THE FILM & WATER PODCAST
Episode 30: SHADOW OF A DOUBT
Host Rob Kelly welcomes longtime Nuclear Sub Anj (COMIC BOX COMMENTARY) to discuss Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 masterpiece, SHADOW OF A DOUBT starring Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright! Plus Listener Feedback!
Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?
THE AQUAMAN SHRINE - http://www.aquamanshrine.net
ANJ - http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net
Follow THE FILM & WATER PODCAST on Twitter: @FilmAndWaterPod
Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-fire-and-water-podcast/id463855630
This episode brought to you by The Only Living Boy from Papercutz - http://olbcomic.com
This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:
- Visit the Fire & Water WEBSITE: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com
- Follow Fire & Water on TWITTER – https://twitter.com/FWPodcasts
- Like our Fire & Water FACEBOOK page – https://www.facebook.com/FWPodcastNetwork
- Use our HASHTAG online: #FWPodcasts
Thanks for listening! That's A Wrap!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I was so glad to hear you discuss this classic Hitchcock film that still remains something of a hidden gem to many. I always thought much of the credit for the movie’s success was due to the screenplay by Thorton Wilder (Our Town). Here he offers another interesting take on small town American life. Both Santa Rosa and Grover’s Corners seem idyllic on the surface but there are darker undercurrents lurking below. It was also nice to hear you spotlight actress Patricia Collinge, who made only a handful of films. Her best work is in “The Little Foxes” as the tragic Birdie Hubbard. If you’ve never seen this version of Lillian Hellman’s play with what may be the best Bette Davis performance you owe it to yourself to check it out ASAP.
It’s interesting to note that the original screenplay’s ending was somewhat different than what ended up onscreen. Young Charlie is more obviously depicted as pushing her uncle off the train (rather than him falling in their struggle). Here’s a nice video on the ending and Hitchcock’s use of hands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA14Ytip778
Finally, this clip is too good to pass up: Here’s a 1969 Hitchcock appearance on the Mike Douglas talk show where he mentions that Shadow of a Doubt is his personal favorite. Get a load of that panel sitting with Hitch: Joan Rivers, Rod McKeun, James Brown!
http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/The_Mike_Douglas_Show_(KYW-TV,_30/Dec/1969)
Sorry to say I am not familiar with this film. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it on TCM. I’m really behind on my Hitchcock films, only really knowing the ones everyone knows. Definitely adding this to the Film and Water list!
Chris
Thanks for great links Chuck!
Interesting to hear about the differences between script and film!
I saw Shadow of a Doubt for the first time last year, and the more I thought about it afterwards, the more I liked it. It really grows on you. It’s a tour de force in creating a relatable villain that creeps you out as much as he does his niece the more things come to light. Like her, you’re holding out hope it’s all a big misunderstanding. Meant as the invasion of corruption into naive small-town America, the setting makes it seem rather un-Hitchcockian at first, and perhaps that’s why it takes a while to really get into it. As with Saboteur, lots of interesting characters to sink one’s teeth into. I could take or leave the precocious little girl, but the uptight mom is a delight, as are the two older gentlemen whose favorite topic of discussion is how they would murder one another without getting caught. Great macabre humor.
So much stuff in this, you could have doubled the episode and I wouldn’t have minded.
Never heard about this one, but now I definitely want to check it out.
One filmmaker you don’t often associate with Hitchcock is Woody Allen, but some of his more recent films do bear AH’s influence: Match Point (2005), Cassandra’s Dream (with Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, & Haley Atwell) (2007), and Irrational Man (2015). Even the more comedic Scoop (2006) with Hugh Jackman & Scarlet Johansson has a touch of Hitch.
Maybe this just my way of asking for a Woody-Centric episode.
I have never seen this film, but will be looking for it to see Joseph Cotton’s performance.
I was interested in your comment that Cary Grant was considered for the part because I am acquainted with the story from a radio adaptation of the film on _Screen Director’s Playhouse_ which starred Cary Grant in the role of Charlie the elder. Grant was a good radio actor who could convey both menace and disarming charm. It is easy for me to see him in the film role for Hitchcock after his work with him in_Suspicion_.
According to wiki, Cary Grant played “Uncle Charlie” in a 1950 TV version of Shadow of a Doubt opposite his then-wife Betsy Drake (young Charlie). It was William Powell as Uncle Charlie opposite Teresa Wright in the radio version. Joseph Cotten actually played the role again twice on radio: opposite Vanessa Brown and later the singer Deanna Durbin.
Here’s the Powell/Wright version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlrgIYCyIVA
Wiki goes onto say Mark Harmon starred in a 1991 TV version, which featured a cameo by Tippi Hedren. I met Ms. Hedren on the TCM cruise in 2011 and she was kind enough to autograph a copy of the original “The Birds” short story (which has a totally different setting and characters from the film).
I knew that Joseph Cotten did a radio version of the film, but haven’t found it online.
It was apparently very popular with radio producers; I found at least three versions listed as radio plays produced with different stars. I’ve only heard one.
I did watch the Hitchcock film and found it to be suitably creepy.