Shadow of a Doubt 1943

This is another example of a successful thriller opening by Alfred Hitchcock. The opening of the film is concerned with the main character Uncle Charlie. We are shown the area in whcih he is staying and whilst we are shown this we are played "Merry Widow" by Franz Lehar. The music is very slow and downbeat which is paralell to the area, it is very industrialised and poor looking. We find it strange that Uncle Charlie is staying in this area as he looks very wealthy and is dressed extremely smart. We are shown uncle Charlies character from the use of Mis en scene, he has many props such as a cigar and wads of money on the floor. This shows that this money is meaningless to him as he is extremely rich, the cigar shows he enjoys the finer things in life. Charlies hair is slicked back this shows that he is a very smooth character.
We are shown Charlie lieing on the bed he is motionless, the landlord the comes in and shuts the blind, when she leaves Charlie awakens and throws a glass. This shows that his character comes alive at night it also shows that he is an aggressive character.
We are then shown a scene of Santa Rosa the area looks extremely nice and a happy place. The music is upbeat and parallell to the scene. We are shown children playing in the streets this shows it is a safe place. This contrasts with the area before where it is dark and gloomy. We are then shown a female character Charlie lieing on a bed in the same position of Uncle Charlie the room looks very different it has flowered wall paper which shows innocence and is feminine unlike the room before