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. The result is an exciting and highly realistic film, whose new set cost, mainly for studio replicas, was well under the imposed limit.Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt is widely considered one of the most masterful films in the history of cinema. 13,000), Hitchcock with his cast and crew took over the entire city for four weeks, converted it into a complete motion-picture studio. Instead of building a studio version of a typical American city, his main setting, he searched for a ready-made one.

Accustomed to spending more than $100,000 on sets alone for one picture, Hitchcock made Shadow Of A Doubt by reverting to the 'location shooting' of early movie days. LIFE magazine ran an extensive feature on the film's production in their January 1943 edition:Īs a director of one of the first movies to be produced under the Government restriction placing a $5,000 ceiling on new materials used for sets, has shown he has more than one trick up his sleeve. Writer Thornton Wilder accompanied Hitchcock on a trip to the town in June 1942 so that they could incorporate local landmarks and buildings into the screenplay. Shadow of a Doubt was mostly filmed on location in Santa Rosa, California, during August 1942.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943) cover