Shadow of a Doubt

Title: Shadow of a Doubt
Year: 1943
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson & Alma Reville; story by Gordon McDonell
Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Distinctions: currently #179 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a girl suspects her uncle might be a murderer
Length: 108 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), February 2009
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 10/10

Easily the best Alfred Hitchcock movie I’ve seen so far. I didn’t think the ending is very satisfying, but everything else is great. The score is completely wrong (a 1930’s style action/adventure score for a psychological suspense film), but in a way that works beautifully.

The Ox-Bow Incident

Title: The Ox-Bow Incident
Year: 1943
Director: William A. Wellman
Writer: Lamar Trotti, based on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Starring: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews
Music: Cyril J. Mockridge
Distinctions: currently #191 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a lynch mob in the old west accuses three people of murder, at least two of whom are obviously innocent
Length: 75 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), December 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design)

It’s an interesting story; the “hero” is an outsider who basically just stands around and watches everything happen. It’s a bit dated, visually. Also very serious, which I definitely did not expect from an early 40’s Western.  The music is nothing notable, but I’ll give them credit for how unobtrusive it is, letting things play dark rather than sentimental. The acting from the leads is great, although a lot of the others are barely getting by.