Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten star in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt”

A Personal Favorite

Considered Alfred Hitchcock’s personal favorite of all his films, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), is also the only film he ever shot entirely on location. Hitchcock picked Santa Rosa, CA, because it exemplified, at least it did in 1942, the ideal American town. Film critic Bosley Crowther said in his review of the film, “The flavor and ‘feel’ of a small town has been beautifully impressed in this film by the simple expedient of shooting most of it in Santa Rosa, California.”

No Prima Donnas
One of the reasons Shadow of a Doubt was Hitchcock’s favorite was due to the cast. Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten were movie stars but weren’t prima donnas. The director was impressed with Wright’s professionalism and preparation for her role. Cotten thought Hitchcock was one of the easiest directors he ever worked with. The two hit it off and remained great friends for the rest of their lives. The rest of the supporting cast, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Hume Cronyn, and MacDonald Carey were all pros, with Cronyn, before this film, a stage actor, making his movie debut in Shadow of a Doubt. He too, along with his wife, Jessica Tandy (Tandy would appear in The Birds some 20 years later.) remained friends with Hitchcock for the rest of their lives.

Teresa Wright

Idolizing Uncle Charlie
When Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) travels west to visit his sister and her family, the sleepy town of Santa Rosa is never the same. Handsome and debonair, Uncle Charlie is idolized by his young niece Charlene “Charlie” Newton (Teresa Wright) who has become disenchanted with her small-town life. Uncle Charlie represents glamour and excitement to young Charlie and she craves his attention.

Word of Mouth
As word spreads about a man they call the Merry Widow murderer, Charley suspects that he and her beloved uncle are one and the same. But when a government agent investigating the case befriends her, Charley is faced with some tough choices. Does she cooperate, putting her uncle at risk, and upsetting her mother? By getting closer to her uncle, does she put her own life in jeopardy?

Where Evil Lurks

With the help of playwright Thorton Wilder (Our Town) and screenwriter Sally Benson (Meet Me in St. Louis), Hitchcock created a truly suspenseful film. Shadow of a Doubt demonstrates one of Hitchcock’s favorite themes: evil can lurk in the most unlikely and innocent of places…within our own towns or cities and among our own families.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. Hitchcock directed over 50 feature films, many classics that have been honored and studied for years. Some of Hitchcock’s classic films include The 39 Steps (1939), Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960).

Teresa Wright (1918 - 2005) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations in her first three films, a record that still holds today. In 1942, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver and Best Actress in The Pride of the Yankees. She won the Supporting Oscar for Mrs. Miniver, and her co-star, Greer Garson won Best Actress. Today Wright is most famous for playing Lou Gehrig’s wife in The Pride of the Yankees, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Wright was a popular star throughout the 1940s starring opposite Robert Mitchum, Ray Milland, Gary Cooper, and David Niven. She starred opposite Marlon Brando in his first film role in The Men (1950). Wright continued working in film, with her last role as Miss Birdie in The Rainmaker (1997). Wright was the only non-baseball player to be honored by the New York Yankees when she passed away at age 86. 

Joseph Cotten (1905 - 1994) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actor. Cotten achieved fame on Broadway in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair.  He became famous worldwide after appearing in Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). As one of the most popular leading men of the 1940s, Cotten starred in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Gaslight (1943), Duel in the Sun (1946), and The Third Man (1949). Cotten alternated between work on stage and film into the late-1950s. Cotten also appeared on television guest-starring on The Name of the Game, Cimarron Strip, and Ironside. Cotten’s last film role was in 1981.

Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright in a tense scene

Shadow of a Doubt trivia

• Teresa Wright didn't read the script; Alfred Hitchcock described the entire movie to her and agreed to star in it on the spot.
• Edna May Wonacott (Ann Newton) and Estelle Jewell (Catherine) were locals of Santa Rosa, where this movie was shot on location. Many of the extras were residents of the town, which was too far away from Hollywood to be affected by Actors Guild guidelines demanding the use of professional actors and actresses.
• The $40,000 Uncle Charlie deposits in the bank is equivalent to over $600,000 today.
• Hitchcock wanted William Powell to play Uncle Charlie but M-G-M wouldn’t loan him.
• The Newton home and the railway station are still standing in Santa Rosa. The library was demolished due to earthquake concerns as some of the other buildings were destroyed in the earthquake of 1969.
• Teresa Wright who played a teenager in the film was 25 years old when the film was in production.

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive. Click HERE to watch it on YouTube

Click HERE to join the online discussion on September 2, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation with a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. Why do you think this was Alfred Hitchcock's favorite of all his films?
2. Was the setting of the film similar in some ways to the location of Boomerang!?
3. Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten give terrific performances but neither were nominated for action Oscars. Do you think this was an oversight on the Academy’s part?
4. The supporting cast is strong with many outstanding performances. Do you have a favorite?
5. Did you have a favorite scene from the film?
6. The film plays with doubles: two Charlies, the waitress working at the Til-Two bar for two weeks, and the two detectives. Did you find any other doubles?
7. Did the ending surprise you? Was it satisfying?