No Doubt At All

A deleted scene from an interview with Alfred Hitchcock

In an interview with Dick Cavett in 1972, Alfred Hitchcock was asked to name his personal favourite of the movies he directed. He answered Shadow of a Doubt. But now, for the first time, we can reveal the conversation that led to that slightly surprising revelation was edited for clarity. Here’s the transcript of the original, uncut conversation.

CAVETT: What’s your favourite of your movies, Mr Hitchcock?

HITCHCOCK: Shadow of a Doubt.

CAVETT: That’s Shadow of a Doubt, your 1943 film starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten?

HITCHCOCK: Correct.

CAVETT: And you’re certain this is your favourite?

HITCHCOCK: Positive.

CAVETT: Without a shadow of a doubt?

HITCHCOCK: Well, without a Shadow of a Doubt, it’d have to be one of the other movies, wouldn’t it?

CAVETT: Aha! So one of your other movies is your favourite movie?

HITCHCOCK: (hesitating) Without a Shadow of a Doubt, yes.

CAVETT: Which one?

HITCHCOCK: Which one what?

CAVETT: Which of your movies is your favourite?

HITCHCOCK: Without a Shadow of a Doubt?

CAVETT: Yes.

HITCHCOCK: It would have to be my second favourite movie, then.

CAVETT: Shadow of a Doubt is your second favourite movie?

HITCHCOCK: No, no, no. Shadow of a Doubt is my favourite movie, but without a Shadow of a Doubt, I’d have to say my second favourite movie is my favourite movie. That’s just basic logic, surely.

CAVETT: I confess your favourite movie is now completely unclear to me.

HITCHCOCK: Well, firstly, I Confess is not my favourite movie, as much as I enjoyed working with Montgomery Clift.

CAVETT: I never claimed it was!

HITCHCOCK: You most certainly did! You said ‘I Confess, your favourite movie’!

CAVETT: (confused) Wait…

HITCHCOCK: (interrupting) And I don’t see why you’d find it unclear. It’s a perfectly straightforward story of a priest who cannot reveal the identity of a murderer because it was told to him in a confessional, and therefore finds himself… well, you know the rest, I’m sure.

CAVETT: Coming under suspicion?

HITCHCOCK: I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s coming under Suspicion. They’re both movies I’m proud of, and I always loved working with Cary Grant. But I wouldn’t classify either Suspicion or I Confess as my favourite movie.

CAVETT: (slowly and angrily) And what, exactly, is your favourite of your movies?

HITCHCOCK: Without a Shadow of a Doubt?

CAVETT: Well, you can have a shadow of a doubt. But we want you to be as definitive as you can be.

HITCHCOCK: In that case, it’s Shadow of a Doubt.

CAVETT: Mr Hitchcock, thank you for your time.

---

If you enjoy the movies of Alfred Hitchcock, or would like to learn more about them, you should listen to HitchPod, the podcast I do with Cat Jones. We’re currently doing a rewatch countdown of Hitchcock’s top twenty movies as voted on by our listeners and are up to… Shadow of a Doubt.