![]() ![]() Instead, he’s hiding away from his pursuers. Her solution is to telegram her wealthy, adventurous Uncle Charlie, who is coincidentally already on his way to their home – but not to enliven their tedium. In Santa Rosa, young Charlie (Teresa Wright) is in a rut and severely depressed, worried about money issues for the family, her bank clerk father Joseph (Henry Travers), her overworked mother Emma (Patricia Collinge), and the general lack of excitement in their lives. ![]() ![]() But he slips past the men and sends a telegram to the Newton household in Santa Rosa, California – containing the only relatives he has in the world, and a great residence in which to hole up. Just outside waits a couple of persistent men who are clearly interested in catching up with Spencer – for some sinister purpose. Charles Spencer Oakley (Joseph Cotten) reclines, fully dressed, on a bed in a small apartment, with wads of cash spilling from a nightstand onto the floor. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style.R. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. But the film's chilling prologue has already revealed Uncle Charlie's true identity as the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, and the suspense grows almost unbearable when young Charlie's trust gives way to gradual dread and suspicion. Charlie was named after her favorite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) gets along famously with his admiring niece. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbor (Hume Cronyn). Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. ![]() Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |