Critic Reviews
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Rank 5 Reviews
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based on (41) reviews
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Time Out (--)
One of Hitchcock's finest films of the '40s, with Cotten as the infamous 'Merry Widow' murderer, who takes refuge with the small-town family of his sister (Collinge). Focusing on adoring niece Wright's dawning realisation that her kind, generous and ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Time Out (--)
Senses of Cinema
This paper contemplates the curious employment of the "Merry Widow" waltz in the soundtrack of Hitchcock's early American classic, Shadow of a Doubt. Occurring firstly during the opening credits and then at crucial moments during the unfolding story, and ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Senses of Cinema
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Alfred Hitchcock directs while living in America during the war this first-class psychological thriller. It's scripted by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville (Mrs. Hitchcock) based on a story by Gordon McDowell. The author was inspired by ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Dial H for Hitchcock
Murder is one of the key ingredients in almost all Hitchcock films and Shadow Of a Doubt handles it in a taut, complex manner that ingeniously mixes Capraesque domestic comedy with the harsh realities of horror. Starring Joseph Cotton as "Uncle Charlie" ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Dial H for Hitchcock
Movieline (Virginia Campbell)
Thanks in no small part to its precision acting, it's easily as great as other Hitchcock films to which 'masterpiece' status is more colloquially granted. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Movieline (Virginia Campbell)
New York Times (Bosley Crowther)
You've got to hand it to Alfred Hitchcock: when he sows the fearful seeds of mistrust in one of his motion pictures he can raise more goose pimples to the square inch of a customer's flesh than any other director of thrillers in Hollywood. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at New York Times (Bosley Crowther)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
a brilliant piece of cynicism that exposes hypocrisy, moral rot, and a guilt that pervades both conventional criminals and everyday citizens ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Empire Magazine (Kim Newman)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
The collaboration between Thornton Wilder and Hitchcock proves to be extremely fertile for it allows both American writer and British director to dissect small-town life way beyond the former's Our Town. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
Deathly Americana; not as fun or spine-tingling as other Hitchcocks, but who's complaining? Hitch's favorite among his own films was based on the case of the real-life "Merry Widow Murderer," Earle Leonard Nelson, a mass strangler of the 1920s. The sly ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
CultureDose.net (John Nesbit)
filmcritic.com sees Shadows on the wall
A minor classic in the Hitchcock library, Shadow of a Doubt is nonetheless a smashing film, a slow burn that involves the visit to town of Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten), who may or may not be the Merry Widow Murderer, a dashing villain who murders old ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at filmcritic.com sees Shadows on the wall
Reel.com DVD review (Pam Grady)
In sleepy Santa Rosa, California, young Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) complains to her banker father, Joseph (Henry Travers, It's a Wonderful Life's Clarence the angel), "We're in a terrible rut." For Charlie, there can only be one solution. Her ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Reel.com DVD review (Pam Grady)
CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) is feeling despondent about her unexciting life in her average family in the extremely normal small town of Santa Rosa, California. But things perk up when the man she was named after, her charming and colorful Uncle Charlie ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
Jiminy Critic Reviews "Shadow of a Doubt"
One genre of filmmaking whose well will never run dry is that of the suspense thriller. There will always be a market for creepy and scary movies, if only for the fact that there will always be couples ready to throw their arms around each other in ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Jiminy Critic Reviews "Shadow of a Doubt"
ToxicUniverse.com (Dan Callahan)
Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt is one of his grimmest and most impressive movies. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (Dan Callahan)
filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
A minor classic from Hitch. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
FilmHead.com - Video Pick
With American Beauty, British theatre director Sam Mendes stole the critics' hearts and a quite a few Oscars. This tale of suburban dysfunction does just about everything right and is exactly the kind of movie made for Academy gold: intelligent but not ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at FilmHead.com - Video Pick
DVD Verdict
By 1943, Alfred Hitchcock was firmly entrenched in American film, having made five pictures in three years. But none of those five films really felt "American" to Hitch (even Saboteur, which utilized American landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, could ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at DVD Verdict
DVD In My Pants: A Journey with Hitchcock
DVDBeaver.com (Gary W. Tooze)
This creepy Hitchcock chiller has you doubting till the end and the key to its discomforting fright is the subtle invasion of the warm, middle-class family home in small town, USA. Joseph Cotten is stirring as is the more-than-lovable Teresa Wright who ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at DVDBeaver.com (Gary W. Tooze)
moviediva
Shadow of a Doubt explores the moral rot threatening placid Santa Rosa, California. Uncle Charlie is a charmer, but does his adored niece want to discover his dreadful secret? Hitchcock identified with the character closely enough to write some of his ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at moviediva
Movie Mirror (Sanderson Beck)
Two men who came to see Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) follow him. He sends a telegram he is going to visit his sister Emma Newton in Santa Rosa. Her daughter Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) wants Uncle Charlie to visit and learns he is coming. Joseph ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Movie Mirror (Sanderson Beck)
rec.arts.movies.reviews (Ted Prigge)
Not one of Hitchcock's best, but is still one of his most intriguing. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Ted Prigge)
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
A great nail-biter, right up through the end. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Images Movie Journal
1943's Shadow Of A Doubt, however, was Hitchcock's first fully realized cinema masterpiece, a grim, sad picture of American docility and Babbittry. The film moved Hitchcock out of the category of mere genre director and into the realm of the essayist on ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Images Movie Journal
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Hitchcock's favorite of all his films, Shadow of a Doubt is a classic thriller that holds its own against the more well known entries in his filmography. There's a little less cynicism and subdued bitterness towards the main characters as there is in ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US films
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) has often been seen as director/producer Alfred Hitchcock's best American film (and second film with Universal Studios) - and it was purportedly his own personal favorite. The cynical, film-noirish, war-time film was shot on ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US films
Movie Vault (Mel Valentin)
In interviews given later in his life, Alfred Hitchcock pointed to 1943's smalltown suspense/thriller, Shadow of a Doubt as one of his personal favorites. Shadow of a Doubt, however, is rarely mentioned in the same conversation with Hitchcock's other ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Movie Vault (Mel Valentin)
Quick Reviews (J.D. Funari)
Evil comes to small Norman Rockwell-esk town in this early Hitchcock thriller. Joseph Cotten exudes a menacing charm as deceitful Uncle Charlie who may be withholding a horrible secret from his favorite niece. While overly melodramatic staples of era ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Quick Reviews (J.D. Funari)
DVD Times (Mike Sutton)
Shadow of a Doubt was Hitchcock's first fully American film. Not in terms of finance or setting but because it was an intrinsically American piece. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at DVD Times (Mike Sutton)
eFilmCritic Reviews
Charlie (Teresa Wright) can't wait for her favourite uncle and namesake Charlie Snr (Joseph Cotten) to come and visit her and liven her life up. She's at home with her parents and in a small town like Santa Rosa there's just not that much to do. She's so ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at eFilmCritic Reviews
DVD Savant review
Everyone who thinks Blue Velvet is a great film should give Shadow of a Doubt a serious looking-over. Both are about 'normal' American towns living in seeming complacent denial, while dark and malevolent forces seeth below the surface. Both feature ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at DVD Savant review
Slant Magazine (Fernando F. Croce)
The celebrated opening sequence finds the film's moral yin-yang, chilly murderer Charlie (Joseph Cotten) and his young niece and namesake (Teresa Wright), at opposite ends of the country, he in New York City and she in Santa Rosa, yet both arranged in ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Slant Magazine (Fernando F. Croce)
Slant Magazine - DVD Review
espite being his sixth Hollywood production, Shadow of a Doubt is the picture where Alfred Hitchcock first discovered America, locating the mirror image for the ominous instability lurking barely an inch under the cozy surfaces of his native England. The ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Slant Magazine - DVD Review
The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the greatest directors of the Twentieth Century. ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
El Criticon (Antonio Mendez Casanova)
Hitchcock indagando en el lado oscuro del ciudadano medio gracias al desarrollo de esta historia sobre un adorado ser humano, quien guardando una intachable apariencia de modelo y encantador ciudadano, esconde a un peligroso e impenitente ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at El Criticon (Antonio Mendez Casanova)
eFilmCritic.com (M. P. Bartley)
Charlie (Teresa Wright) can't wait for her favourite uncle and namesake Charlie Snr (Joseph Cotten) to come and visit her and liven her life up. She's at home with her parents and in a small town like Santa Rosa there's just not that much to do. She's so ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at eFilmCritic.com (M. P. Bartley)
ToxicUniverse.com (John A. Nesbit)
The idea of 'bringing menace to a small town' certainly appeals to the master ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John A. Nesbit)
filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
"Shadow of a Doubt" is a good film despite many nagging problems. It benefits from an excellent cast and an intelligent script. Most of the problems arise from character development and plot, and while each taken separately are minor, they combine to ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
Classic Film Guide (--)
Like Suspicion (1941), Hitchcock decided to cast a traditional "good guy" actor (in this case, Joseph Cotten) as his villain who has come to visit his sister's house to elude two detectives (MacDonald Carey & Wallace Ford) on his trail. It's said to be ...read the complete Shadow of a Doubt movie review at Classic Film Guide (--)
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