![]() 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. 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. Joan Cusak and William H Macy as her parents.Cast: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten Get This MovieĬharlotte “Charlie” Newton (Teresa Wright) Tim Robbins as uncle Charlie, can you imagine? Natalie Portman as his niece. Using Thornton Wilder's original script as the Bible, Steven Sodebergh could do scrumptious remake for the new millennium. ![]() I've been toying with the thought of a remake, I've been doing this lately, although I hate the idea of remakes of great movies, this one is one of those that in the right hands could have a real impact. I've seen "Shadow of a Doubt" 3 or 4 times but every time you're forced to take the trip with the same amount of commitment. Brilliant, because in Joseph Cotten's eyes we find his need for redemption or are we falling in the trap of this master manipulator? We are torn, just like Teresa Wright. Teresa Wright's eyes tell the whole story from the audience's point of view, even if the audience is one step ahead of her. The scenes between Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn are how I imagine the story meetings between Thornton Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock. Patricia Collinge's performance is so spot on that you're longing for more. The structure is Our Townish, the characters, deliciously rich. Thornton Wilder was Hitchcock's partner in crime this time and it shows. Uncle Charlie's urbanity becomes his most frightening feature. ![]() Joseph Cotten is the perfect charming monster. I mistrusted the uncle thing as a term of endearment ever since. ![]()
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