Suspicion (1941)

Introduction

Suspicion marked Alfred Hitchcock’s second American feature following the success of Rebecca (1940), and it quickly cemented his reputation in Hollywood as a master of suspense with a distinct psychological edge. A haunting blend of romance, mystery, and growing dread, Suspicion stars Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant in a story where love itself becomes a potential death sentence.

While the film contains many of Hitchcock’s signature elements — tension, paranoia, identity questions, and moral ambiguity — it also reveals the unique constraints of the era, especially the pressures of the Production Code, which ultimately shaped (and softened) its ending. Despite this, Suspicion remains a gripping and atmospheric thriller, bolstered by a powerhouse performance from Fontaine and evocative direction that shows Hitchcock’s evolving mastery over cinematic tension.

Plot Summary

The story follows Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine), a shy, well-bred Englishwoman from an upper-class family, who is swept off her feet by the charming, rakish Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant). Against her better judgment and her family's wishes, she marries him — and soon discovers that Johnnie is not the man he claimed to be.

He lies about his finances, spends recklessly, and refuses to work. As Lina begins to uncover more disturbing truths — a life insurance policy, a sudden death of a friend, secret dealings — she starts to fear that Johnnie may be planning her murder. Or is her growing fear the product of a paranoid imagination?

That is the central tension of Suspicion: the ambiguity between reality and perception, love and danger, trust and self-deception.

Performances

Joan Fontaine as Lina

Fontaine’s portrayal of Lina is the film’s emotional and psychological anchor. She transforms from a mousy, naive girl into a woman consumed by fear, doubt, and moral conflict. Her wide, haunted eyes convey an ever-deepening internal panic, even when she says very little.

For this performance, Fontaine won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the only performer in a Hitchcock film to win an Oscar. It's a remarkable achievement, especially considering the film’s focus on psychological nuance over big dramatic gestures. She manages to balance vulnerability and strength, making Lina’s descent into suspicion both believable and tragic.

Cary Grant as Johnnie

Casting Cary Grant was both a daring and brilliant move. Known for his charisma and comic timing, Grant plays against type here — or rather, Hitchcock weaponizes his charm. Johnnie is undeniably charming, but also manipulative, irresponsible, evasive — and possibly murderous. It's a performance full of ambiguity; Grant keeps you guessing at every turn.

Grant’s Johnnie never loses his boyish likability, which makes the possibility of his guilt all the more disturbing. That duality — romantic allure tinged with threat — is where Hitchcock finds the film’s true suspense.

Nigel Bruce as Beaky

Nigel Bruce (best known as Dr. Watson in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films) plays Johnnie’s bumbling friend Beaky. He provides some comic relief, but also becomes a tragic figure whose death raises the stakes and heightens Lina’s fears. Bruce brings warmth and pathos to the role, making Beaky’s fate emotionally resonant.

Direction and Cinematography

As always, Hitchcock’s direction is the true star. His mastery of visual storytelling turns Suspicion into a psychological minefield. He uses composition and lighting to express Lina’s growing isolation and dread. Rooms become darker, shadows longer, and camera angles more claustrophobic as her suspicions intensify.

One of the most iconic visual moments in the film involves a glass of milk that Johnnie brings to Lina late at night — shot with ominous lighting to make it glow (reportedly by placing a light bulb inside the glass). The scene encapsulates Hitchcock’s genius: transforming a simple domestic object into a vessel of mortal fear.

Another standout is Hitchcock’s use of mirrors and staircases to symbolize the fractured emotional states and shifting dynamics between Lina and Johnnie. His restraint in never showing actual violence, but rather implying it through suggestion and suspense, is what makes the film so unnerving.

Music and Sound Design

Franz Waxman’s score is subtly unsettling. It moves between romantic themes and chilling dissonance, often echoing Lina’s emotional state. The music rarely intrudes, but it always underscores the growing sense of unease. Silence, too, is used effectively — especially in scenes where suspicion overwhelms dialogue, and only glances and sound cues remain.

Themes and Psychological Complexity

Love as Entrapment

At the heart of Suspicion lies the disintegration of trust between two people who are supposed to be in love. Hitchcock subverts the romantic tropes by turning them into sources of dread. Lina doesn’t fall in love — she falls into a trap. The institution of marriage becomes a prison, one that might kill her.

The Unreliable Perception

Hitchcock doesn’t show us the truth directly — instead, he forces the audience to see events through Lina’s increasingly paranoid eyes. Is Johnnie guilty? Or is Lina's fear a projection of her own insecurities and emotional repression? This ambiguity makes Suspicion far more psychologically layered than a typical thriller.

The Production Code and the Ending

One of the most controversial aspects of Suspicion is its ending. In the original script — and in the novel Before the Fact — Johnnie does intend to murder Lina, and she accepts it in a tragic act of romantic fatalism. But Hollywood censors at the time would not allow Cary Grant — the studio’s golden boy — to play a murderer, especially one who gets away with it.

As a result, the film’s ending was softened, and Johnnie is portrayed as merely irresponsible, not homicidal. Lina’s fears are dismissed as overreactions. This conclusion is widely seen as a cop-out, and even Hitchcock reportedly disliked it. Still, the rest of the film is so layered with doubt and tension that the final minutes can't erase the powerful ambiguity Hitchcock cultivated.

Awards and Legacy

Academy Award for Best Actress – Joan Fontaine (Winner)

Nominated for Best Picture

Selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry in 2022 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”

Considered a forerunner to later psychological thrillers involving gaslighting, domestic suspense, and unreliable narrators

It also influenced later Hitchcock classics like Rebecca, Notorious, and Dial M for Murder, all of which explore themes of female entrapment and the duality of charming men with dark motives.

Verdict

Suspicion is a masterfully executed psychological thriller that thrives on tension, ambiguity, and the interplay between love and fear. While its studio-mandated ending robs it of the bleak punch Hitchcock originally envisioned, the journey there is filled with artful suspense, stellar performances, and a creeping sense of unease that lingers long after the credits roll.

Joan Fontaine’s Oscar-winning turn and Cary Grant’s complex, menacing charisma elevate the film, making it one of the most psychologically rich entries in Hitchcock’s early American period. It’s not the definitive Hitchcock film — but it is a haunting, beautifully acted, and meticulously crafted exploration of what happens when you begin to fear the one you love.