It's a brilliant piece of film writing, and credit goes to three people (minimum): Thornton Wilder, author of the legendary play Our Town, Sally Benson, authoress of the legendary Meet Me in St. Little hints, little details are dropped in, large enough for the audience to notice but not for the characters save Charlie. The film asks us to fill in the blanks, read between the lines, and it does it so brilliantly that slowly, bit by bit, we reach the same conclusions Charlie did.

We never see Uncle Charlie actively try to do his niece in.

We never see Uncle Charlie kill any of his widows (though at the end, it looks like he managed to rope one in). Shadow of a Doubt is brilliant in that so much of it really is done by inference. Uncle Charlie has decided that it is time for him to go, but not before he 'accidentally' holds Charlie on the train as it speeds away.Ī desperate battle to survive takes place, and even after justice has been met, the full story still remains hidden, that shadow of a doubt hanging over all things. Graham, with whom Charlie has fallen in love with and who returns the affection, is sadly out of town and cannot be reached. Even after another suspect is killed in Maine, Charlie is sure that her Uncle Charlie is a murderous, monstrous being. There is no solid proof of any of this, just 'little things': Uncle Charlie's almost hateful view of these widows that he openly expresses, the 'accidents' Charlie is having. Charlie does not want to believe her beloved Uncle Charlie may be a murderer, but as time goes by, the 'little things' start adding up and Charlie becomes convinced Uncle Charlie is indeed a serial killer. One of the detectives, Jack Graham, tells Charlie that Uncle Charlie Oakley may be 'the Merry Widow Killer', a man who marries older widows and then murders them, taking their money with him. That 'survey' was really an excuse for two detectives to go inside the Newton house. There are good reasons for this, as the film progresses, and that Charlie discovers. Little things, like Uncle Charlie's refusal to have his photograph taken as part of a national survey. Little things, like Uncle Charlie feeling tense when Charlie keeps humming a waltz that she can't quite place until she figures it out: The Merry Widow Waltz. Little things, like him tearing up the newspaper of his brother-in-law Joseph (Henry Travers) to hide a seemingly innocuous story. Little details soon suggest that with dear Uncle Charlie, something wicked this way comes. However, things are not all that they appear to be.

Shadow of a doubt uncle charlie death