Alfred Hitchcock often cited Shadow of a Doubt as one of his favorites.
The film’s premise alone makes it so intriguing.
How would you react
when you realize that your beloved uncle
is in fact a brutal killer
who has taken refuge at your house
after escaping from the police?
On top of it,
how would you tolerate
crime buffs in your vicinity—
your dad and his friend’s endless conversations
on committing a perfect murder
blissfully unaware that a killer is amidst them
whose modus operandi
is as simple as it can get—
strangulation with bare hands!
Hitchcock handles this setup with ease.
The most noteworthy feature of his direction
is the way he manages to create
suspense and tension
out of completely ordinary scenarios.
In the famous 1962 interview with Hitchcock,
Truffaut touches on a brilliant foreshadowing moment from the film.
The train carrying Uncle Charlie
arrives beneath
a menacing cloud of thick, black smoke.
I’ll leave it there.
There is another instance
that is easily overlooked
in the first viewing.
The first piece of dialogue
that Charlie’s mother utters
foreshadows Charlie’s tripping on the stairs,
which nearly gets her killed.
Truffaut, in the same interview,
points out Hitchcock’s ability to create arbitrary suspense.
He refers to the scene wherein
Charlie rushes to the library
to get hold of the newspaper
that her uncle is supposedly trying to hide.
She is seen getting reprimanded by a traffic officer
for dodging cars on a busy road,
before reaching the place
only to realize that the shutters are about to go down.
This small journey manages to create considerable tension
wherein we root for Charlie
to get into the library
and uncover the truth.
There are a couple of other examples
to support Truffaut’s point.
Consider the scene that takes place around the dinner table
wherein Uncle Charlie delivers a small monologue
on his hatred for rich widows,
calling them ‘Horrible, faded, fat, greedy women’.
In this particular shot,
seen from young Charlie’s POV,
the camera slowly zooms in to his face
as he delivers his rant,
concluding with an ominous stare at the camera,
a moment that would have certainly given chills
to the audience watching on the big screen.
Then there’s the garage scene
that manages to combine both the elements.
It begins with Uncle Charlie,
by the window,
enacting strangling gestures at his niece,
who is seen awaiting the arrival of detective Jack.
Next, he tracks the two heading to the garage.
Through this prelude,
Hitchcock manages to build
significant tension inside the garage
wherein Jack confesses his true feelings to Charlie.
Amidst this tender scene,
the audience has Uncle Charlie at the back of their minds,
fearing that he might do something bad to the couple.
When the garage door suddenly shuts down,
we are scared for Charlie and Jack,
only to realize in a few moments,
that Hitchcock fooled us
through a classic misdirection.
The two manage to get out with no harm.
There’s another reason as to why
this is a brilliant scene.
It foreshadows young Charlie being trapped at the
garage,
some scenes later,
in a life-threatening situation.
It is interesting when you realize
that had Hitchcock not opened the whole act
with Uncle Charlie’s bit,
the 3-minute sequence at the garage
would have been devoid of any tension
and hence ineffective.
The door shutting down
would not have been suspenseful
but just a surprise.