Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
93%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
2 wins & 3 nominations total
Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest classic — and his own personal favorite — deals its flesh-crawling thrills as deftly as its finely shaded characters.
Shadow of a Doubt” is a Hitchcock classic that will keep you on the edge of your seat. With a small-town setting and a wolf in sheep’s clothing, this film is a thrilling ride from start to finish. The relationship between Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright is believable and adds to the tension of the story. Hitchcock’s signature theme of something dark lurking underneath the surface is present in this film, and the final twist is a glorious piece of cynicism. Don’t miss out on this heart-wrenching and intimate thriller.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Penthouse Video Long Road Productions,
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
904 McDonald Ave, Santa Rosa, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1943
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 48m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1943 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 4, 2005
Genre(s)
Crime/Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Hume Cronyn, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Gordon McDonell, Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, Alma Reville, crime, mystery, thriller, drama, PG rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kevin Maher, Paul Trench, Age Staff, SMH Staff, Emma Cochrane, David Denby, Walter Chaw, Brian Eggert, Mike Massie, Michael J Casey, Josephine O’Neill, produced by Jack H Skirball, Universal Pictures, Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite, Santa Rosa, California, murder, small town, suspicion, uncle, niece, wanted, charming, flesh-crawling, deftly, finely shaded characters, ingenious, unorthodox, thriller, continuously entertaining, tense dramatic scenes, superbly acted, believable relationship, intimate, heart-wrenching, eroding moral bedrocks, desecrating national monuments, ineffectual cops, bumbling clergy, psycho mothers, twists, straightforward, evil, horrifying, psychopath, steadily-paced, suspenseful, plot imperfections, brilliant, staging, scenes
Worldwide gross: $714
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $14,566
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,129
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,588
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Joseph Cotten – Charlie Oakley
Hume Cronyn – Herbie Hawkins
Macdonald Carey – Jack Graham
Henry Travers – Joseph Newton
Patricia Collinge – Emma Newton
Gordon McDonell – Writer
Thornton Wilder – Writer
Sally Benson – Writer
Alma Reville – Writer
Alfred Hitchcock – Director
Jack H. Skirball – Producer
Director(s)
Alfred Hitchcock
Writer(s)
Gordon McDonell, Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, Alma Reville
Producer(s)
Jack H. Skirball
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
2 wins & 3 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (51) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (51)
It’s Hitchcock unleashed…
January 21, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
An Alfred Hitchcock picture is something of an event. This one, which runs for an hour and 45 minutes, is an ingenious and unorthodox thriller which is continuously entertaining.
May 26, 2021
Paul Trench
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
A series of tense dramatic scenes superbly acted by Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright.
April 10, 2020
Age Staff
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Master of the suspense drama that he is, Hitchcock keeps his climax for the very end. When it comes it is terrific. The final curtain Is a glorious piece of cynicism.
April 10, 2020
SMH Staff
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
This is certainly one of Hitchcock’s most satisfying thrillers, mostly thanks to Wright and Cotten’s believable relationship.
April 10, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Emma Cochrane
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Shadow of a Doubt may or may not be Hitchcock’s greatest film, but it’s his most intimate and heart-wrenching.
April 10, 2020
David Denby
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Hitchcock loved eroding moral bedrocks, most gaudily in the form of desecrating national monuments and more stealthily in the form of ineffectual cops, bumbling clergy, and psycho mothers.
June 10, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
Shadow of a Doubt refines the director’s most persistent theme down to its essential components: The prevailing notion that something dark lurks underneath the surface of things exists in nearly each Hitchcock film.
February 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
For a story helmed by Hitchcock, one would expect the twists to be less straightforward.
August 14, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
There’s something rotten in small-town, U.S.A., and Hitchcock chose Santa Rosa, California-one of the most picturesque cities in the nation-to set his tale of a modern-day wolf in sheep’s clothing.
July 29, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Michael J. Casey
Boulder Weekly
Still reeling after having seen this film, I do not want to spoil a moment of it for anyone else. I can only tell you that it is a brilliant Alfred Hitchcock melodrama, set mainly in a leafy sunny American town — and leave the story at that.
April 10, 2020
Josephine O’Neill
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
To save studio materials, the film has been largely made in an actual Californian town and the gain is remarkable.
April 10, 2020
Edgar Anstey
The Spectator…
Plot
Charlotte “Charlie” Newton is bored with her quiet life at home with her parents and younger sister. She wishes something exciting would happen and knows exactly what they need: a visit from her sophisticated, much-traveled Uncle Charlie Oakley, her mother’s younger brother. Imagine her delight when, out of the blue, they receive a telegram from Uncle Charlie announcing that he is coming to visit them for awhile. Charlie Oakley creates quite a stir and charms the ladies’ club, as well as the bank President where his brother-in-law works. Young Charlie begins to notice odd behavior on his part, such as cutting out a story in the local paper about a man who marries and then murders rich widows. When two strangers appear asking questions about him, she begins to imagine the worst about her beloved Uncle Charlie.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Joseph Cotten, who plays Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt, was actually Hitchcock’s first choice for the role and was initially hesitant to take it on due to his dislike of playing villains.
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