There is no other way to say this, Shadow Of Doubt, is a creepy uncle flick. There, now I've said it! The creepy uncle in this case is played be Joseph Cotton. This is one only a very few Hitchcock film were in the lead actor is the villain of the film. Cotton isn't just any villain, such as a bank robber or kidnapper for ransom....he's a serial killer by the name of Charlie Oakley. When he gets jammed up back east, he phones his completely innocent sister in Santa Rosa, California and announces to her and her all American family his eminent arrival. Upon his arrival, his niece, who is named after him, is just thrilled. She's been bored of late and thinks Uncle Charlie is the perfect solution to it---she later finds out that this particular cure for her boredom is a scary and dangerous one. At first, just a few suspicious things start happening, such as detectives snooping around and speaking to Uncle Charlie privately. It soon becomes clear that they are searching for a man who woos elderly women, the kills them and robs them. When another suspect is killed in Portland, Maine, the authorities think they got their man. But then Uncle Charlie, who has already announced at the dinner table his hatred of rich widows and compares them, chillingly, to animal that need to be slaughtered, tells young Charlie that he is really the man they were looking for all along. She wishes to keep this a secret, to avoid a family scandal and the destruction of her dear Mother's life; but then she starts having a series of very serious "accidents." ...So it looks as though her hand might be forced. A lot of sources credit writer Thornton Wilder, who was the main screenwriter for the film, with the story; it is in fact based on a story by Gordon McDonnell. I have to say that it is a great Hitchcock movie to play on Mother's Day! And, it was Peanut's choice.
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