Product Details

• Actors: Joseph Cotton, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Hume Cronyn Teresa Wright
• Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
• Format: NTSC, Color, HiFi Sound
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MCA / Universal
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000X4L1X8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,060 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A favorite of Alfred Hitchcock himself, with an exceptional script by the playwright Thornton Wilder, SHADOW OF A DOUBT anticipates such family menace dramas as CAPE FEAR. Young Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) lies on her bed in Santa Rosa, California, bored with her small-town life and family. Meanwhile, her namesake, Uncle Charlie, lies on another bed thousands of miles away in Philadelphia surrounded by discarded bills, deep in secret thoughts. The two are linked, psychic twins, and when Charlie goes to send for her uncle, she finds a telegram announcing his visit already waiting for her. Uncle Charlie brings happiness into the Newton home and a special pleasure to Mother. Yet Charlie feels a tension--as if her double, played with razor-thin menace by the mild-mannered Joseph Cotten, has brought violence into her home as well. Subtle clues add weight to Charlie's vague doubts. This growing knowledge shocks her out of the warm sense of safety that she held in her small world. However, her intuitive understanding is a long way from allowing the young niece to challenge her uncle, and the tense cat-and-mouse play between the two is powerfully dramatized, showing Hitchcock in his best form.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darkness Comes to Small Town America, April 23, 2011

By 

Bobby Underwood "starlighthotel" (Manly NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow of a Doubt (VHS Tape)

Lovely Teresa Wright shines in Alfred Hitchcock's tale of darkness and evil coming to stay in Santa Rosa, California. A story by Gordon McDonnell was adapted for the screen by Thorton Wilder, Alma Reville, and Sally Benson, and this slice of Americana is played out perfectly by a wonderful cast.

Teresa Wright is the bored young daughter of Emma (Patricia Collinge) and Joseph (Henry Travers) Newton. Life for her in the small town of Santa Rosa has become boring for the wholesome American girl looking to stretch her wings. Wright's "Charlie" is the very picture of small town innocence. When her Uncle and namesake (Joseph Cotten) blows into town, it is the catalyst for the change she desires. Hitchcock has already shown the audience that something is not quite right for the charming Uncle Charlie, however. The special bond between Charlie and her uncle and their unusual connection is fully explored by the director in the happy and charming moments after Cotten's arrival.

Hitchcock shades this portrait in grey, however. Charlie's adoration of her uncle borders on a crush, leaving her open and vulnerable to anything Charlie wants. Here the famous director creates some almost uncomfortable scenes, giving the viewer the impression that at any moment Cotton might just take the smiling and adoring Charlie in his arms and kiss her. And Charlie might remain passive if he were to do so, unsure of her feelings. But strange behavior in her uncle and the attentions of a government agent after him who falls in love with young Charlie will change everything, as Uncle Charlie's spell is broken when his warp and twisted view of the world is revealed. The tune he whistles is the key to what he has become during his long absence.

Hume Cronyn steals every scene he is in as Charlie's good pal and mystery lover, Herbie. Their long talks on the porch as the two attempt to devise the perfect murder plays in humorous contrast to the real evil right under their noses. The bond between Charlie and her uncle is difficult to break, however, and even after Charlie learns the truth about her uncle she can not tell and risk destroying her weak mother. Luckily she has Agent Jack Graham's (Macdonald Carey) number, which may come in handy when Uncle Charlie realizes she is the only thing standing between he and the gallows.

This is both a beautiful portrait of small-town America and a suspenseful thriller. Cotten, always solid yet often underrated, underplays his role to marvelous effect, and Teresa Wright is simply wonderful in this Hitchcock masterpiece. A movie classic widely available in both VHS and DVD formats. A film that must be seen by all, especially Hitchcock devotees.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Charlie, think. How much do you know about your uncle?", January 5, 2008

By 

bernie "webviator" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shadow of a Doubt (VHS Tape)

Being directed by Hitchcock, people tend to overlook that the story was writing credits Thornton Niven Wilder who wrote "Our Town" three years earlier.
Teresa Wright one year earlier was in "Mrs. Miniver"

This film is creepy from the beginning as Charlie (Joseph Cotton) goes to his hometown to avoid two mysterious men following him. Who are they and what do they want of him?

Mean while back home things are just down right monotonous. Little Charlie (Teresa Wright) plans to send a telegram to Uncle Charlie to come and brighten up the place. She realizes she possesses telepathy when Uncle Charlie's telegram reaches her first. When Uncle Charlie arrives he brings secrets and the two mysterious men show up as magazine men doing a survey. Little Charlie must find the secrets and why the men are there. Each scene and secret reveals a more sinister environment. It just gets creepier.

The film and the camera angles are exceptional. The dialog helps build up the tension. Yet on this VHS copy I can not help but thing that some scenes were cut or something to that affect. One minute Little Charlie is walking happily with her quasi date. The next moment she is being apologized to for being deceived as he reveals his purpose. I wonder how many more scenes were cut or condensed.

However you will want to keep a copy of this classic.

The Trouble with Harry

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HITCHCOCKs View of Small Town AMERICA, November 10, 2007

By 

gobirds2 (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow of a Doubt (VHS Tape)

1943's SHADOW OF A DOUBT is an allegorical study of Americana seen through the naivete of a typical family in a quiet and slumberous community. When evil comes to town in the embodiment of the beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) it is the perceptive niece Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) that slowly uncovers his true identity as the Merry Widow murderer. Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn spend their evenings concocting ways to commit the perfect murder unknowingly under the watchful eyes of the genuine article. Evil takes many shapes and hides behind many facades in broad daylight. Would the wholesome average American community recognize such evil and be willing to deal with it? These are questions that the transplanted Hitchcock would ask about his new home. Another transplant, Dimitri Tiomkin, composed a brilliant score utilizing American idioms laced with the darkness of the tainted soul. This remains one of Hitchcock's best films since it works, as a thriller yet remains a true reflection of a good-natured but generally complacent lifestyle. What is interesting is that Hitchcock shows his usual disdain for police by having the niece foil the Merry Widow murderer and not agent Jack Graham (Macdonald Carey). The vigilant individual is still the screen's most valuable asset.