Young thriller heroines from then on owe Wright’s Charlie a tip of the hat. Still, she’s a plucky, all-American girl, and she rises to the occasion, but not without having to hold on to a terrible secret for the rest of her life. Hitchcock puts Wright through the wringer she goes from happy-go-lucky to guilty accomplice (not wanting to ruin her family’s reputation or break her mother’s heart by revealing the truth about Mother’s brother) to fearing for her life. SHADOW OF A DOUBT, screen play by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson and Alma Reville from an original story by Gordon McDonell directed by Alfred Hitchcock produced by Jack H.

Certainly Jack Graham, the young detective who woos Charlie, is no help.) (What goes unmentioned in this film, made during the height of World War II, is that there are hardly any young men around to play hero, so the responsibility falls to a young woman. This is 'Shadow of a Doubt (1943, USA) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Featuring Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten' by SHU Community Theatre on. Except that Charlie is actually the “Merry Widow” serial killer, and only his namesake niece recognizes the truth about her favorite uncle. Alfred Hitchcock’s movie starts out as a slice of picture-perfect Americana, with a nice, middle-class, Main Street family celebrating a reunion with beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten). Think of what a poison pill Shadow of a Doubt must have seemed in 1943.

The film was shot in sunny Santa Rosa, California, where the shadows are darker because the sunlight is so much brighter.Cast: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten Get This MovieĬharlotte “Charlie” Newton (Teresa Wright) The tension builds to an alarming climax, in a trademark sequence (another one for the Hitchcock highlight reel) showing the Master of Suspense at the top of his form. But evidence soon begins to suggest the elder Charles might actually be a cold-blooded serial killer, and a lethal game of charades begins between uncle and niece: she knows the truth, and he knows that she knows the truth.

The arrival of everyone's much loved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton, in his favorite role) is the catalyst to disaster, with eldest daughter Charlie in particular welcoming the arrival of her affectionate namesake as a relief from the humdrum routine of suburban life. In one of his most chilling and memorable intrigues Alfred Hitchcock lays bare the myth of small town virtue with a perverse piece of Americana about a wholesome family unaware of the gruesome skeleton lurking in its closet.

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