Suspicion

Although an enjoyable piece of studio fluff one can easily imagine that this could have been a much better film had Hitchcock been able to shoot the more enigmatic ending he wanted but RKO insisted on a reassuring wrap resulting in an abrupt ending with stand-ins taking Grant's and Fontaine's places that from a scripting point of view simply does not work, failing to resolve the state of affairs announced by the film's ending.

Joan Fontaine (born Joan de Beavoir de Havilland and sister to Olivia De Havilland) won an Oscar, reprising her insecure wife role from Rebecca (1940). The film inconsistently oscillates between suspense thriller, melodrama/'woman's picture' and, especially thanks to Grant, whose attempts to be villainous are none too convincing, romantic comedy. Whilst Hitchcock never had a problem with tacky studio sets and back projections they all add to the film's disposability.

 

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