CULT MOVIE: SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)

The ambiguous blend of good and evil so suited Hitchcock that many of his films could have been mentioned here.(His other classic noirs include Notorious and The Wrong Man, a fine tale about a family wrecked by police procedure.) In this film, Wright plays a bored young girl called Charlie who invites her uncle Charlie (Cotten) to visit but soon discovers that he is a murderer. The film is full of pairs (both obvious and subtle): the two Charlies, the two detectives, the two suspects, even the two conversations about murder techniques and the double brandy Charlie orders in the Till Two bar. This is said to be Hitchcock's favorite film possibly because he worked some of the details of his early life into the script including a rare (for him) glimpse of a benevolent screen mum called Emma (the director's own mother Emma was very ill when he made this).
Director: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Teressa Wright, Joseph Cotten

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