And the frugal production had no adverse effects on critical reception: In a favorable review, TIME drew special attention to the scenery, noting, “Its horror is compounded by its setting. Though he ended up spending more on travel costs, Hitchcock was able to keep the materials budget under $3,000. Instead of building a studio version of a typical American city, his main setting, he searched for a ready-made one. To shoot scenes supposed to take place in New Jersey, he traveled cross-country and shot them in New Jersey.

Instead of elaborate sets he used the real thing. Hitchcock normally spent at least $100,000 on movie sets, so the director had to think creatively in order to give Shadow of a Doubt a high-value look on a paltry budget. The legendary movie was also one of Hitchcock’s most frugally made.ĭuring World War II, the War Production Board imposed limits on the film industry in the U.S., capping film set budgets at $5,000 (around $68,000 in today’s dollars) in order to minimize the unnecessary use of materials.

Hitchcock himself suggested in interviews that it was his favorite work from his expansive oeuvre-and indie filmmakers everywhere should take comfort in that. If the scene is only a vision, whose vision is it The films opening raises the questions of who or what commands the camera and what motivates the. Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt is widely considered one of the most masterful films in the history of cinema.

Shadow of a doubt film techniques