Suspicion

I watched this film last night, not knowing what to expect. Hitchcock is my favourite director, yet Suspicion is not treated among his best work. My conclusion from watching the film is that it is very good, but it is not perfect, and not Hitchcock's best. What let it down? Well, a lot of reviews have said so already, but the ending. For me it was abrupt and felt tacked on and somewhat implausible. Then again, StageFright and the Birds both had somewhat abrupt endings. And I know it isn't the fastest paced of his movies, but Torn Curtain's pacing was disappointingly pedestrian. However, Suspicion has a lot to recommend it. The acting is uniformly excellent, with Cary Grant charming and sometimes chilling as the man suspected of trying to murder his wife, and Joan Fontaine, looking gorgeous as ever even better as Lina giving a performance of edge and vulnerability. Out of the supporting performances, Nigel Bruce is simply terrific as Beaky, Leo G Caroll while in a brief role is memorable as the Captain and Cedric Hardwicke who played Frollo in the 1939 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame so memorably is great as the General. The direction is superb, tense when it needs to be and gentle in others and also filled with the fashionable touches that make his very best films great. The film is shot in a very sumptuous visual style, with beautiful black and white cinematography and lovely costumes and sets. The score from Franz Waxman is simply marvellous; the scoring in the scene when Lina writes the letter is enough to give you goosebumps. All in all, not Hitchock's best, but very good all the same. 9/10 Bethany Cox