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This week on «Film Friday» I bring you a film that had its premiere exactly 74 years ago yesterday. This also happens to be one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock pictures. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1943) begins when Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) arrives at the town of Santa Rosa, California, supposedly to visit his older sister, Emma Newton (Patricia Collinge). At the train station, he is met by his brother-in-law Joseph (Henry Travers), his young nephew Roger (Charles Bates) and his two nieces, Charlie (Teresa Wright) and Ann (Edna May Wonacott). Charlie is thrilled by the arrival of her uncle, as she was named after him and two seem to share a telepathic connection. The next day, two men, Jack Graham (Macdonald Carey) and Fred Saunders (Wallace Ford), appear at the house to survey the family. Uncle Charlie suddenly becomes agitated and refuses to be interviewed or photographed.   Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten and Patricia Collinge in Shadow of a Doubt . Af...

Theatrical release poster Directed by Tay Garnett, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) begins when drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) stops at the rural Twin Oaks diner for a meal and end s u p accepting a job offer from its middle-aged , alc oholic owner, Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). He is immed iately intrigued by Nick's young wife Cora (Lana Turner), with whom he is soon involved in a passionate love affair . T hey run away together when Nick is out of town , but only travel a short distance, as Cora cannot face a penniless future with Frank. Determi ned to continue her furtive romance and make a better life for herself, Cora convince s Frank to help her kill her husband for hi s insurance money.   Follow ing a failed attempt to murder Nick in the bathtub , Frank and Cora stage a car acc ident, unaware that District Attorney Kyle S ackett ( Leon Ames) has been following them. Although Sackett arrives on the scene too late to sa ve Nick, he is certain that...