Shadow Of A Doubt Essay - 3266 Words

Shadow of a Doubt Shadow of a Doubt is an Alfred Hitchcock film that was shot on location in the 1940s town of Santa Rosa, California. The town itself is representative of the ideal of American society. However, hidden within this picturesque community dark corruption threatens to engulf a family. The tale revolves around Uncle Charlie, a psychotic killer whose namesake niece, a teenager girl named Charlie, is emotionally thrilled by her Uncles arrival. However her opinion slowly changes as she probes into her mysterious uncle. In the film, director/producer Alfred Hitchcock blends conventions of film noir with those of a small town domestic comedy as a means of commenting on the contradictions in American values.†¦show more content†¦To allow him to continue his nap, the landlady lowers the blind before leaving and its shadow is drawn down over Charlies face. Rather than inducing sleep, the darkness causes him to sit up alertly. Charlie snuffs out his cigar, finishes his drink, rises and ang rily hurls his glass against floor. He raises the blind and observes the two visitors waiting outside for him and speaks: quot;What do you know? Youre bluffing. Youve nothing on me.quot; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Charles leaves the room, and intentionally walks toward and past the two men as a challenge. They ignore him, but chase after their suspect (filmed from high above) in a desolate, abandoned lot, quickly losing his track and appearing astonished by his abrupt disappearance. The camera turns up and to the left, discovering the cigar-smoking character in profile on a rooftop. From a cinematography point of view this is the most Film Noir portion of the film. In a dark and dirty setting it introduces us to the good guys and the bad guy, culminating in a chase scene. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;We dissolve to see Charles in a dingy poolroom talking on a telephone. He is sending a telegram to his sister in Santa Rosa, California. He has invited himself to take sanctuary there and will arrive on Thursday. Santa Rosa, California is introduced as Charlie repeats the words quot;Santa Rosa, Californiaquot; to the operator - we are shown a beautiful,Show MoreRelated shadow of a doubt Essay699 Words   |  3 PagesCharlie-Horse nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock utilizes and stretches the ambiguous line between comedy and suspense by utilizing smaller characters in the film to keep the story line moving, and to help break sequence or rhythm of what the audience had been perceiving at the time. Many of the minor characters were used as â€Å"fillers†, such as the waitress in the bar when Uncle Charlie and Charlie are sitting in the bar, and makes the comment â€Å"I would die for a ringRead MoreShadow of the Doubt Last Scene1205 Words   |  5 PagesThe movie Shadow of a Doubt is an American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1943, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing and Original Story by Thornton Wilder and Sally Benson. The movie notes the outstanding and remarkable film-making style of Hitchcock. It contains a lot of scenes in which people can empathise with the characters and perceive the feelings and messages from the director. 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Hitchcock was quoted as saying that Shadow of a Doubt, â€Å"brought murder and violence back in the home, where it rightly belongs.† ThisRead More Comparing Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy and Platos The Republic1503 Words   |  7 Pagesphilosophers, in which this paper will go into depth about are Descartes and Plato. Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy and Platos The Republic are the topics that are going to be discussed in this paper. In Meditations, Descartes brings doubt to everything he believes because it is human nature to believe that which is false. He states that most of what he believes comes from the senses and that a lot of times those senses can be deceived. His conclusion of doubting everything is basedRead MorePlatos Allegory of the Cave1093 Words   |  4 Pagesface a wall in the cave. The cave is illuminated by a fire behind the people. On the wall, there are projections of shadows created by the fire and objects that passes by fire. 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That would be ironic since the themes of the film are based upon human understanding of doubt, dreams, good, evil, ignorance and knowledge. The film portrays a neat staircase that leads into the house of an all American family and a rickety set of stairs off the side of the house that