Suspicion (1941)

Featured Audience Ratings

• moon r

  
  Hitchcock's tale of a spinsterish but well off lonely woman seduced by a charming ne'er-do-well is a mature rollercoaster ride as daddy's dire and unheeded prophecy comes true before her terrified eyes. Fontaine deserves her Oscar ... but Grant dazzles, becoming an… More
  Hitchcock's tale of a spinsterish but well off lonely woman seduced by a charming ne'er-do-well is a mature rollercoaster ride as daddy's dire and unheeded prophecy comes true before her terrified eyes. Fontaine deserves her Oscar ... but Grant dazzles, becoming an ominous Mr.Hyde (w/o make-up dahlink!) in a second. Hitchcock shines in this tale of subtleties like a polished diamond in a coal field!

• Lanning :

  
  Walter, this is another one where I wish I'd written the script. Maybe my favorite Hitchcock, but I have to agree with him when he says he'd rather have had it end with Grant murdering Fontaine -- the way the book it was based on ended. <p> As is, the… More
  Walter, this is another one where I wish I'd written the script. Maybe my favorite Hitchcock, but I have to agree with him when he says he'd rather have had it end with Grant murdering Fontaine -- the way the book it was based on ended. <p> As is, the "happy" ending is a little too quick and not quite convincing, although given the constraints of having to have a "happy" ending, I think Hitchcock came up with a decent finish. <p> I really don't believe that Grant was checking out poisons that couldn't be traced because he wanted to kill himself due to his shame. The character really is without shame, and bordering on amoral. And to have Fontaine voice the realization of Grant's wanting to kill himself is just too unbelievable for me. <p>Still, the edge of your seat non-stop guessing game is masterful. Really one of Hitchcock's best jobs.

• Graham J

  
  In my opinion, this film would be ranked with other Hitchcock masterworks if it wasn't for the cop-out ending forced onto him by RKO Studios. Cary Grant at his most sinister and Joan Fontaine gives her best performance.

• Jameson W

  
  Another great one from Hitchcock. Joan Fontaine is brilliant; she completely deserved her Oscar for Best Actress. See this one for her performance, and an out of the ordinary role for Cary Grant.

• Alexander D

  
  Pretty good Hitchcock here.

• Lewis C

  
  "If you're going to kill someone, do it simply." Suspicion is aptly named. In fact, you could say that the entire movie is summed up in the title. In this Hitchcock thriller, the famed director once again tackles the subject of murder. Through a series of suspicious… More
  "If you're going to kill someone, do it simply." Suspicion is aptly named. In fact, you could say that the entire movie is summed up in the title. In this Hitchcock thriller, the famed director once again tackles the subject of murder. Through a series of suspicious events and her own intuition, Lina (Joan Fontaine) becomes suspicious that her loving but deceitful new husband (Cary Grant) is capable of murder. Will she end up dead as a means to an end to pay off his gambling debts, or will her imagination end up making her unfairly push away her loving husband? Hitchcock does a good job of keeping the viewer in the dark about Johnnie's true nature until the end, and keeps the movie interesting, as a result. I liked Fontaine and Grant in this, they gave good performances. They didn't surpass their work with Hitchcock in Rebecca and To Catch a Thief, respectively, but I certainly didn't have any complaints. Grant is suitably ambiguous, and Fontaine portrays the see-saw emotions of her character well. Overall, Suspicion didn't blow me away the way that my favorite Hitchcock movies did, but it was enjoyable. Even middle-tier Hitchcock is worth checking out, in my book.

• AJ V

  
  A must see movie for fans of HItchcock, Grant, Fontaine, and Hardwicke!

• Thomas B

  
  Slow burning thriller but not one of Hitchcock's best. Full review later.

• Conner R

  
  My least favorite Hitchcock/Grant team up, but it’s still a really good movie. It’s a lot more of a comedy than a thriller, but it does have some elements of suspense thrown in. I really love the first act of the film, I think it really has the most personality and interesting… More
  My least favorite Hitchcock/Grant team up, but it’s still a really good movie. It’s a lot more of a comedy than a thriller, but it does have some elements of suspense thrown in. I really love the first act of the film, I think it really has the most personality and interesting shots. The second act is slightly goofy, but it finishes with a fun twist ending that is appropriate. Cary Grant really makes the movie as good as it is because of his charisma and mastery of dialogue. It’s certainly different from what you might be expecting, but it’s great none the less.

• danny d

  
  often considered to be one of hitchcocks early greats, i really liked this film a lot but i found it to be just a tad too slowly moving. i loved the end of the film and as always hitchcock brought in an effective level of suspense, but the first 30 minutes were dry and it took too… More
  often considered to be one of hitchcocks early greats, i really liked this film a lot but i found it to be just a tad too slowly moving. i loved the end of the film and as always hitchcock brought in an effective level of suspense, but the first 30 minutes were dry and it took too long to warm up to the characters. overall a solid film that i recommend but not one of hitchcocks best.

• Randy T

  
  Unsettling to see Cary Grant in such a dark role, which was surely Hitchcock's reason for casting him in the first place.

• Veronique K

  
  "suspicion" is hitchcock's second collaboration with joan fountain after the breath-takingly enthreal "rebecca"...also an ideal showcast for cary grant to demonstrate his acting scale of enabling to emit a blurred sense of sinisterness which differentiates his… More
  "suspicion" is hitchcock's second collaboration with joan fountain after the breath-takingly enthreal "rebecca"...also an ideal showcast for cary grant to demonstrate his acting scale of enabling to emit a blurred sense of sinisterness which differentiates his usual comic touch. fountain is a spinister-alike uptight debutante who is secretly smotheringly passationate. with her emotions sealed under her nerdy frigid appearance until she meets playboy cary grant who is capable of nothing except womanizing, gambling and squandering. she gallopes to his bosom to repel against her parents' predication of her foredoomed celibate for life. after their sudden marriage, she discovers all his vices, and there's some perilous duplicity in him coated with his attentive thoughtfulness. her doubts toward him stack up after she finds out his over-enthusaism of studying murder cases as well as his eagerness to obtain the chemical formula of the un-tracable poison. how shall fountain do to survive over this sweetly handsome devil? the scene of grant delivering a glass of milk to fountain is particularly creepy since it shimmers with omnious gleam in the dark that is resulted from hitchcock's whimiscal invention of setting a shining light bulb in the milk to constrast the background dimness, with a worrisome fountain lying upon the bedside frowning. what an atmostpheric scene. the original story of "suspicion" actually encloses with the husband successfully disposes of the wife over the cliff road then acquires her insurance policy. but rko company demands hitchcock to alter the ending due to grant's romantic debonair image which populates in most flicks they invest upon him. so "suspicion" has two versions of endings, of course, ultimately hitchcock chooses to play it safe, and also it sorta fits into the moral sequence he often lectures in his flick, the trustful cord of marrital harmony, but usually hitchcock would bare you the betraying condemnation instead of ideal blossoming.

• Cindy I

  
  Awesome film, but could have been better had they not tacked the happy ending onto it.

• xGary X

  
  Brilliant tale of a sheltered woman who falls for rakish Carey Grant but gradually, mounting circumstantial evidence leads her to fear for her life. Grant shows he is capable of far more than his usual light comic charm, and Hitchcock's deft direction portrays a palpable sense of… More
  Brilliant tale of a sheltered woman who falls for rakish Carey Grant but gradually, mounting circumstantial evidence leads her to fear for her life. Grant shows he is capable of far more than his usual light comic charm, and Hitchcock's deft direction portrays a palpable sense of forboding and menace. A glass of milk has never been more terrifying!

• Antony S

  
  Flawed but certainly worthwhile Hitchcock. Suspicion sets up a tale of marital danger, as over the course of their relationship, Joan Fontaine's character becomes increasingly worried about the possibility of her husband being a murderous social-climber. Though we are in… More
  Flawed but certainly worthwhile Hitchcock. Suspicion sets up a tale of marital danger, as over the course of their relationship, Joan Fontaine's character becomes increasingly worried about the possibility of her husband being a murderous social-climber. Though we are in familiar Hitch territory, the film does not quite grip to his usual levels, something that may be attributed to the general fanciful nature of the first act, which makes you question if this is going to be a flat-out romance movie with a slightly slimy male lead. But with perseverance, Hitch triumphs by illustrating the 'suspicion' late in the game, into which Fonatine's fear of dying a spinster accentuates the likelihood of her man's indiscretions. As a result, irregardless of the monkeyed ending (Hitch's intentional ending was never shot), the third act is remarkably tense, getting the heart racing like so few could emulate today. It's also worth mentioning that Fonatine's performance is the only Hitchcock-directed Oscar winner.

• Michael G

  
  You've kind of got to be in the mood, but it's really good.

• Byron B

  
  I prefer Gaslight for building suspense and ending more appropriately.

• Matthew Y

  
  You can ignore the ridiculous 100% RT rating, Suspicion is definitively inferior Hitchcock. Although that may not be the directors fault. The entire time I was watching a film where Joan Fontaine suspects her husband Cary Grant of plotting to murder her all I kept thinking was… More
  You can ignore the ridiculous 100% RT rating, Suspicion is definitively inferior Hitchcock. Although that may not be the directors fault. The entire time I was watching a film where Joan Fontaine suspects her husband Cary Grant of plotting to murder her all I kept thinking was "they're not actually going to have Cary Grant turn out to be the bad guy are they? That seems waaayyy too adventurous for RKO studios at the time." Unfortunately I was right as Hitchcock wanted an ending closer to the book Before the Fact that the film was based on but RKO was too concerned with keeping Grant's hero image and forced a change. When I read the original ending to the story I was bummed because it was a great ending and would have elevated Suspicion to a great film and one of Hitchcock's best. With the clique typical Golden Era Hollywood ending the film is mostly a cocktease promising a memorable climax but ultimately not following through with it. Too bad.

• Deb S

  
  This is a rather a chilling, psychological thriller that tells the story of Joan Fontaine (Lina) who is swept off her feet by the dapper and elegant Cary Grant (Johnnie). After their marriage, she realizes that her husband is very irresponsible, has a penchant for the races and… More
  This is a rather a chilling, psychological thriller that tells the story of Joan Fontaine (Lina) who is swept off her feet by the dapper and elegant Cary Grant (Johnnie). After their marriage, she realizes that her husband is very irresponsible, has a penchant for the races and gambling and owes a major gambling debt. Lina begins to think her hubbie has aspirations to bigger things that maybe extend to deceit and treachery because it appears that Johnnie is trying to entice his best friend, Nigel Bruce, in a scheme to buy some land and build a development. Not only does the deal fall through but, under mysterious circumstances in Paris, but in the presence of an unidentified English gentleman, Bruce drinks too much brandy and dies from it. Lina now suspects that her husband will try to kill her for her life insurance money to pay his ensuing debts. Is he really trying to kill her? Watch this movie to find the answer to that question.

• Brandon K

  
  One of the rare mysteries where you can watch it again and possibly come away with a different point of view. Who do we trust?

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