Suspicion (1941)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Samson Raphaelson (screen play) &
Joan Harrison (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 November 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Love in his Heart . . . Tragedy in his Mind ! The stars of "Penny Serenade" and "Rebecca" in this most thrilling mystery . . .

Plot:

A shy young English woman marries a charming gentleman, then begins to suspect him of trying to kill her.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Love | Honeymoon | Money | Train

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Johnnie
Joan Fontaine	...	Lina
Cedric Hardwicke	...	General McLaidlaw (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Nigel Bruce	...	Beaky
Dame May Whitty	...	Mrs. McLaidlaw
Isabel Jeans	...	Mrs. Newsham
Heather Angel	...	Ethel
Auriol Lee	...	Isobel Sedbusk
Reginald Sheffield	...	Reggie Wetherby
Leo G. Carroll	...	Captain Melbeck
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Bevan	...	Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Faith Brook	...	Alice Barham (uncredited)
Leonard Carey	...	Burton - McLaidlaws' Butler (uncredited)
David Clyde	...	Trunk Man (uncredited)
Clyde Cook	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Hogarth Club Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Carol Curtis-Brown	...	Jessie Barham (uncredited)
Vernon Downing	...	Benson (uncredited)
Rex Evans	...	Mr. Bailey (uncredited)
Edward Fielding	...	Antique Shop Proprietor (uncredited)
Gavin Gordon	...	Dr. Bertram Sedbusk (uncredited)
Lumsden Hare	...	Inspector Hodgson (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man Mailing Letter (uncredited)
Gertrude Hoffman	...	Mrs. Wetherby (uncredited)
Kenneth Hunter	...	Sir Gerald (uncredited)
Dorothy Lloyd	...	Miss Wetherby (uncredited)
Aubrey Mather	...	Executor of General Laidlaw's Will (uncredited)
Nondas Metcalf	...	Phyllis Swinghurst (uncredited)
Rita Page	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Hilda Plowright	...	Postmistress (uncredited)
Clara Reid	...	Mrs. Craddock (uncredited)
Maureen Roden-Ryan	...	Maid - Winnie (uncredited)
Violet Shelton	...	Mrs. Barham (uncredited)
Donald Stuart	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Denis Tankard	...	Footman (uncredited)
Pax Walker	...	Maid - Phoebe (uncredited)
Ben Webster	...	William Howe - Registrar (uncredited)
Elsie Weller	...	Miss Wetherby (uncredited)
Constance Worth	...	Mrs. Fitzpatrick (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Samson Raphaelson		(screen play) &
Joan Harrison		(screen play) &
Alma Reville		(screen play)
Anthony Berkeley		(from the novel "Before the Fact" by) (as Francis Iles)

Produced by
Harry E. Edington	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Franz Waxman		(music by)

Cinematography by
Harry Stradling Sr.		(director of photography) (as Harry Stradling)

Film Editing by
William Hamilton		(edited by)

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Edward Stevenson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dewey Starkey	....	assistant director

Art Department
Carroll Clark	....	associate art director

Sound Department
John E. Tribby	....	recordist

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Other crew
Mal Merrihugh	....	stand-in: Cary Grant (uncredited)
N. Russell	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (presents) (as R K O Radio Pictures, Inc.)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1941) (USA) (theatrical) (as An R K O Radio Picture)
• Radio Filmes (1941) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Motion Picture Export Association (MPEA) (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Films (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• VidAmerica (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Filmituonti (1944) (Finland) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Films (1951) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Lii-Filmi (1959) (Finland) (theatrical)
• DHE Castle (2001) (Finland) (VHS)
• Pan Vision Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD) (3-disc Cary Grant Collection)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1967) (1978) (1988) (2002) (2004) (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• David O. Selznick Productions Inc.  services of Miss Fontaine and Mr. Hitchcock secured through the courtesy of (as David O. Selznick Productions, Inc.)

Also Known As:

"Sospecha" - Mexico (imdb display title), Spain
"Soupçons" - Belgium (French title), France
"Suspeita" - Brazil, Portugal
"Verdacht" - Austria, Germany
"Argwaan" - Netherlands (imdb display title)
"Farliga lögner" - Finland (Swedish title)
"Gyanakvó szerelem" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Hashud" - Israel (Hebrew title)
"Il sospetto" - Italy
"Illdåd planeras?" - Sweden (imdb display title)
"La sospecha" - Argentina
"Mistanken" - Denmark
"Podejrzenie" - Poland
"Sospita" - Spain (Catalan title)
"Suspiciune" - Romania
"Vaarallisia valheita" - Finland
"Vermoedens" - Belgium (Flemish title)
"Ypopsies" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Spain:13 | UK:U (tv rating) | Brazil:16 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1946) | USA:TV-PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (1999) (2003) | USA:Approved (certificate #7113)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Despite the indecision over its ending, the film was a tremendous success, and more importantly Alfred Hitchcock had enjoyed a measure of creative freedom which he knew that he would not get at Selznick International.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lina is having lunch with her parents, she is sitting on the long side of the table between them. When she returns from the phone, her seat is moved to be right beside her father's.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Johnnie Aysgarth:Oh, I beg your pardon. Was that your leg? I had no idea we were going into a tunnel. I thought the compartment was empty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Soundtrack:

Frühlingsstimmen, op. 410 (Voices of Spring)

Slight thriller with star power

Cary Grant (Johnnie Aysgarth) was 37 when this was released and perhaps at the pinnacle of his sexual charm (but not at the pinnacle of his career by a long shot); and Joan Fontaine (Lina Aysgarth--not "Linda," as the video jacket mistakenly has it), 24, was fresh from her very fine performance in Rebecca (1940) alongside Laurence Olivier, also directed by Alfred Hitchcock, for which he garnered his only Best Picture Oscar. I don't think this film is nearly as good. It is saved from being something close to annoying at times only by the star power of the leads and a fine supporting cast, especially Nigel Bruce (best known perhaps as Dr. Watson in a number of Sherlock Holmes films) as Cary Grant's friend "Beaky."

The problem with the film lies partly with the casting of Cary Grant, although not in his performance as such. He was seen as such a valuable property by the studio that the proper ending of the film was considered inappropriate and so it was changed. Along the way we see a lot of mixed foreshadowing so it is impossible to tell whether his character is that of a loving husband who is a bit of a rogue or a cold-blooded murderer who married Lina for her inheritance and intends to kill her. We can see how the latter possibility might not work so well since she was only getting a subsistence allowance from the will of her father who disapproved of the marriage. And there are all those dark scowls that Grant manufactures, somewhat awkwardly I must say, to keep us in doubt. What is apparent is that Hitchcock had one ending in mind and then had to change it and wasn't able to redo some of the earlier scenes that worked better with the old ending.

At any rate, Joan Fontaine is very good, lovely, graceful and focused. With this performance she went one up on her older sister Olivia de Havilland by winning the Best Actress Oscar. And it is a bit of a spicy treat to see Cary Grant as something of a heavy, at least part of the time. For most of us, who have seen him in many films, his character has always been sterling.

I must also note that some of the production seems a bit unnatural. Grant wears his suit and tie all buttoned up even when visiting Fontaine in their bedroom (carrying the infamous glass of milk, which I understand was backlighted with a bulb inside the glass to make it almost glow). Fontaine's Lina appears mousey and bookish at the beginning (it is suggested that she was in danger of being an old maid!) but later develops a more sophisticated style. And I don't think Hitchcock or Grant really gave her enough cause for the sort of fear she experienced. The final scene with its quick about-face was not entirely convincing or conclusive either.

Contemporary audiences might wince at the plodding direction by Hitchcock. They might even wonder why he decided to make a movie from such a familiar and lightly plotted tale not far removed psychologically from a romance novel. But Hitchcock always erred on the side of giving the mass audience what he thought they wanted. What they wanted here was Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine together romantically with some mystery and doubt along the way.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)