SUSPICION (1941)

For his fourth Hollywood film, director Alfred Hitchcock continued to pursue the vein of psychological suspense he had successfully mined in his first, Rebecca (1940)—not to mention his earlier British films such as Blackmail (1929) and Sabotage (1936). He focuses on the emotional life of Lina (Joan Fontaine), a sheltered Englishwoman who impulsively elopes with the dashingly handsome Johnnie (Cary Grant). On their return home, she comes to realize her husband is a liar, an embezzler, and possibly even a murderer. Hitchcock communicates her uncertainty carefully through studied camerawork and a score featuring variations on a Strauss waltz by Franz Waxman. Fontaine won the Oscar for Best Actress, the only Oscar-winning performance in a Hitchcock film. Suspicion also marked the start of a four-film collaboration with Grant, who would expand his range as a star through their work together. 

d. Alfred Hitchcock, 100m, DCP

Courtesy of Warner Brothers Classics.