Suspicion (DVD)

The second film of Hitchcock during his time in the United States won the Oscar he won for best actress in Joan Fontaine's interpretation shows the story of a marriage between a rich and a shy heiress, Lina, who is conquered by a sympathetic Johnnie, a gambler, "good-for-nothing" character, player, looking for a good fortune.Lina falls in love, he is attentive and friendly, conqueror and phony with her and through a series of lies about his work, begins to suspect that besides all, Johnny is a potential murderer who is developing a plan to kill he. A generated suspense as only Hitchcock knows is develop by a series of misunderstandings helping to that suspicion.Cary Grant,a great actor who has acted in many of Hitchcocks films, (Hitchcock said in public interview that Grant due to his roles could not play a role of murderer) complements greatly the role of Fontaine (sister Olivia Havilland, both Oscar winners).The scenery (in this case even quite English) and photograph of the environments where the couple lives, Jane's parents, hunting on horseback, her drive along the cliffs ... perfect .are showing the necessary details when required and indicating the perfection of the director not leave any out. With the usual dose of humor and entertaining and funny dialogue.A good thriller that tells the story of a marriage in which two of the traditional issues that are based on their plots are incorporated: money, murder and addiction, as suggested by Jeanine Basinger in his excellent course on this genre.

"Suspicion"(1941) has always been one of the most popular films in the long career of Alfred Hitchcock and one that still causes debate concerning it's ending. It was one of the first of Hitchcock's films to be released on home video(VHS, DVD) but many of those versions have been less than stellar and fans of the film have been waiting(some patiently) for years for it to finally get the justice it deserves. Warner's(through it's Archive Collection) has finally released "Suspicion" on Blu-ray for the first time and it's arrival last week was definitely worth the wait. This is the third Hitchcock film to be released by Warner's this year and like the other two("I Confess" and "The Wrong Man") fans should be more than pleased with the results. Digitally restored in 2K(by MPI) from a fine-grain master positive taken from the original nitrate camera negative, "Suspicion" has never looked better and is an outstanding visual presentation from start to finish(Bitrate: 34.92). There are no vertical lines, white specks, torn or damaged frames and although grain is present, the picture quality is nearly pristine. The cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr. is really highlighted on Blu-ray with the the McLaidlaw home being especially impressive. The wood paneled interiors are so vivid that viewers will feel like they're actually in the room with the characters watching the action that takes places. Even the titles of the books in the bookcase are easy to read. Stradling's use of shadows is really apparent now in the famous scene of Grant's character walking up a flight of stairs holding a tray with a glass of milk that glows in the dark. This scene is even more sinister now on Blu-ray! Costumes are another delight with Grant's pin stripped suit and Fontaine's evening dress being very detailed. It's easy to see how Hitchcock was drawn to this romantic psychological mystery and he drops many clues along the way. Years later, Hitchcock told a reviewer that he was interested in what would happen to a wife who "imagined" in her mind that her husband was trying to kill her. That is the central theme of the story and Joan Fontaine certainly captures those feelings in her performance as Lina McLaidlaw the repressed daughter of a wealthy family. One of the most beautiful actresses ever to appear on screen, she displays her character's inner torment and confusion with exceptional skill that rightly won her the Oscar that year. Her co-star, Cary Grant, gives one of his best performances as the playboy who sweeps her off her feet but ultimately cannot support her. His character is not very likable for the most part and is definitely a change of pace for the actor. Supposedly, Grant and Fontaine did not get along during the filming but you'd never know it. Their on-screen chemistry is very apparent and one of the highlights of the film until the very end. And now about that ending. According to an interview that Joan Fontaine did in the Eighties, the current "happy" ending was added to the picture after a preview audience hated the original "sad" ending where Grant poisons his wife(same ending as the novel). The studio(RKO) felt that Grant's image would be forever tarnished if he were portrayed as a murderer and therefore ordered Hitchcock to shoot a happier ending. Whether Fontaine's recollections are accurate or not has been the subject of much speculation over the years but there you have it. Despite this meddling from the studio, "Suspicion" is an outstanding presentation, even more so now that it is on Blu-ray. "Suspicion" is 99 minutes(Aspect ratio: 1.37:1) and contains the following subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Czech, and Polish. The Audio is English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and Dolby Digital 2.0 for French and Spanish. Special features include a making of documentary titled: "Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock" and the original theatrical trailer. The Blu-ray disc itself is housed in a solid standard Blu-ray case(not an eco-cutout case). Warner's new Blu-ray of "Suspicion" is vast improvement over previous editions of the film and comes highly recommended.

Like his other great films that relied on the last few minutes of the movie to resolve the great mystery throughout (like Psycho), this one keeps you guessing until the end. As a matter of fact, it's one of those movies that you have to watch again just to catch all the clues you missed throughout. From the first time we meet Grant's character, we see a taste of things to come from him. He's irresponsible with money, which leads him to make some bad decisions - yet Fontaine's character loves him anyway. Then things take a turn for the worst, and he finds himself deeply in debt and the world crashing down on him. His only solution: insurance money...money that can only be collected by his wife's death - but would he go that far? Or worse yet: has he murdered already? This movie keeps you guessing until the last minutes of it. While I agree that the ending comes rather too abruptly and you feel slightly robbed by the quick resolution of it all, it's still a great Hitchcock film (weren't they all though?) and deserves to easily head into the top 10 of all of his efforts.