#178- Shadow of a Doubt

Quick recap: Young Charlie (named before it was cool to call girls Charlie) loves her Uncle Charlie.That is, until she suspects he might be a serial killer. Which he totally is.

Just an uncle and his niece, embracing intimately

Fun (?) fact: The tune Young Charlie gets stuck in her head in the beginning of the film is the ‘Merry Widow Waltz’, a reference to her serial killer uncle. It’s supposed to have been a big clue as to whether or not Uncle Charlie is guilty, but as I’m not so up to date on my waltzes, I missed it.

Still Uncle Charlie and Young Charlie. Nothing weird going on at all.

My thoughts: Shadow of a Doubt was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a fact that at first surprised me and after watching, made perfect sense. Before starting this list, Hitchcock was synonymous with ‘horror’ to me, and I wasn’t entirely impressed by either Psycho or The Birds. But as I have since discovered through Frenzy and North by Northwest, he is also adept at thrillers and I have now learned, Film Noir. Hitchcock has said on several occasions that this was his favorite movie, and it’s pretty easy to see why.

For starters, I think the cast is what really makes this film so enjoyable. Joseph Cotten played the part of Uncle Charlie perfectly, making him a terrifying killer by the end of the movie. Young Charlie (played by Teresa Wright) was also wonderful, with her ability to be naive as well as the most wise in the family. My favorite characters, though, were Young Charlie’s dad and his friend, Herb. The two men had a hobby of coming up with ways to kill each other, which was as disturbing as it was comical.In one scene, Herb asks Charlie’s father if he tasted anything funny in the tea that was served earlier. The father admitted that it did taste funny, to which Herb replied that he had added soda, but it could’ve just as easily been poison. It almost seemed like something David Lynch might do, creating these characters who only talk of gruesome ways to murder the other and still manage to stay good friends.

The one drawback of the film is the actual mystery. It’s clear from the very beginning that Uncle Charlie is a murderer, so it really became more of a question of how he would be caught. The last quarter of the movie dealt with him trying to kill Young Charlie, since she knew too much, which became more comical than it should’ve been. Uncle Charlie was sinister and played his part well, but his constant attempts to murder his niece reminded me of Wil E. Coyote always trying to catch the Roadrunner and instead being outsmarted in some way.

Uncle Charlie giving his niece a ring, full of familial love

Final review: 4/5. Depending on your perspective, Shadow of a Doubt is a near perfect satire about suburban life (the entire town falls in love with Uncle Charlie, never stopping to question all the weird stuff he does).

Up next: Diary of a Country Priest

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#177-Louisiana Story

Quick recap: A sweet story about a young Cajun boy who loves hunting alligator, his pet raccoon, and Big Oil.

I ~~want~~ need a raccoon.

Fun (?) fact: Director Robert Flaherty used local actors for Louisiana Story, which confused many people into thinking this was a documentary.

That’s a pocket of salt the boy has dangling from his belt. supposedly to throw at monsters. Sounds legit.

My thoughts: If this had been a movie about a Cajun child and his adventures on the bayous, I probably would’ve enjoyed it more than I actually did. Although, as a side note, most summaries referred to the boy as having an ‘idyllic’ life, which is true if you think ‘idyllic’ means being in constant fear of getting eaten by gators.

The story about the oil derrick being set up outside the family’s house just didn’t make sense with the rest of the movie. Most of the time it felt like I was watching one of those old Disney nature films (you know, the one where they would purposefully throw lemmings off the cliff), but then the scene would switch to oil with the happy music still in place and it was confusing. In 2015, a story about Big Oil will most certainly end in tragedy, but in this movie the tragedy never came and everyone lived happily ever after.

The reason for this is because Louisiana Story was funded by the Standard Oil company with ‘no strings attached’, but I could practically see strings dangling from every aspect of this film. It is essentially a propaganda film. The movie takes great pains to show that no part of nature was harmed, and that the family ended up prospering because of the lease they signed. In reality, that’s just not something that happens and I’m curious if people back then bought the lie. It became downright creepy, all the scenes of the oil workers staring at the simple Cajun boy and him smiling back. A whole 5 minutes is devoted to this at the end of the film, with everyone waving stupidly to each other and staring longingly into each other’s eyes. Why don’t you just marry Big Oil, Cajun boy?

Final review: 2/5. The only saving grace is that darn raccoon, who has more sense than anyone else in this film.

Up next: Shadow of a Doubt

#176- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Quick recap: A young girl, Geneviéve, is in love with a guy, named Guy. He gets drafted to the war so the two decide to sleep together before he leaves. Geneviéve gets knocked up (of course) and after waiting a few months for Guy to write to her, gives up and marries some rich dude.

Fun (?) fact: Every word of this movie is sung. EVERY. WORD.

The ridiculously bright colors did a number on my eyes

My thoughts: Musicals have been hit or miss for me on this list and I fully expected this one to be in my ‘miss’ category by the end of the night. Every single word sung? COME ON. But actually, it had the effect of making the story more realistic. If you think about it, most musicals transition to singing and dancing with the most elaborate sets and then everyone goes back to what they are doing, as if it never happened. With The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the film is one entire song and the same melody can be heard from beginning to end. At some point I forgot the singing was even there and was able to focus on the story and characters.

Speaking of umbrellas, this Glee mashup of Umbrella/Singin’ in the Rain perfectly illustrates how over the top musicals can be.

After getting over my shock that this is a musical, my next shock came as I realized that I was watching a melodrama. COME ON. But as far as melodramas go, this one wasn’t so bad. In fact, it seemed almost….logical? No, most teenage girls wouldn’t marry a random rich guy after pledging their undying love for the man that knocked them up. But Geneviéve is in a different position, about to have to care for a newborn when her mother, the owner of the umbrella shop, can barely stay afloat. For survival’s sake, it makes sense to marry. Poor Guy, though. Apparently know one told him that his girlfriend had moved on and that he would never get to meet his child. Never fear, however, because Guy is ridiculously good looking and ends up with his late Aunt’s nurse. They marry and have a child of their own, a little boy named François. Years later, the two meet again, where Guy discovers that Geneviéve has also named her daughter François! The conversation is about as awkward as it gets and the two part, realizing that you can still be happy even if you aren’t with the one you planned on being with the rest of your life.

Final review: 3/5. It’s worth watching if you are a fan of musicals, especially ones that don’t have happy endings.

Up next: Louisiana Story

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#175- Raging Bull

Quick recap: Jake LaMotta was a talented boxer in the 1940s and also a huge jerk.

aww true love <3 (This was wife #2 of 7, btw)

aww true love ❤
(This was wife #2 of 7, btw)

Fun (?) fact: To make the sound effect for punching, sound technician Frank Warner squashed melons and tomatoes

My thoughts: Is it wrong to like a movie simply because it is the ‘anti-movie’ of something else? I didn’t love Rocky because it felt too inspirational and didn’t match up with my belief that boxing is a very violent sport. Raging Bull definitely shows the opposite and cutting all the inspirational crap endeared it to me a bit. I’ve never been a fan of sports movies precisely because they are too sweet and rely heavily on the flawed character to save the day. Jake LaMotta is ALL flawed character (and still alive at 98!) and no real redemption, which made it the perfect ‘anti-Rocky’.

Without a doubt, Raging Bull should be seen for the acting alone. Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro were phenomenal as brothers Joey and Jake LaMotta. I have no idea how accurate the film is, but De Niro’s performance especially made me believe that I was watching the real thing. Most people are impressed by the boxing scenes and how realistic they were (and many did involve real punching), but I was more impressed by how well De Niro was able to show his character’s downfall. The final scene where LaMotta is practicing the monologue from On the Waterfront, many years after giving up boxing was the perfect ending to such a sad movie.

Final review: 5/5. Not my favorite movie, but a masterpiece nonetheless.

Up next: the Umbrellas of Cherbourg

1001 Movie Nights

Category Archives: Movies

#178- Shadow of a Doubt

#177-Louisiana Story

#176- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

#175- Raging Bull

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