Lift to the Scaffold
The Third Man
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
Touch of Evil
Chinatown
The Big Sleep
my Basic Film Noir
The Big Sleep
Body Heat
Double Indemnity
Laura
The Maltese Falcon
Out Of The Past
Shadow Of A Doubt
Sunset Boulevard
Sweet Smell of Success
The Third Man
-------------------------------------------------
Reader Comments on the Guardian's noir article (2013)
Brobat
Sidney Lumet's Deadly Affair
not sure about this as Film Noir, but it's certainly made in that vein to the degree the cinematographer Freddie Young pre-exposed the film before shooting, Lumet noted "Thematically it was a film about life's disappointments.
I wanted to desaturate the colours. I wanted to get that dreary, lifeless feeling London has in winter. Freddie suggested pre-exposing the film."
Quincy Jones provided some superb atmospheric music to an amazingly atmospheric film
roland b
Rififi (Jules Dassin).
Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan)
bonty
What no mention of Jules Dassin's 'RIFIFI' !!!!!
Jesher
Indeed, the absence of Rififi makes this list laughable.
kenofengland
Couldn't agree more about 'Out Of The Past'. For me one of the greatest films ever made.
JamesLizard1
Where's Notorious?
NorthDallas40
Solid nomination.
What about Night of The Hunter also?
Abedonders
A good list. More recently I would suggest:
Body Heat
Red Rock West...
profangus
Definitely Body Heat!
stardust69
Hell Drivers
Brighton Rock
Smithy62
Night of the Hunter?
Vortimer
Another Korda film - The great "Odd Man Out" seems to get overlooked in the long shadow of "The Third Man".
shazzerman
Kubrick's The Killing
Fuller's Pickup on South Street
Renoir's Le Chienne (and Le Bete Humaine)
Franklin's One False Move
MildredPlotka
Would love to see Le Chienne. Not on DVD.
theorbys
La Chienne is on YTube but in French.
smudger1
The definition of what makes a noir film is being stretched here, so I am throwing in The Sweet Smell of Success.
maxfisher
It's not a stretch, it's noir.
smudger1
well it should be on the god damn list! New York was never photographed better and Tony Curtis has never been sleazier. And don't get me started on the soundtrack....
maxfisher
Couldn't agree more. It's one of the great movies, Curtis and Lancaster were never better. The final scene is wonderful, Lancaster, Lear like, impotently staring into the distance at what was once HIS city.
Kemster
Burt Lancaster is a thoroughly nasty shit in that. And the dialogue...."Match me, Sidney".
megra
Laura
Sunset Boulevard
The Last Seduction
LA Confidential
Arapas
The Third Man!
I watched that film 20 times in the last ten years!
Just love it, highly recommended.
ChukTatum
"a deadly, molten, much sought-after package that's grandfather to the suitcase in Pulp Fiction and the Chevy Nova in Repo Man."
The end scene in Kiss Me Deadly is clearly the inspiration for the climactic scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when they open the cask and let out the demons from hell.
skywa2ker
LA Confidential must be on this list! Sunset Boulevard also deserves a mention.
Chinatown for me is overrated.
Great fun this.
skywa2ker
Double Indemnity defines the genre for me.
MickJH
Where The Sidewalk Ends is missing.
Lushattic
In a Lonely Place would have to be there for me.
Proper menacing performance by Bogart and keeps you guessing right up to the last minute.
ID7531566
I would add Body Heat, Whirlpool and the Japanese film Zero Focus to the list.
zombiedeadhead
Let's stick to films which actually are Film Noir.
Laura
Double Indemnity
Gun Crazy
The Big Heat
In A Lonely Place
Out Of The Past
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Gilda
Body and Soul
The Narrow Margin
The Killers.
RealDealBillMcneal
If you're going to have a film noir article, you can't have colour films in there.
I tried to do my own top 10 of proper noir in alphabetical order but I've ended up with slightly more.
Beyond A Reasonable Doubt
Body and Soul
Brighton Rock
Call Northside 777
Dark Passage
Dead Reckoning
Double Indemnity (probably joint number one with Laura)
Fallen Angel
In A Lonely Place
Laura
Night and the City
Stage Fright
The Desperate Hours
The Killing
The Maltese Falcon
The Third Man
The Woman in the Window
Too Late For Tears
Touch Of Evil
The Big Sleep
There, you've got the classics, the great directors (Hitchcock, Preminger, Lang, Kubrick, Wilder), and the stars (Bogart, Bacall, Stewart, Mitchum, Scott, Garfield, Tierney, Hayden, Welles, Stanwyck, Robinson).
Colour flicks top 10 would probably be
12 Paces to Baker Street
Brick
Charade
Chinatown
Frantic
Hollywoodland
LA Confidential
Match Point
The Long Goodbye
Zodiac
dphphd
Nice one. You nailed that list. Tipping my hat (in smoky room).
streetsideguitarman
thanks for the list - now I know how I will be spending the rest of the weekend!
-30-
Out of the Past, dialogue at the roulette table:
"That's not the way to win."
"Is there a way to win?"
"There's a way to lose more slowly..."
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[reader comments -- The Guardian]
Simon Speed
Swap out their no. 1 for "Farewell My Lovely" and replace "A Touch of Evil" with "The Maltese Falcon" and you've got a decent list.
pellevin
Replace "A Touch of Evil"? Not for me, leave it where it is.
tomcasagranda
The Last Seduction, and Malice, are both pretty good.
Paddyboro
Malice is good for Baldwin's "I am God" speech, but otherwise just average in my opinion.
Hurleyfunbags
Good choices.
What about:
Memento.
Mulholland Drive.
Sin City.
Collateral.
chriskelley1000
I can't agree with the others, but make that two votes for Mulholland Drive. Blue Velvet is another classic noir.
Pagey
Sin City is an obvious homage to Film Noir.
diggers
The Killers with Burt Lancaster. The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers with Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas and Van Heflin.
Brooke Sherbrooke
The Killers - absolutely.
equate1
Yes 'the strange loves...' is great but again the question is what defines, if anything, a film as noir... is martha a great melodrama??
In a way she is a 'femme fatale plus' in that we also get the back story of how and why she became that way... fatales usually only exist in the present tense... yet it could be that very backstory that stops it/her being 'noir fatale'
fabrisse
Someone once asked me how I could tell if something was a film noir. My answer was "If it's raining at night in L.A., it's noir."
Peterloosunset
Dark Passage, Maltese Falcon, Out of the Past, D.O.A., Thieves' Highway, The Lady from Shanghai, Born to Kill... Dashiell Hammett's San Francisco is just as much a noir town as the City of Angels.
Rilco10
Asphalt Jungle deserves a shout!
As far as Neo-Noir, I will go for Night Moves with Gene Hackman (1975)
Robind
And you know one of the amazing things about that fantastic film Laura... Laura's decadent aunt, with Vincent Price as her effete toy-boy, is played by Judith Anderson. Yes, Mrs Danvers. Doesn't that add a frisson? What an actress.
Rilco10
The novel of Laura by Vera Caspary is also worth a read.
Jeshkam
I would add Michael Mann's "Thief" as one of the best neo-noir films ever made...
Jeshkam
...plus "Body Heat"
Jbrag
I think that The Spy Who Came In from the Cold would qualify.
Surge
Agreed. So would Get Carter.
streakky
No and no. Both are good films but neither is film noir. Check up the meaning.
Jbrag
If The Third Man qualifies....
Surge
...The definition of Film Noir is highly subjective. Self proclaimed fans of the genre will all have a different definition - you can guarantee that.
Jbrag
And The Looking Glass War.
akardyagain
Brick a film I watched recently after it being recommended in the comments for top teen films, is a very good modern example...L.A. Confidential deserves a mention too.
fabrisse
Brick is just brilliant, and, yes, definitely noir. "See you 'round the lunchroom."
Adrian Laughton
I honestly think Brick is one of the most underrated films ever -- as good a noir as any that has been made.
vonZeppelin
White Heat. "I'm top of the world!"
streakky
It's a gangster movie
Pagey
D.O.A.
Brick
Strangers On A Train
[Blue Collar Lit. I had Strangers On A Train on my original list, too, but removed it -- like all Hitchcock movies, it has noir elements but that doesn't make it a noir film...)
Tri2002
Sorry but Chinatown must be the number one. It's not near perfect, it's just perfect.
Clariana
Not really into Chinatown... Long and contrived.
JimdiGriz6
Yep. It's my number 3 film of all time.
I'd add Sunset Boulevard to this list too.
Falkenberg
Hard to argue with this list; all excellent films. Just one slight change; Chinatown in first place.
Pagey
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Dunnyboy
Thumbs up for Out of the Past. Seems to have been forgotten these days, but if you ever had to teach a course on film noir and choose a perfect illustration, it would have to be this one....
Clariana
Laura
Body Heat
The Usual Suspects
Boavisteiro
'Body Heat' is a great shout.
Femmes don't come much more fatale than Kathleen Turner in that....
Kemster
Body Heat. Brilliant shout. Came here to cite it.
It practically sizzles. Kasdan was a talent. What happened to him?
Adrian Laughton
A few favourites off the top of my head:
Laura
Out of the Past
In a Lonely Place
Maltese Falcon
Ossessione (Visconti's 40s version of The Postman Always Rings Twice)
Brick
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
...So many great noirs...
Malinowski
'If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die last'
Robert Mitchum in 'Out of the Past'
Sums up film noir in one line
Excellent list. I never get tired of watching these movies
-30-
