Suspicion

Now Playing

1 hr. 39 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

97%

34 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Charming scoundrel Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) woos wealthy but plain Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine), who runs away with him despite the warnings of her disapproving father (Cedric Hardwicke). After their marriage, Johnnie's risky financial ventures cause Lina to suspect he's becoming involved in unscrupulous dealings. When his dear friend and business partner, Beaky (Nigel Bruce), dies under suspicious circumstances on a business trip, she fears her husband might kill her for her inheritance.

Read More

Read Less

Now in Theaters

Now Playing

Buy Tickets

In Theaters

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Suspicion on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

Not even notorious studio meddling can diminish the craft and tantalizing suspense of Suspicion, a sly showcase for Joan Fontaine's nervy prowess and Alfred Hitchcock's flair for disquiet.

Read Critics Reviews

Abe A

Almost a 4. The end was a disappointment--Hitchcock chickened out and gave the movie a generic Hollywood ending. This was better than Rear Window, and could have been a masterpiece of suspense if the end hadn't been a damp squid. My impression from this and Rear Window is that Hitchcock movies always end happily, and that detracts enormously from whatever suspense is built into the plot because you know it will end well. He just couldn't resist following the generic Hollywood script.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/24

Full Review

James G

So underrated! Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine are phenomenal in this

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/24

Full Review

X O

Strange film. Hitchcock's very earliest films? Why would Joan Fontaine win an Oscar for her role in this? She really needs to let her down. I've been watching lots of 1940s films recently. The music is so weird. Terribly strange. Seems very unorchestrated. It kills what could be possible.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/05/23

Full Review

Matthew B

One of Alfred Hitchcock's many extraordinary achievements was to take one of Hollywood's most charming and affable stars, and have him portray characters of a more sinister kind. It is comparatively easy to bring out the dark side in actors such as James Mason or Kirk Douglas who regularly played flawed characters. To do the same with Cary Grant, the star of a number of agreeable romantic comedies, was a more incredible feat. What would it be like to be married to such a roguishly charming and ruthless man of the kind that Grant played in other films? Suspicion is the movie that comes closest to answering this question. For the first time we see that marrying such a man is not the happy ending that the comedies suggest, but the beginning of a fresh collection of problems. Suspicion was made after Rebecca, and shares many similarities. Both feature Joan Fontaine as a timid heroine, and offer a supporting role to Nigel Bruce. Both were made in America, but set in Britain. In the case of Suspicion, this is a quaint England created entirely on sets, where characters act in the way that American audiences seem to expect of the English – talking in posh accents, hunting, and living in clean postcard villages. Most of all, both movies portray a marriage that is in trouble. In the world of Hitchcock, single people have fun sparring with one another before finding a happy ending in wedlock, but married couples are frequently unhappy, and spend the film struggling to reach some kind of resolution to their problems. The script cleverly alternates between moments of suspicion and moments of reassurance. These two states of mind slide like tectonic plates beneath the feet of our heroine and of the audience watching the movie. The viewer is constantly made to doubt Johnnie's probity, but like Lina we wish to believe the enchanting rascal. I may be in a minority, but personally I prefer the revised ending. There is something more interesting about an open ending. We can make up our own conclusion to the story. There are a number of themes and motifs that can be found in other Hitchcock movies, especially that of the marriage in trouble. Another familiar element is the inclusion of characters who enjoy discussing murder methods, and who therefore offer an insight into Hitchcock's own attitudes towards making movies on the subject. The murder mystery writer Isobel exclaims, ‘My villain? My hero, you mean. I always think of my murderers as heroes." It is easy to imagine Hitchcock saying the same thing, as his films often identify with the villains as well as the heroes. There are also a number of stylistic touches that identify the film as Hitchcockian. The music is used to heighten effects. In this case it is Strauss's Vienna Blood waltz which plays in the background during the scene where Johnnie meets Lina at the ball, and reverberates throughout the rest of the movie in happy, sad or ominous variations. Two years later, Hitchcock used Lehar's music from The Merry Widow to achieve a similar effect in Shadow of a Doubt. Suspicion provides a good blend of carefully-crafted melodrama, romance and suspense. As with the earlier Rebecca, it demonstrated that Hitchcock's move to America was not going to dull the sharp edge that his British films had shown, but rather to provide new opportunities and a bigger budget for the great director to stretch his abilities. I wrote a longer appreciation of Suspicion on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/suspicion-1941/

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/18/23

Full Review

Dick C

It's an excellent film, Suspicion, 1941 film bu Sir Alfred Hitchcock...starring by sole Oscar-winning performance, Joan Fontaine

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/01/23

Full Review

Ian W

Time has not been very kind to this film. It is however always nice to see a Britain where everyone is polite and civil to one other. And can articulate clearly. The 'reveal' is a bit unlikely to say the least - given the mountain of circumstantial evidence racking up against Cary Grant. But it's Hitchcock. And Cary Grant (Archie Leach) is from Bristol, almost certainly a Rovers supporter, so all is forgiven.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Cary Grant

Johnnie Aysgarth

Joan Fontaine

Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth

Cedric Hardwicke

General McLaidlaw (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)

Nigel Bruce

Gordon Cochrane 'Beaky' Thwaite

Dame May Whitty

Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

100%

46%

Experiment Perilous

82%

53%

The Ghost Ship

96%

91%

Notorious

100%

76%

The Window

94%

62%

The Hitch-Hiker

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Edwin Schallert

Los Angeles Times

At times even the audience believes as the woman does. At other times doubt intrudes. This is where Suspicion shines as especially deft and adroit, and loyal also to Hitchcock precedent for keeping both characters and spectators guessing.

Apr 20, 2019

Full Review

TIME Magazine

Suspicion is good Alfred Hitchcock-up to the last few minutes. In those final minutes the picture falls apart at the seams.

Oct 25, 2017

Full Review

Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

Rated: 3/5

Mar 10, 2012

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Suspicion is not the best of the Alfred Hitchcock/Cary Grant films and despite the film's ending, it's still in the upper tier of the Hitchcock's filmography.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 27, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The Master of Suspense definitely knows how to pick a winning project; delusion and coincidence turn out to be incredibly powerful tools in his hands.

Rated: 10/10

Aug 15, 2020

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock delivers a slow-moving yet consistently watchable drama that boasts brief instances of thriller-like plot twists...

Rated: 3/4

Apr 11, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Charming scoundrel Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) woos wealthy but plain Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine), who runs away with him despite the warnings of her disapproving father (Cedric Hardwicke). After their marriage, Johnnie's risky financial ventures cause Lina to suspect he's becoming involved in unscrupulous dealings. When his dear friend and business partner, Beaky (Nigel Bruce), dies under suspicious circumstances on a business trip, she fears her husband might kill her for her inheritance.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Anthony Berkeley, Samson Raphaelson, Joan Harrison, Alma Reville
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 14, 1941, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 2016

Most Popular at Home Now