Shadow of a Doubt - 1943 (vry old)

Like some of us, I am in Tina's Hitchcock class. I admit, the film I watched in this class is the film I chose to write about for this week.

Cinematically (yes jeff, cinematically) I found the film to be very conservative in approach. Lots of wide master shots which is typical. I mean, lots of directors choose to go this route.

Hitchcock does that thing where he uses the dolly instead of the zoom. Pretty alternative for the time.

Lets talk about the shots. His use of scenery is really important. Honestly, I find his lighting to be quite amazing. In Rebecca (we watched a clip from it) the scene in the foyer of the light streaming in from the windows was brilliant, almost other-worldly.

Back to this film though, I really enjoyed the performances from Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. The dynamic they created, the tension and buildup was really commendable. Charlie was such a likable character. I have an affinity for attractive "classical" male film personas. Somehow in the 1940s this man was able to still be a studmuffin. I will never understand.

Hitchock has an almost assembly-line production routine for creating cinematic masterpieces. Dialogue carries most of the film. It is reminiscent of "The Bad Seed" in that the whole "properly exposed" "proper filmmaking" of the era. The blacks are black. The greys are grey.

Classic cinema. A cinematic adventure.

I think that anyone can admit that this film is great. The attention to detail, the masterful cinematic intent, the pressure on all of the crew, the way in which the actors carried themselves, its just thrilling.

In a place where the public wants to be entertained, Hitchcock delivers (cinematically). He was destined to be a public figure. In the limelight. He had a superhuman willingness to please. I consider Hitchcock a prolific filmmaker not for his cinematic intent but for his analysis of the public. His analysis of popular culture and judgement were visionary compared to todays hollywood directors.

Hitchock has a knack for creating cinematic ideas that exist in the plane of celluloid and somehow cannot be reproduced (albeit imitated) outside of the cinematic frame.