“If you think about the conversation that the film is having, and think about how Hitchcock later filmed the Nazi characters in Notorious - revealing an outright barbarism in characters who seem pretty civilized on the surface - there’s a whole discussion to be had around what true depravity can look like, and what it means to dehumanize other people…That conversation is happening cinematographically in Hitchcock, but you have to understand the context to really see it. With a liberal arts education, you are well equipped to really unpack and unlock that moment. “A lot of film classes or textbooks will note how the scene shows Hitchcock focusing our attention…well yes, but why? It has to do with history, literature, sociology, psychology…there are so many aspects of the liberal arts that actually plug into that moment. “Hitchcock makes sure we’re looking directly at Uncle Charlie in this moment. The words are chilling, but understanding the context of the film - when it was made, who wrote the script and why the director chose a certain camera shot - reveals layers of deeper meaning that are beyond words alone.īeloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) reveals a more sinister side in this close-up from Shadow of a Doubt. The uncle continues: “Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals, hmm? And what happens to animals when they get too fat and too old?” Turning his face directly to the camera, her uncle coolly responds, “Are they?” At this point young Charlie, off camera, interjects, “They’re alive. Kornhaber observes that during this speech the camera slowly moves from a wider shot to a closer shot of Uncle Charlie, and then stops. Proud of their jewelry but of nothing else. Drinking the money, eating the money, losing the money at bridge. Poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (1943).ĭonna Kornhaber, an associate professor of English at UT Austin and a nationally recognized Academy Film Scholar, recalls a scene in Shadow of a Doubt in which Uncle Charlie, portrayed by Joseph Cotten, reveals his true nature and all but confirms to his niece that he is the “Merry Widow Murderer” sought in a nationwide manhunt.Īt the dinner table Uncle Charlie describes rich widows as “useless…you see them in the hotels, the best hotels, every day by the thousands.
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