Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1943
Running Times: 108 mins
Format: black and white     35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Skirball Productions presents
Copyright: Univeral Pictures Company Inc
Producer: Jack H. Skirball

SCRIPT
Script: Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, Alma Reville
Story: Gordon McDonell

DIRECTION
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Assistant Director: William Tummel

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Joseph Valentine

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Milton Carruth

MUSIC
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin; Franz Lehár (Merry Widow Waltz)
Musical Director: Charles Previn

SOUND
Director of Sound: Bernard B. Brown
Technician: Robert Pritchard
Sound System: Western Electric Recording

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Costumes: Vera West
Teresa Wright's Gowns: Adrian

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: John B. Goodman
Associate Art Director: Robert Boyle
Set Decorator: R.A. Gausman
Associate Set Decorator: E.R. Robinson

OTHER CREW
Set Continuity: Adele Cannon

LOCATIONS
Locations: Santa Rosa, California, USA; Newark, New Jersey, USA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to acknowledge the contribution of Mr Thornton Wilder to the preperation of this production
Alfred Hitchcock through the courtesy of David O. Selznick Productions Inc

CAST
Teresa Wright (Charlie)
Joseph Cotten (Uncle Charlie)
Macdonald Carey (Detective Jack Graham)
Henry Travers (Joseph Newton)
Patricia Collinge (Emma Newton)
Hume Cronyn (Herbie Hawkins)
Wallace Ford (Detective Fred Saunders)
Edna May Wonacott (Ann Newton)
Charles Bates (Roger Newton)
Irving Bacon (station master)
Clarence Muse (pullman porter)
Janet Shaw (Louise)
Estelle Jewell (Catherine)
Alfred Hitchcock (man on train playing cards (uncredited))

PLOT SUMMARY

Charlie Newton decides to invite her favourite uncle, Charlie, after whom she is named, to stay with her family in Santa Rosa, North California. But Charlie is being pursued by the police who suspect him of being the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, a serial killer who seduces and strangles rich widows...

AVAILABILITY

Germany
Video Distributors: Universal Pictures Germany
DVD Distributors: Universal Pictures Germany; Universal Pictures Germany (902 570 2 (Die Hitchcock Collection))

Portugal
Theatrical Distributors: Filmes Alcântara

UK
Theatrical Distributors: General Film Dist Ltd
Video Distributors: CIC Video; Delta Music; Universal Pictures Video (8200319 - The Hitchcock Collection)
DVD Distributors: Universal Pictures Video (8236202 - The Hitchcock Collection)

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Universal Pictures (1943); Realart Pictures Inc (1950 re-release)
Video Distributors: MCA/Universal Home Video
Television Distributors: Screen Gems Inc
Laserdisc Distributors: MCA Home Video (40112)
DVD Distributors: Universal Home Entertainment (20672)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Argentina
Rating: 16

Australia
Rating: PG

Canada
Rating: PG (Ontario)

Chile
Rating: 18

Finland
Rating: K-16

France
Rating: U

Germany
Rating: 16

Ireland
Rating: PG

Peru
Rating: 18

Spain
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: A (original rating); PG

USA
Rating: approved (PCA #9011); PG (1984 re-rating)

AWARDS

1944
Academy Awards, USA
Best Writing, Original Story (Gordon McDonell) - nominated

1991
National Film Preservation Board, USA
Added to the National Film Registry

Satellite Awards, USA
Outstanding Classic DVD - nominated (for Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection - also for Saboteur (1942), Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Trouble With Harry (1955) , The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972) and Family Plot (1976))

TIMELINE

1942
July
Day Unknown: USA - filming begins

October
Day Unknown: USA - filming ends

1943
January
12: USA - theatrical release

February
10: UK - rated A by the BBFC (for theatrical release)

August
16: Sweden - theatrical release

1945
April
25: Portugal - theatrical release

September
2: Finland - theatrical release
26: France - theatrical release

November
21: Denmark - theatrical release

1946
January
4: Austria - theatrical release

1958
June
13: Finland - theatrical re-release

1967
April
26: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1976
December
4: Finland - television broadcast (on MTV1)

1977
January
23: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1982
July
31: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

October
2: Finland - television broadcast (on MTV1)

1984
October
13: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1987
June
6: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

1989
October
8: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

1992
January
22: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

1993
May
Day Unknown: UK - television broadcast (on Sky Movies)

November
18: UK - rated PG by the BBFC (for video release)

1994
January
17: UK - video release

1997
May
5: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2 (as part of Hitchcock Season))

1998
May
30: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

September
5: Finland - television broadcast (on MTV3)
15: UK - trailer rated U by the BBFC (for video release)

1999
August
1: UK - video deleted
2: UK - video release

2000
October
4: France - theatrical release

2001
March
6: USA - DVD release (Universal Home Entertainment (20672))

May
15: UK - trailer rated U by the BBFC (for video release)

June
13: Germany - DVD release (Universal Pictures Germany)
18: UK - DVD release

2002
December
31: UK - video deleted

2003
February
3: Germany - Universal Pictures Germany (902 570 2 (Die Hitchcock Collection))

April
27: UK - DVD deleted
28: UK - DVD release; video release (Universal Pictures Video (8200319 - The Hitchcock Collection)

2004
April
30: UK - television broadcast (on ITV1)

September
30: UK - video deleted (Universal Pictures Video (8200319 - The Hitchcock Collection))

2005
May
31: UK - DVD deleted

October
17: UK - DVD release (Universal Pictures Video (8236202 - The Hitchcock Collection)

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Epäilyksen varjo - Finnish title
I tvivlens skygge - Danish title
Im Schatten des Zweifels - Austrian / German title
Mentira - Portuguese title
L'ombra del dubbio - Italian title
L'ombre d'un doute - French / French Belgian / French Canadian title
De schaduw van een twijfel - Flemish Belgian title
Skuggan av ett tvivel - Swedish title
A Sombra de uma Dúvida - Brazilian title
La sombra de una duda - Argentinean / Spanish title

LINKS

REMAKES
Shadow of a Doubt (1991)
Step Down to Terror (1958)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favourite Film (2000)
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999)
Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973)
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)

KEYWORDS

banks, bank managers, bars, california, chases, churches, detectives, fugitives, libraries, newspapers, pool halls, railway stations, serial killers, strangulation, suffocation, telegrams, trains, widows

Last Updated: 30 November, 2008