In Santa Rosa, a teen living in a two story house is lying in bed. Oakley is at a pay phone booth, sending a telegram to Santa Rosa, California, telling his sister that he is coming for a visit and will arrive in a couple of days. He walks quickly, turns corners, loses them as he goes up a building and watches them from the rooftop, making sure he has lost them. Spencer, whose real name is Oakley, gets off the bed, picks up the money, goes out past the men, who do not react, but begin to follow him at a distance.
Spencer" (Joseph Cotten) that two men were asking for him but she had followed his instructions, told them he was out. The landlady, Mrs Martin (Constance Purdy) knocks, opens the door and tells "Mr. Money bills are on his dresser and tumbled on the floor. A man dressed in a suit is lying on a bed, deep in thought. As the movie came out during WWII, it seems to have a direct parallel to the evil leaders loose in the world, particularly in the film's final scene.Couples in costumes in a room with 1900 décor are dancing to the music of The Merry Widow waltz by Franz Lehar. The second half, including the increasing revelation of Uncle Charlie's dark views of humanity and the lengths to which he will go to protect himself, is what make the film so sinister. On the other hand, there is a real small town feeling to this setting, helped in no doubt by Thornton Wilder being one of the screenwriters, and the characters of Charlie's father (Henry Travers) and his friend (Hume Cronyn) passing the time by talking about the perfect murder are absolutely priceless. Some of the tension is also missing because we're pretty darn sure Uncle Charlie is guilty.
I considered a slightly higher rating, but thought the pace in the first half of the movie was a little slow. Trouble is just behind him though, and it gets worse when his niece (also 'Charlie', named after him, and played by Teresa Wright) begins to suspect him of being the "Merry Widow Murderer". Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) is on the run from the law on the East Coast, and he settles in with his sister and her family in Santa Rosa. Hitchcock said this was his favorite film, and there is a quiet evil about it that makes it truly horrifying.
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