MovieChat Forums > Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Discussion > Jack is not sympathetic. He's clearly us...

Jack is not sympathetic. He's clearly using Charlie.

posted 10 years ago by amyghost
6 replies | jump to latest

Even if he actually is in love with her, it's obvous that he's okay with putting her in danger in order to make an arrest. He's also pretty cavalier abouth the mental anguish he's causing her by telling her for a certainty that her uncle is a murderer (as he is, but it seems apparent that neither Jack or Saunders are at all certain about that at this point).

Although he's probably the most sympathetically portrayed law-enforcement figure in a Hitchcock film, he still does not come off particularly well in my opinion. I suspect that Hitchcock did not much care for the character either.

Thoughts?

[–] Disardor 10 years ago

I agree with you. I think Shadow of a Doubt is a great film, but the whole angle with Jack and Charlie becoming romantically involved has always troubled me and is one of the reasons I wouldn't consider it to be on the absolute top tier of Hitchcock's work. He basically poisons a relationship between Charlie and Uncle Charlie based on some extremely vague, weak circumstantial evidence he has while at the same time admitting that there's a man on the East Coast after whom they've been chasing for a while now.

[–] amyghost 10 years ago

I do put it in top-tier Hitchcock, but I think the character of Jack is definitely not the good guy he's meant, on the surface, to be perceived by the audience as being.

And it's interesting to note that Jack's first reaction to Uncle Charlie is almost one that could be taken as slight sexual jealousy--when young Charlie is going on to him about how special her uncle makes her feel, and Jack responds rather sharply to her. It's fairly obvious that his reaction is prompted as much by dislike of young Charlie's enthusiasm as it is with anything to do with the man he's supposed to be investigating. It's hinted that he may be allowing some personal feelings to affect his judgment of the case.

[–] Disardor 10 years ago

That's an interesting take, one that had not actually occurred to me. I did think there was something of a sexual subtext in the "Charlies" relationship, but I didn't pick up on any jealousy on Jack's part. Perhaps next time I watch it with that in mind it'll stand out to me.

Shadow of a Doubt is somewhere in Hitchcock's top 15 for me, probably bubbling just under the top 10 at about #12 or so. Considering how highly I value his body of work and in particular his top 10 films that's still quite good!

[–] amyghost 10 years ago

Yes; I don't think it's totally apparent on a first viewing, but if you watch it with the realization of the slight erotic undertone to Wright's and Cotten's relationship it becomes more noticeable. It does seem to suggest that there's a bit more to Jack's reaction than simply disapproval of young Charlie's closeness to a man suspected of murder...and there's no really overt reason for why he should have a problem with Charlie expressing her feelings about her uncle at that point; so the scene plays out as suggesting something a little more disturbing than what's immediately taking place on the surface--just as many of the scenes in this film do.

[–] Tickerage 10 years ago

I totally agree with the OP. What kind of creep lies to a family about interviewing and photographing them, then asks their attractive daughter for a night on the town? He barges into people's bedrooms as if he owns them. Jack is not a "catch" as the mother and Charlie seem to perceive him to be. He unscrupulously uses everybody towards his own ends with no regard to how he does it. The actor portraying him isn't really attractive either. He looks much older than Theresa Wright. Macdonald Carey bears a striking resemblance to Marty Melcher, the Jewish talent agent who married Doris Day and proceeded to screw her out of everything she earned and leave her $500,000 in debt upon his death. The eyebrows are the only attractive feature and they are marginal at best.

At least there will be plenty implied.

[–] vinidici 10 years ago

MacDonald Carey was born in 1913 and no more than 30 years of age in SHADOW OF A DOUBT; Theresa Wright was only five years younger.

And remember, it's 1943, right in the middle of WWII when quite a few Hollywood leading men had either enlisted or, if still civilians, were saddled with movie work up to their ears because of their colleagues' wartime sabbatical. It might have been slim pickin's for Hitchcock and the casting crew to find anyone available during the timeframe involved in shooting SHADOW. Lucky break for Carey, sure; and perhaps just as lucky for Hitch that he could find whomever he could get to keep production rolling along in a timely manner.