Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Shadow of a Doubt Blu-ray Movie Review

"Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals?"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown October 31, 2012

A man confronts his accuser atop the Statue of Liberty, where one false move will spell death. A wolf in sheep's clothing allows the beast lurking within to bear its teeth. A housemaster slowly, oh so slowly, pieces together the heinous crime perpetrated by two former students. A woman searches for clues in a suspected murderer's apartment just as the man returns home. Four people work to keep the demise of a fellow smalltown resident a secret from a local deputy. An assassin's gun slides out from behind a curtain as an ordinary man races to thwart his plot. An airplane buzzes then roars past as a man dives for cover. The hiss of a shower masks the approach of a madman with a knife in his hand. Countless birds gather on a jungle gym as a woman smokes a cigarette nearby. A husband barges into his new wife's bedroom and has his way with her as she retreats into a near-catatonic state. A physicist discovers killing a man isn't as easy as it might seem, wrestling with his victim right up until the violent end. A purple dress billows out beneath a dying woman like spilled blood. A serial killer retrieves his pin from a woman's grasp, one dead finger at a time. A fake psychic tries to squirm out of a thief's vice-like grip as he pushes a syringe closer and closer. Be it drama, horror or comedy, psychological stunner, monster movie or international spy thriller, is it any mystery that filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was known as the Master of Suspense? Is it any wonder his movies still hold hypnotic sway over filmfans all these years later?

A young woman comes to suspect her beloved uncle may be something else entirely...

Serial killers weren't exactly the stuff of screen legend in 1943. Such bloodthirsty roles didn't garner much Academy respect, attract the attention of Hollywood stars or warrant their own television shows, much less fill audiences with anything more complex than dread. Hitchcock didn't flinch. Even with seventy years of gray in its wiry beard, Shadow of a Doubt remains one of the droll director's best; an undisputed masterpiece that has sadly, tragically fallen into obscurity. I'd wager most of you have never even heard of Hitchcock's second Universal picture, much less sampled its still-unnerving portrait of a monster hiding in plain sight. Joseph Cotten is both the killer and the idyllic mask of a smalltown man he wears, and it's in his performance as Uncle Charlie that the film gains traction and, soon, nail-biting momentum. Teresa Wright isn't overshadowed in the role of his niece either, solidifying Hitch's knack for casting as one of his foremost talents. Unlike Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt finds the director in complete control, taking calculated risks and reaping the rewards of his own filmmaking and storytelling prowess. Others would have concealed Charlie's true nature, delivering the revelation as a shocking turn of events as the film wound down. Hitchcock, though, plays his hand almost from the outset, sacrificing the surprise of a late-game plot twist for the slowburn, three-act suspense that permeates his greatest films. And because we're not the only ones privy to dear Uncle Charlie's extracurricular activities, his ability to come and go as he pleases is that much more disconcerting. Dexter and its ilk wouldn't exist without Shadow of a Doubt, and no Masterpiece Collection would be able to live up to its name without it.

Shadow of a Doubt Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shadow of a Doubt is a bit softer than Saboteur at times, sure. But that only demonstrates Universal's devotion to the film's source elements, Hitchcock's intentions and Joseph Valentine cinematography. Rather than overzealously sharpening the image without any concern for the integrity of the original photography, the restoration team has applied the same deft touch it brought to Saboteur's overhaul, meaning Shadow's presentation is also one of the best in the 15-film set. Gray tones are nothing short of lovely, whites are clean and satisfying, and black levels are rich but forgiving, all thanks to excellent, dare I say impeccable contrast. Detail is terrific too, especially considering the film's age. Most fine textures are intact, edges are wonderfully refined, grain behaves naturally, and noise reduction and other digital techniques have been used cautiously and with the utmost care. Videophiles will definitely spot a few shortcomings -- some minor print damage (that appears more frequently than it does in Saboteur), a few fleeting halos and a hint of noise -- but each instance is fairly negligible and, in most every case, gone before it takes root. Universal has worked many a miracle and left very little room for improvement.

Shadow of a Doubt Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal's two-channel DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix doesn't disappoint either, although the process of restoring Shadow of a Doubt's original audio elements seems to have presented quite a few challenges. Voices are generally clean, clear and intelligible, but a few lines of dialogue are thin or hollow. Likewise, Dimitri Tiomkin's score sounds great on the whole but isn't given enough room to breathe. Again, though, it's the source, not the Universal team's restorative efforts or lossless track, that appears to be at fault, even if "fault" suggests a bigger issue that simply doesn't exist. Conversations fare nicely, dinner table chats are exacting, Uncle Charlie's revealing rant is as sharp and unsettling as it should be, and his climactic confrontation with his niece aboard a train tops things off nicely.

Shadow of a Doubt Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film (SD, 35 minutes): Hitchcock's daughter Pat Hitchcock O'Connell, associate art director Robert Boyle, and actors Teresa Wright (Charlie Newton) and Hume Cronyn (Herb Hawkins) reminisce about the film, while filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich chimes in with observations and insight into the characters, themes, story and unique place in Hitchcock's canon.
• Production Drawings (SD, 6 minutes): A series of original drawings from Boyle's sketchbook.
• Production Photographs (SD, 9 minutes): Movie posters, vintage ads and production photos.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 1 minute)

Shadow of a Doubt Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

No Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection would be complete without Shadow of a Doubt, a classic only rivaled by the likes of Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho. And while it's a shame most people have never seen the film, there's no time like the present. Universal's Blu-ray edition is a strong one, backed by a striking restoration, a near-perfect video transfer and a solid DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix. Additional extras would have been most welcome -- and deserved -- but that doesn't prevent Shadow of a Doubt from taking its place near the head of the Masterpiece Collection table.