June 11th
Shadow of a Doubt***
US 1942. Universal. 108m. bw

A murderer of wealthy widows takes refuge in his family's home town, where his idolising eldest niece begins to unravel the truth.
Hitchcock's favourite "American" film. Although the opening scenes marking the villain's trail seem perfunctory, as is the unnecessary addition of romantic scenes with a detective, this is otherwise a brilliant piece of homespun idealised Americana with the murder element simmering underneath like an unwelcome (and inexplicable) skeleton in the closet. Not a corruption of the American Dream, but more a loving evocation of the old American way of life, where nobody wants the spell to break.

Written by: Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, Alma Reville, from a story by Gordon McDonell.
Producer: Jack Skirball.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Macdonald Carey, Wallace Ford, Edna May Wanacott, Charles Bates.
Photography: Joseph Valentine.
Music: Dmitri Tiomkin.