“Suspicion” drives a wedge between Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine

Suspicion (1941) is an American mystery-suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. The supporting cast includes Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, and Leo G. Carroll. It is based on the novel Before the Fact (1934) by  Francis Iles.

The film follows Lina McLaidlaw (Fontaine), a reserved and romantically inexperienced woman who is captivated by the charming and reckless playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Grant). Despite her family’s warnings about his reputation as a spendthrift and a scoundrel, Lina quickly falls in love and marries him.

After a lavish honeymoon, Lina’s initial bliss begins to fade as she discovers the truth about Johnnie’s financial situation—he’s penniless, dishonest, and a habitual gambler. As Johnnie’s schemes become more desperate and his lies grow more elaborate, Lina’s disillusionment deepens into a terrifying suspicion.

Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, and Nigel Bruce

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 are 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).

Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies, including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations for Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Joan Fontaine (1917 – 2013) was a British-American actress who starred in more than 45 films during Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” After secondary roles in Gunga Din (1939) and The Women (1939), her fortunes turned with her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film, Rebecca (1940). She was nominated for Best Actress for her role in that film, but lost to Ginger Rogers. The next year, she worked with Hitchcock again in Suspicion and this time won the Best Actress Oscar, beating out her older sister Olivia de Havilland. She received a third and final nomination for The Constant Nymph (1943). Other popular Fontaine films include This Above All (1942), From This Day Forward (1946), Ivy (1947), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Emperor Waltz (1948), and Ivanhoe (1952). After the late 1950s, she appeared less in films and more on stage and television. Fontaine and her sister are the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards.

Suspicion trivia

• Joan Fontaine is the only performer to win an Oscar in an Alfred Hitchcock film.
• Fontaine read the novel the film was based on and sent Hitchcock a note offering to play the part for free, if necessary.
• This was the first film that Hitchcock produced as well as directed.
• Suspicion marked the first time Cary Grant worked with Hitchcock; he would go on to collaborate with the director on three more films, Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959).
• Grant was paid $112,500 and Fontaine earned $67,750.

Click HERE to watch to movie on the Internet Archive (this print is beautiful).

Click HERE to join the online discussion on Monday, October 27, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. Ambiguity and Perception: To what extent does director Alfred Hitchcock use cinematic techniques (such as lighting, camera angles, and dialogue) to keep the audience as unsure of Johnnie's true nature as Lina is? Do you believe the ambiguity benefits or harms the film's overall suspense?
2. The Character of Lina: Lina transforms from a reserved "spinster" to a woman consumed by fear. Is her growing suspicion primarily a reasonable response to Johnnie's actions, or is it a sign of psychological instability, perhaps driven by her initial insecurity and desperation to be loved?
3. Cary Grant's Casting: Cary Grant was one of Hollywood's most popular leading men at the time. How does Grant's established charming on-screen persona affect your perception of his character, Johnnie? Do you think the studio's desire to keep Grant a "hero" altered the film's thematic impact from the source novel, Before the Fact?
4. Love vs. Self-Preservation: Why does Lina remain with Johnnie even after repeatedly discovering his dishonesty, embezzlement, and the possibility that he intends to kill her? Does her decision reflect a desperate, all-consuming love, or does it say something about the limited options and societal roles for women in the period the film was made?

Greer Garson is “Mrs. Miniver”

Mrs. Miniver (1942) is an American drama directed by William Wyler and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pigeon, and Teresa Wright. Others in the case include Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Wilcoxon, Richard Ney, and Henry Travers.

The film introduces us to the idyllic life of an upper-middle-class family in a quiet English village just before the outbreak of World War II. Mrs. Kay Miniver (Garson) is a resourceful wife and mother who lives with her architect husband, Clem (Pigeon), their three children, and their home on the Thames. This peaceful existence is about to change in ways the Minivers could never have imagined.

William Wyler (1902 - 1981) was an American (born in Mulhouse, Alsace, then part of Germany) film director and producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Direction three times: Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Ben-Hur (1959). Wyler was nominated 12 times for Best Director, an Academy Award history. Wyler started working in the movie business during the silent era, eventually making a name for himself as a director in the early 1930s. He would go on to direct Wuthering Heights (1939), The Westerner (1940), and The Little Foxes (1941). Actress Bette Davis received three Oscar nominations under Wyler’s direction, winning her second Oscar for her performance in Jezebel (1938). Other popular films directed by Wyler include The Heiress (1949), Roman Holiday (1954), Friendly Persuasion (1956), The Big Country (1958), and Funny Girl 1968).

Greer Garson (1905 – 1996) was a British-American film actress and singer. Garson was a top box office star from 1942 to 1946. She received seven Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, winning for her performance in Mrs. Miniver (1942). A favorite of M-G-M’s studio head Louis B. Mayer, Garson was cast in some of the most popular pictures the studio produced, including Pride and Prejudice (1940), Blossoms in the Dust (1941), Random Harvest (1942), Madame Curie (1943), Mrs. Parkington (1944), and The Valley of Decision (1945). Later in her career, she was nominated for her seventh Best Actress Award for Sunrise at Campobello (1960), playing Eleanor Roosevelt.

Walter Pidgeon (1897 - 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. During his long career, he was nominated for two Best Actor Academy Awards—Mrs. Miniver (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Pidgeon worked on the stage before he entered films, making his Broadway debut in 1925. When he started working in film, he starred in musicals. Once the interest in musicals declined, he began making a name for himself in dramas and comedies during the mid-1930s. His lead role in How Green Was My Valley restored his popularity. He was first paired with Greer Garson in Blossoms in the Dust (1941). They made a total of eight films together, making them one of the screen’s most popular acting teams. Some of their other films include Mrs. Miniver (1942), Mrs. Parkington (1944), Julia Misbehaves (1948), and That Forsyte Woman (1949). Pidgeon has success on his own in films like Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and the science fiction classic, Forbidden Planet (1956). One of Pidgeon’s last film roles was Funny Girl (1968) where he portrayed Florenz Ziegfeld.

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 holds today. In 1942, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver and for Best Actress in The Pride of the Yankees. She won the Supporting Oscar for Mrs. Miniver; 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 is the only non-baseball player to be honored by the New York Yankees when she passed away at age 86. 

Teresa Wright and Greer Garson

Mrs. Miniver trivia

• Propaganda Value: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said that the film was “more powerful to the war effort than the combined work of six military divisions.” U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt also believed in the film's power and ordered its rousing final speech—delivered by the vicar—to be printed on leaflets and dropped over Europe as a morale booster.
• A Historic Oscar Speech: The film's star, Greer Garson, won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her acceptance speech is legendary for its length, lasting an incredible 5½ minutes and setting a Hollywood record for the longest Oscar speech ever.
• On-Screen Son, Real-Life Husband: In the film, actor Richard Ney played Greer Garson’s son, Vin Miniver. The two fell in love during production and married the following year, though their marriage would end in divorce in 1947.
• Box Office and Awards Success: Mrs. Miniver was a massive hit, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1942 and the second-biggest box-office hit of the decade, after Gone with the Wind. It was also a critical darling, receiving twelve Academy Award nominations and winning six, including Best Picture, Best Director, and the first-ever five acting nominations for a single film.

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on Monday, August 18, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitations with a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. How does the film portray the gradual shift from peaceful, everyday life to the full-scale reality of war? What specific scenes or events illustrate this change most effectively?
2. The film was a powerful piece of Allied propaganda. In what ways do you see it trying to influence its audience's opinion on the war? Consider the portrayal of the Miniver family, the German pilot, and the vicar's final speech.
3. Discuss the role of women in the film. How does Mrs. Miniver's character challenge or conform to the traditional gender roles of her time, particularly in her actions during the Dunkirk evacuation and her confrontation with the German pilot?
4. The final scene, where the surviving townspeople gather in the bombed-out church, is one of the most famous in cinema history. What is the message of this scene, and why do you think it resonated so strongly with audiences during World War II?
5. How does the film use both grand, epic moments (like the Dunkirk evacuation) and intimate, personal moments (like the Minivers' family life) to tell its story? How do these two scales of storytelling work together to create an emotional impact?

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman star in “Gaslight”

Gaslight (1944) is an American psychological thriller set in 19th-century London. The film was directed by George Cukor and stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotten. The film features Dame May Whitty, and Angela Lansbury in her feature film debut.

Alice Alquist, a world-famous opera singer is murdered in her home in Victorian London. Her niece Paula (Bergman) is sent to Italy to study opera like her aunt, but unfortunately, she doesn’t have her aunt’s talent. When she reaches adulthood, she falls in love with her accompanist Gregory Anton (Boyer). They marry after a two-week romance and settle in her late aunt’s townhouse. Paula has a hard time living in the home where everything reminds her of that terrible murder. While moving her aunt’s furnishings into the attic, Paula discovers a letter from a man named Sergis Bauer. When Gregory sees the letter he becomes enraged, but then apologizes.

Is Gregory hiding something from Paula? If so, what does it mean?

 

Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer

George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964).

Charles Boyer (1899 - 1978) was a French-American stage and film actor. Boyer was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award four times. He became a major movie star in the late 1930s in films like The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939). He starred as the evil husband of Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (1944). Boyer starred opposite most of the top female stars of the period including Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur, Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine, Katharine Hepburn, and Olivia de Havilland. As he grew older, Boyer played supporting roles in film and also starred on Broadway in Kind Sir (1953 - 1954) and The Marriage-Go-Round (1958 - 1960).

Ingrid Bergman (1915 – 1982) was a Swedish actress who became an international star upon her Hollywood debut in Intermezzo (1939). Few actresses were as popular as Bergman during the 1940s. In fact, she was the number two box office draw (after Bing Crosby) in 1946. She starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) opposite Gary Cooper, and Gaslight (1944) for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award. She starred opposite newcomer Gregory Peck in Spellbound (1945) which was her first collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock. Bergman would win another Best Actress Academy Award for Anastasia (1956) and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Murder on the Orient Express (1974).

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 in The Name of the Game, Cimarron Strip, and Ironside. Cotten’s last film role was in 1981.

 

Angela Lansbury and Ingrid Bergman

Gaslight trivia

• M-G-M tried to get the film negatives of the 1940 British version destroyed.
• Ingrid Bergman studied mental patients to help with her characterization of Paula.
• Angela Lansbury turned 18 during the production of the film. The cast and crew held a birthday party for her.
• Bergman was initially concerned that she wouldn’t be able to portray a fragile character like Paula.
• Boyer’s son and only child was born during production.
• In her autobiography, Bergman said that Boyer was the most intelligent actor she ever worked with and one of the nicest.

 

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive

Click HERE to join the online discussion on Monday, February 17, 2025, 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. The film is described today as a psychological thriller. Does that description work for you? Would you categorize it differently?
2. What did you think of Bergman’s performance?
3. Charles Boyer was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in this film (he lost to Bing Crosby). What did you think of his performance?
4. Angela Lansbury had never acted before her role as the maid, Nancy. What did you think of her performance?
5. Joseph Cotten is hardly ever mentioned when this film is discussed. Is his a thankless role?

 

 

"Suspicion" comes between Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine

Suspicion (1941) is a psychological romance directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. The screenplay was written by Samson Raphaelson, Joan Harrison, and Alma Reville (Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock). The movie was based on the novel Before the Fact (1932) by Francis Iles.

Playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Grant) meets a shy young woman named Lina McLaidlaw (Fontaine) on a train in England. Later they meet and he flirts with her and though reluctant at first, but she lets her defenses down when she hears her parents conclude that she will never marry.

Lina and Johnnie do marry but all is not bliss. Johnnie lies and connives his way through life leading Lina to think she made a terrible mistake by marrying him. The situation between them grows worse with Lina suspecting that Johnnie wants to do her in to gain her inheritance.

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 are 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).

Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations for Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Joan Fontaine (1917 – 2013) was a British-American actress who starred in more than 45 films during Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” After secondary roles in Gunga Din (1939) and The Women (1939), her fortunes turned with her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film, Rebecca (1940). She was nominated for Best Actress for her role in that film but lost to Ginger Rogers. The next year, she worked with Hitchcock again in Suspicion and this time won the Best Actress Oscar, beating out her older sister Olivia de Havilland. She received a third and final nomination for The Constant Nymph (1943). Other popular Fontaine films include This Above All (1942), From This Day Forward (1946), Ivy (1947), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Emperor Waltz (1948), and Ivanhoe (1952). After the late-1950s, she appeared less in films and more on stage and television. Fontaine and her sister are the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards.

The cast is rounded out by Cedric Hardwicke, Dame May Whitty, and Nigel Bruce.

Suspicion trivia:

• Joan Fontaine is the only performer to win an Oscar in an Alfred Hitchcock film.
• Fontaine read the novel the film was based on and sent Hitchcock a note offering to play the part for free, if necessary.
• This was the first film that Hitchcock produced as well as directed.
• Suspicion marked the first time Cary Grant worked with Hitchcock; he would go on to collaborate with the director on three more films, Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959).
• Grant was paid $112,500 and Fontaine earned $67,750.

To watch this film on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join our discussion of the film on Zoom, April 6, 2021, at 6:30 p.m., click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an email with Zoom invitation and meeting link.

Discussion questions:

1. Who had the better role, Grant or Fontaine?
2. What did you think of the pairing of Grant and Fontaine?
3. Did you think the ending was a letdown or did it make sense to you?
4. Would this rank as one of the director’s best films? Would it make your top-ten?

Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes (1938) is a British thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. The success of this film caught the attention of producer David O. Selznick. Selznick signed Hitchcock to a long-term contract and brought him to Hollywood in 1940.

Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty, and Margaret Lockwood

The plot involves Iris Henderson (Lockwood), a young woman returning home to get married after a European vacation with two girlfriends. An avalanche blocks the train so she ends up staying an extra night where she meets a kindly old governess and music teacher named Mrs. Froy (Dame May Whitty). When Iris finally gets on the train home, she ends up sharing a compartment with Mrs. Froy. Sometime during her journey, Mrs. Froy disappears and no one in her compartment remembers the old woman, making Iris wonder if she dreamed up their meeting or if her fellow passengers are lying. She enlists the help of Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave), a young ethnomusicologist who is somewhat skeptical of her claims.

Will they find Mrs. Froy or did Iris dream up the whole thing, the result of an accident before boarding the train.

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 are classics that have been honored and studied for years. Some of Hitchcock’s classic films include The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936), Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960).

Alfred Hitchcock and Margaret Lockwood on the set of The Lady Vanishes

Margaret Lockwood (1916 – 1990) was an English actress who began her career on the stage but gained fame as one of Britain’s most popular movie stars during the 1930s and 1940s. She had a starring role in Bank Holiday (1938), directed by Carol Reed. The movie was a huge success and made Lockwood a star. Next up would be The Lady Vanishes (1938), which brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Lockwood didn’t take to Hollywood and soon returned to England where she made a series of popular costume dramas including The Wicked Lady (1945) co-starring James Mason.

Michael Redgrave (1909 – 1985) was an English stage and film actor and a director. He worked primarily on the British stage but had some significant film roles. He made his American film debut in Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) co-starring Rosalind Russell. For his performance, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other notable film roles include The Stars Look Down (1940), Dead of Night (1945), and The Browning Version (1951). He is the father of actresses Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave.

Dame May Whitty (1865 – 1948) was an English stage and film actress. Whitty made her Hollywood debut at age 72 in Night Must Fall (1937) co-starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell. For her performance, Whitty was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. After her role for Hitchcock in The Lady Vanishes, Whitty moved permanently to Hollywood where she appeared in many classic films including Suspicion (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Gaslinght (1944), and Green Dolphin Street (1947).

The Lady Vanishes trivia

• There is no background music, except for the beginning and end of the film
• Motion picture debut of Michael Redgrave
• The movie begins in the fictional European country of Bandrinka
• Charters and Caldicott were created for the movie; they don’t appear in the novel
• Vivien Leigh screen tested for the role of Iris Henderson

To watch the film, click on the link below.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x239ehl

After you watch the film, join us for a discussion on Zoom, October 13 at 6 p.m. Central Time. For links to the Zoom meeting click the Meetup link.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the Macguffin in this film? A Macguffin “is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself.”
2. The French film director Francois Truffaut said The Lady Vanishes was his favorite Hitchcock film and was the best representation of his work. What do you think he meant? Do you agree?
3. What did you think of the chemistry between Lockwood and Redgrave?
4. What did you make of the characters Charters and Caldicott?

Hitchcock’s “Suspicion” to screen August 12, 2014 at Daystar Center

When: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

Suspicion (1941) was Alfred Hitchcock’s fourth American film. It’s legendary for several reasons. It’s the first time the director worked with Cary Grant—they would go on to work together on four films—and the second time he worked with actress Joan Fontaine (Rebecca).

The plot
Fontaine plays Lina McLaidlaw, a shy young woman who meets playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Grant) on a train. Lina is intrigued by Johnnie and finds herself falling in love  with him, much to her parents chagrin. Lina and Johnnie eventually get married and set up housekeeping in a beautiful home purchased with borrowed money. Lina discovers, after her honeymoon, that her husband is flat broke. When Johnnie asks Lina about her inheritance from her father’s estate, Lina begins to suspect that her husband may be planning to kill her. Did Johnnie marry Lina for her money?

And the Oscar goes to
As already mentioned, this was Grant’s first collaboration with Hitchcock. Hitchcock, like no other director, managed to bring out the darker side of Grant, giving the actor a dimension not seen before. Fontaine who had her breakout performance in Rebecca, Hitchcock’s first American film, once again plays a quiet and reserved young woman forced to face some unpleasant situations. For her efforts, Fontaine was rewarded with an Academy Award for the Best Actress of 1942. She is the only actor to win an Oscar in a Hitchcock film.

Probably the most famous glass of milk
in movie history

Great characters
Suspicion is populated with some of the best character actors in the business: Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, and Leo G. Carroll.

After the success of Suspicion, Hitchcock’s name began to appear above the title of each of his films, starting with Saboteur (1942).

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!
Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.