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Shadow Of A Doubt Film Analysis

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Shadow of a Doubt, a 1943 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, begins with Uncle Charlie lying on his bed in deep thought. The landlady informs Charlie that the two men waiting at the corner were waiting for him, and Charlie quickly gathers his items and flees. The two men follow him around corners and past alleyways. Once Charlie is sure he has lost them, he stops at a pay phone booth and sends a telegram to his sister in Santa Rosa, California, telling her that he will visit in a couple of days. In Santa Rosa, Charlotte, who also goes by Charlie, is lying in bed complaining to her father. Once the family learns that Charlie is coming for a visit, they are all beaming with excitement, especially Charlotte. The family picks …show more content…

He often enjoyed reading about true crime, history, and famous assassinations. When author Gordon McDonell, who wrote adventure and crime novels, heard that Hitchcock wanted to make one of these movies, he met up with Hitchcock to hear one of his stories over lunch. This story was originally called “Uncle Charlie.” Hitchcock ran into some contract problems with Selznick International because he could not make “Uncle Charlie” fast enough for Universal, but he eventually got his availability extended and was able to move forward with the movie. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock brainstormed the screenplay development and decided to have the town be small and American yet invaded by modern evils. In fact, this was Hitchcock’s first major American film, and he was able to explore the true American family of the time. Thornton Wilder was chosen to expand the treatment into a screenplay, and he was the one who proposed the opening of Shadow of a Doubt, which was a nod to Hemingway’s well-known story “The Killers.” Together, Wilder and Hitchcock meticulously crafted the plot and how each piece of information in the story would be revealed to the audience. Later, Hitchcock believed that the structure of the intense story was solid but that the characters and dialogue needed to be improved. Sally Benson was recruited for this task to add humor, modern touches, and freshness to the family

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