Alfred Hitchcock Blogathon | Suspicion (1941)

Thank you to Maddy for organising this blogathon, give her blog a look if you love classic films. I am a big fan of the Alfred Hitchcock films I have watched so far, so I thought I would use this blogathon as a chance to watch one that I haven’t watched yet, Suspicion.

Suspicion ★★★½

Humpo Show Rating | 7.2

IMDb Rating | 7.4

Starring: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Nigel Bruce, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Dame May Whitty

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Plot Summary: A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her. (IMDb)

Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) is a smart and solitary lady who unexpectedly falls for the charms of Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant), a eligible bachelor with a penchant for losing money. Quite quickly the pair up end up married, but equally as quickly Lina is subjected to Johnnie’s addiction to lying, gambling and rising debts. Despite his flaws, she is unable to resist his charms, until she starts to suspect he may be plotting to murder her.

For me the film can be summed up in six words. Slow opening, decent middle, disappointing end.

Grant gives a decent enough performance as the chilling rogue that is constantly lying and is driven by his greed and lack of morals. Fontaine, who won an Oscar for her performance, is also compelling as the dithering and indecisive young woman that goes from loved up fiance to terrified wife, seamlessly. The pair of them are an odd couple, but somehow make it work.

The film is shot in brilliant light, with one particularly dark scene – the one with the milk. It is unmistakably Hitchcock-esque. Accompanying the cinematography is the terrific music, which helps to build suspense to a deafening crescendo. After the slow beginning, it begins to ramp up well and it matches the characteristics of Johnnie and Lina perfectly.

However, the film’s ending was flat and hollow and seemed tacked on. It didn’t fit with the rest of the film at all – apparently the studio forced Hitchcock to ditch the original ending. If they had gone with the original, who knows where it would rank among the other Hitchcock creations…

The Humpo Show | Richard