Shadow of a Doubt (1942) apparently remained the director’s favourite of his own films throughout his lifetime. How that relates to the kinds of stories he told is what concerns us here with the assumptions of formal and aesthetic preoccupations which were somehow transmuted into themes of transference, guilt and the cliché of the woman in peril. One of the ongoing matters for cinéphiles is not just the affect of Hitchcock’s output but the methodology by which it was achieved: his manner of work, his dedication to style (and its relationship to content) and his very singular shooting process which were quite particular to him and inimical to the classical studio preference for coverage – master shots, close ups and reverse angles that could be shaped by the cutters into conventionally palatable fare. His avocation of the common man his dedication to the quotidian and his purveying of entertainment for its own sake, endeared him to the general public and yet his technical approach to story retains its fascination for student and fan alike. Hitchcock has long been an aesthetic construct as much as an infamous director but he remains an essential filmmaker not least because he made films that, for the most part, people wanted to see and they continue to enjoy today.
Robin Wood famously asked why it was that we should take Alfred Hitchcock seriously – and he then proceeded to explain (Wood, 2008). The Girl Who Knew Too Much: Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Part One, The Gothic Girls of Hollywoodīy Elaine Lennon Volume 27, Issue 1-2 / February 2023 58 minutes (14271 words)
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