It's an uncomfortable sequence that's as poorly constructed as it is offensive, and it completely knocks the wind out of an otherwise enjoyable film.īuilt around an excellent premise - suspecting your favorite family member of unspeakable crimes - Shadow of a Doubt stumbles on the path to reaching its full potential due to spotty pacing and a subpar performance from Joseph Cotten.
It's all fun and games until the finale, which hinges on one of the worst scenes of Hitchcock's career: We, the audience, identify a suspect as the camera slowly zooms in on him while he plays the drums in blackface. The pair reluctantly goes on the run from De Marney's murder charge together, but as they come across the family and friends of Pilbeam's character, the duo plays it as if they're lovers trying to balance their personal happiness with her loved ones' expectations.
Despite being relatively underwritten, their romantic dynamic crackles as the two easily find the comedy in every scenario without undermining the dramatic tension. One of Hitchcock's lighter thrillers, Young and Innocent is a straightforward wrong-man film elevated by the chemistry of its leads, Derrick De Marney as fugitive and Nova Pilbeam as a young woman roped into his antics.
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