![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The three films mentioned, along with Blackmail (1929), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and Young and Innocent (1937) more than justified his future nickname as “The Master of Suspense.” ![]() Fifteen years of work in his native England had produced over two dozen films, including future classics such as The Lodger (1927), The 39 Steps (1935), and The Lady Vanishes (1938), establishing the 40-year old as Europe’s premiere director. The film was shot in sunny Santa Rosa, California, where the shadows are darker because the sunlight is so much brighter.Alfred Hitchcock arrived in Hollywood in 1939 under most auspicious circumstances. The tension builds to an alarming climax, in a trademark sequence (another one for the Hitchcock highlight reel) showing the Master of Suspense at the top of his form. But evidence soon begins to suggest the elder Charles might actually be a cold-blooded serial killer, and a lethal game of charades begins between uncle and niece: she knows the truth, and he knows that she knows the truth. The arrival of everyone's much loved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton, in his favorite role) is the catalyst to disaster, with eldest daughter Charlie in particular welcoming the arrival of her affectionate namesake as a relief from the humdrum routine of suburban life. In one of his most chilling and memorable intrigues Alfred Hitchcock lays bare the myth of small town virtue with a perverse piece of Americana about a wholesome family unaware of the gruesome skeleton lurking in its closet. ![]()
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