MovieChat Forums > Suspicion (1941) Discussion > Is this anybody else's favorite Hitchcoc...

Is this anybody else's favorite Hitchcock?

posted 10 years ago by tseybert
10 replies | jump to latest

In my mind, there's several Hitchcock films tied for my favorite - Rear Window, Psycho, Shadow of a Doubt, Rebecca, The Birds, Notorious - but lately, over the last year or so, I've settled on Suspicion.

I love every minute of it! Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant are both top-notch. I remember the thrill of the first time I saw it 20 years ago. And how surprising it is at the end when he doesn't kill her! Also, there's the unanswered questions: Is that really the end? Is he awful enough that he might try to kill her later?

(But I just watched The Birds again a few days ago - because it's a great Halloween Week movie - and now I'm wavering back to thinking The Birds is my favorite. Same thing happened last time I saw Shadow of a Doubt!)

I never see anybody cite Suspicion as their favorite Hitchcock! I know a lot of fans like it a lot. (And some people don't like it because of studio interference because of the ending.) But I've never come across anybody who's as enthusiastic as I am.

So how about it? Anybody else consider Suspicion to be their favorite Hitchcock film?

Janet! Donkeys!

[–] disinterested_spectator 10 years ago

In my mind, once the suspicion of murder is removed, we are left with a terrible marriage. Johnnie married Lina for her money. He thinks what he wants should make everyone else happy, and thus he has no consideration for others. He believes he should not have to work for a living. He is an inveterate liar, compulsive gambler, and embezzler. And she is going to stay with him because she loves him, as if that is supposed to make it all right.

I know that we are supposed to believe that Johnnie has completely repented at the end of the movie, but such people never change.

I found this movie to be almost unendurable, and the only relief comes from the possibility of murder, which distracts us from the repulsive nature of their marriage.

[–] tseybert 10 years ago

So, not your favorite Hitchcock?

Janet! Donkeys!

[–] rexshard93 10 years ago

Suspicion is also my favorite Hitchcock film. The pairing of Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine was brilliant. You feel the romance and the tension at the same time. It has wonderful cinematography and I think Suspicion also is the best film with portrayal of innocent and old fashioned British neighborhood.

But the strongest points of the film is the portrayal of Joan Fontaine and Hitchcock's suspenseful direction.

[–] tseybert 9 years ago

Hoo-ray! Another Suspicion fan!

How do you feel about Dial M for Murder? I'm still obsessed with The Birds and Suspicion, but I'm finding Dial M for Murder to be a lot more interesting than I used to.

Janet! Donkeys!

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 9 years ago

I love Suspicion - anything with Joan Fontaine in ingenue mode is ok with me. So I love Rebecca as well. - but not my favorite Hitch. I like most of Hitch's stuff, sometimes I find it hard to pick a fave out of the bunch,but t if I have one favorite it's gotta be Notorious.

I like Dial M too but I think it suffers a bit in comparison, because it seems too much like a play, what with almost all of the action taking place in that one room. I still enjoy it, just not as much. And comparing a similar film, set wise, I find Rear Window to be much more interesting, Rope too.

Takes two to tumble it takes two to tango
Speak up don't mumble when you're in the combo

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

It's one of his better movies for sure, but IMHO not as good as Rope or Dial M For Murder.

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

[–] kenny-164 10 years ago

Personally I love a great deal of Hitchcock's work, Vertigo being my favorite, Rebecca a close second. In my enthusiasm for this film I am tempted to rank it up there as well. But in fact I also love North by Northwest, Marnie and Dial M for Murder. The Birds is also great. Ftr I am not the huge fan of either Psycho or Rear Window that some are. But yes, Suspicion is a great film.

[–] dlynch843 10 years ago

It has a lot going for it. That opening---total blackness and then we realize they're just coming out of a train tunnel.
And that scene up on the hill when Johnnie first calls her 'Monkey Face'.
Then later he and Beaky trying to cheer Lina up, Beaky making the sound of a duck.
The dinner scene at the writer's house was very atmospheric.
...and all those shots of the English coastline (could it be California?) Great Hitch.

[–] kenny-164 9 years ago

Dlynch,

Yes, both this ahd Rebecca had their outside coastline scenes shot on the mid California coastline. It has a similarity here and there to Cornwall.

[–] Sugarminx 9 years ago

My top six:

1. Rear Window
2. Suspicion
3. The Birds
4. Dial M for Murder
5. Rebecca
6. Psycho

Note: I haven't seen all of his films yet.

Do the P-I-G-E-O-N