Viewing Journal 3:  Shadow of a Doubt

For this journal, you will consider the mise en scene, themes, and plot of Shadow of a Doubt.  In two to three typed pages, you should address one of the following questions, developing your response with specific details from the film.  I will collect this journal, along with several others, on Wednesday, February 2.

1) Shadow of a Doubt presents the theme of doubling not only through dialogue but also through a series of scenes depicting the two Charlies.  Analyze the film's parallel opening scenes of Uncle Charlie in the rooming house and Young Charlie in Santa Rosa.  How are the Charlies positioned within the frame?  How is each scene lit?  How do the Charlies interact with the people who enter their rooms?  How does the doubling set up in this scene continue in other scenes throughout the film?

2) What is the function of the Newton home and Santa Rosa as the setting for most of the film's plot? 

3) Shortly after Uncle Charlie arrives in Santa Rosa, the Newton family participates in a "survey" of the typical American family.  How does Shadow of a Doubt complicate the idea of the family?

4) Like The Lady Vanishes and Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt engages the themes of appearances and knowledge.  Discuss these themes as they relate to Uncle Charlie.  Among the elements addressed in your analysis, include the scene in which Jack and Young Charlie stand outside a church while a minister eulogizes Uncle Charlie.

5) Discuss how one of the following "props" functions throughout the film:  Uncle Charlie's hands, the emerald ring, or Uncle Charlie's cigar.

6) Both Shadow of a Doubt and The Lady Vanishes contain a mystery plot and a romance plot.  Both films counterpoint the young couple's romance with other relationships.  How do the mystery and romance plots intersect in Shadow of a Doubt?  What relationships does the film set Jack and Young Charlie's relationship against?