‘Suspicion’ is one of the director Alfred Hitchcock’s lesser-known films from the early 1940s. Based on the novel “Before the Fact” by Francis Iles, Suspicion was adapted into a screenplay with Hitchcock directing. Playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) meets a young lady, Lina (Joan Fontaine), on a British train and charms her. She grows suspicious of his intention, but he continues to court her, even taking her on a walk. She falls in love with him, and against her father’s wishes, they rush into marriage. On their honeymoon, she finds out Johnnie is financially broke and doesn’t have a job. His friend informs her he lives off borrowed money from his friends and gambles it on risky bets. She catches him in even more lies, including breaking his word. The final straw comes when she suspects him of being a murderer and fears he intends to kill her.

Suspicion was a letdown to me. First, the goods. The direction, acting, and the script are outstanding. Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role and was the only Hitchcock-directed actor with an Oscar. The buildup was thrilling and everything was progressing along, but then the film abruptly wrapped up in the final three minutes. The entire issue was the disastrous ending, which made little sense considering the buildup. RKO, the studio that funded Suspicion, forced Hitchcock to change the screenplay and alter the ending, cutting it short. In the original ending, Cary Grant was supposed to be the villain. However, if you have watched Cary Grant films, he has never played a villain role in his career. Hitchcock expressed frustration with the studio, which was unwilling to tarnish Cary Grant’s heroic image. Today, I think such a move by any studio would damage their reputation if made public, but it was common in the Golden Age of Hollywood when censorship was normal. The fear was that allowing a murderer to go unpunished in a film might glorify murder—an argument I find asinine, but one that the conservative culture of the time accepted. Times have certainly changed. Grant and Hitchcock had a rift working on this film, leading Grant to vow never to work with Hitchcock again. However, they later cleared the air and did three more films together, becoming friends.

Would I recommend this? I don’t think it’s a must-watch, but it’s worth watching if you are a Hitchcock fan. The abrupt ending makes the rest of the film feel futile. It’s difficult to respect the studio getting too involved in the editing with a director like Hitchcock heading the project.