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Shadow of a Doubt
You know what St. Paul said: "Take a little wine for thy stomach's sake." - Uncle CharlieThis second time watching Shadow of a Doubt was the first time I'd noted the two mentions of St. Paul. With Hitchcock, details like this are unlikely to be coincidence, so I decided to pull on that thread. I only had to pull once. The second mention of St. Paul is the aforementioned quote from 1 Timothy 5. This chapter, as it turns out, has a particular interest in widows: "Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth."The first time St. Paul is mentioned is in reference to the Minnesotan city in which Emma and Charlie grew up, the place where, as Emma describes it, Charlie had a terrible bicycle accident that permanently changed him, "He didn't do much reading after that." Paul's conversion occurred after he fell off of his horse.I don't want to suggest that audiences and critics alike have missed this connection for 80+ years, but I haven't found anyone who's linked Uncle Charlie to St. Paul in this way yet.
May 25, 2026 · Rewatched
