AMERICANA IN "SHADOW OF A DOUBT" Hitchcock loved using patriotic symbols in his movies (the Statue of
Liberty in "Saboteur"; the Jefferson Memorial in
"Strangers on a Train" (1); Mount Rushmore in "North by
Northwest"). Equally important are his images of a nostalgic,
idealized America (an idyllic seaside village in "The Birds";
an amusement park in "Strangers on a Train"; quiet and innocent towns
in "The Trouble With Harry" and "Shadow of a Doubt"). "Shadow of a Doubt" is Hitchcock's first American movie,
that is, a story with a decidedly American flavor. Filmed almost entirely on location
in Santa Rosa (2) in California's wine growing region, it could exist most
anywhere, in the Midwest or even on the east coast. It's a town
centered on the family where the home is a haven (3), with values we would go to war to defend, which was exactly was what we were
doing in 1943, the year "Shadow of a Doubt" was released. The story has to do with the visit of Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten)
who has come to Santa Rosa for a family visit. Actually he's been
pursued by a pair of policemen who suspect him of murder. The Norton
family welcomes him with open arms, especially his sister Emma (Patricia
Collinge) and his niece Charlie (Teresa
Wright) who's been named after
him. Hitchcock's opening sequence, however, takes place in a nameless
large city with its idle factories, rundown tenements, and vagrant
population. Crime can and does flourish in such a place. A man is stretched out on a bed in a seedy
rooming house, money carelessly strewn about. We soon suspect he is being
pursued by the police for a series of crimes the press has labeled
"The Merry Widow Murders." Cut to Santa Rosa, seemingly immune from the
world outside, white, middleclass, idyllic, the only policeman the
friendly traffic cop (4) who knows people by name. An innocent
sleepy town,
far from the sordid world we've just seen in the opening sequence.
If one were to choose which city might be the setting for murder, Santa
Rosa would never be considered. Unless you're Alfred
Hitchcock. What better place for evil to show its head than a contented place where crossing the street against the light is the
worst kind of law breaking. Uncle Charlie's arrival in Santa Rosa is quintessential
Hitchcock: as the train pulls in to the station it lets off large
clouds of black smoke that effectively hid the sun (5). Evil cometh to
Santa Rosa. Uncle Charlie in effect takes over the Norton house. He is
seated at the head of the table (6), presumable taking the place of Joe Newton
(Henry Travers), the father. At this welcome home dinner he
dominates the conversation. Clearly his sister Emma is besotted (7);
Uncle Charlie will latter use her feelings to dissuade his niece Charlie
when she begins to suspect that her uncle is not what he appears to be. To further cement his place in his sister's family, Uncle Charlie
has expensive gift for all. At first, Charlie refuses hers saying
his presence is gift enough, but Uncle Charlie insists, and takes her hand
and places on her finger a ring, itself a symbol of family unity (8).
When she discovers an inscription engraved inside, he tries to take it
back but she says she doesn't care--it's from her beloved uncle and she
will not part with it. It's Uncle Charlie's first misstep, and it
will eventually cause his downfall. There's a nuanced tenseness throughout this homecoming
sequence. Not only does Charles take over the house and table, he is
given Charlie's bedroom (hmmm); he insinuates himself into Emma's emotional psyche, and he tries to do the
same with his niece. He becomes--or nearly so--a "home breaker," an old-fashioned term that usually has a sexual
connotation, not wholly inappropriate in these early scenes. In
point of fact, he does literally break a part of the house by sawing and
weakening one of the steps on the outside staircase that Charlie
frequently uses. She is nearly killed (9). It is the first of his
two attempts to kill her, both by using the house as a means of murder. It seems for a while that Uncle Charlie will win. The Newton
house seems to be his (10); Charlie now fears the very home she lives in, fears what might be in store
for her. It wouldn't be a Hitchcock picture without some comic relief, in
this case the conversations between Joe and his neighbor friend Herbie
(Hume Cronyn). Their principle, in fact only, subject is
murder. They are very inventive, entertaining each other with
fanciful scenarios of the perfect crime. Of course they wouldn't
recognize a real murderer if he sat with them at the dinner table--which
Uncle Charlie does. One of the ironies of Herbie's comings and
goings is the obvious fact that Santa Rosa is an open door town.
Nobody locks up (11). In his interviews with François Truffaut, Hitchcock has said,
"The more successful the villain, the more successful the
picture." Uncle Charlie as played by Joseph Cotten is charming,
sophisticated and believable. We're not surprised that everyone is
taken in by him. Only his niece is on to him, yet she loves him and
in the end destroys him. Only she and her detective friend Jack
Graham (Macdonald Carey) know the truth. Santa Rosa will not shed
its innocence, not yet anyway. But things will change. One of
the last things Charlie says to her uncle gives us a hint of a climate
change in her own psyche. "Go away or I'll kill you myself," she says with
icy determination. But Hitchcock is if nothing prescient. World War II will
change everything. Santa Rosa will grow and prosper. It will
soon lock its doors. One final observation. A favorite Hitchcock technique is the
placement of an evil object or person into an otherwise positive or
uplifting scene, especially when framing symbols of Americana. (See
pictures #1 and #10 at the right.) Hitchcock's placement of a
menacing figure in a place of peace induces fears which, in almost all his
films, "precede goodness," according to film critic Raymond
Durgnat. Catharsis may be at hand but for how long? 
a commentary by Tony McRae
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