Suspicion (1941 Bonus Episode)

October 1, 2025·1 hr 8 min·5 clips

Josh and Jason debate Cary Grant impressions before diving into Hitchcock's 1941 thriller Suspicion, a film they've avoided until now.

1. Awesome Movie Year hosts Josh Bell (film critic and writer) and Jason Harris (filmmaker, comedian, podcaster) discuss Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion as the bonus episode for their 1941 film season. 2. Josh Bell is introduced as a film critic and writer; Jason Harris as a filmmaker and comedian; a third voice named Dave also participates briefly, noting he had not seen the film before. 3. The episode's central argument is that Suspicion is a very good film undone by a rushed, overcautious ending that fails to deliver on the paranoia the first two acts construct. 4. Suspicion (1941) starred Cary Grant as Johnny Aysgarth and Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw; it grossed $1.8 million on a $1.1 million budget, was nominated for three Oscars, and won Best Actress for Fontaine. 5. Joan Fontaine's Oscar win is the only acting win ever for a Hitchcock film, which Josh finds 'an odd choice' given that Rebecca — her collaboration with Hitchcock the year before — was a higher achievement for both. 6. Hitchcock had just won Best Picture for Rebecca in 1940 but had never won Best Director; the hosts note this as an ongoing Oscars injustice alongside the Academy's neglect of Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Grace Kelly. 7. The film was adapted from the novel Before the Fact by Frances Iles (penname of Anthony Berkeley Cox), in which Johnny is explicitly a cheating, thieving murderer who kills both the best friend Beaky and poisons Lina. 8. The screenplay — written by Alma Reville (Hitchcock's wife), Joan Harrison (his assistant, also credited on Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent), and Samson Raphaelson (who wrote The Jazz Singer) — toned down Johnny's crimes significantly. 9. Josh argues the toning down was probably driven by the studio's desire to protect Cary Grant's image as a beloved movie star, though Hitchcock's own position on the matter was never clearly stated. 10. The central narrative mechanism is that Lina's suspicions are sometimes correct (Johnny did lie and did steal) and sometimes unfounded (he is not a murderer), creating genuine ambiguity about whether she is paranoid or perceptive. 11. Josh compares Suspicion to In a Lonely Place (1950), which he considers a superior execution of the same paranoia-about-a-possible-murderer premise, and notes that in that film Humphrey Bogart's independence as producer allowed a darker portrayal than Cary Grant's studio constraints permitted. 12. Jason argues that if the film had shaded Johnny slightly more nefarious — without making him an obvious murderer — the central tension would have been more effective without undermining the paranoia theme. 13. The character Beaky (played by Nigel Bruce) is praised as a standout supporting figure: a loyal, charming friend to Johnny who is simultaneously self-aware about Johnny's dishonesty and guileless enough to be exploited by him. 14. Jason highlights the chairs scene — in which Johnny sells Lina's inherited antique chairs to fund gambling, then wins at the track and buys them back — as an example of how the film presents Johnny as genuinely fond of Lina within his own warped ethical framework. 15. Josh and Jason agree Johnny probably does love Lina, but that his entire adult life as a social-climbing gigolo has normalized using women financially, and loving her is not incompatible with exploiting her. 16. The hosts discuss a 1988 remake of Suspicion which they did not watch, noting that letterboxd reviewers say the plot makes no sense without updating, given that the 1941 social context — where a woman leaving a bad marriage was far more stigmatized — is essential to why Lina stays. 17. Josh describes the glowing milk glass shot: Hitchcock lit the milk from within the glass so it radiates an eerie supernatural glow as Cary Grant carries it up the darkened staircase toward Lina. 18. Jason proposes the ideal ending: Grant hands Fontaine the glowing glass, says 'drink the milk and have a good night's rest,' leaves the room, and the film cuts on Fontaine staring at it — leaving the question of whether she drinks permanently open, like the Sopranos finale. 19. The three alternate endings are described: the novel version (Lina voluntarily drinks the poison out of love), the unmade film ending (Lina writes a letter accusing Johnny, asks him to mail it, drinks the milk, final shot is him posting the letter that exposes him), and the actual released ending (Johnny turns the car around, the threat dissolves). 20. Fans of classic Hollywood film criticism, Hitchcock deep dives, and podcast analysis of 1940s cinema will find this well-researched and conversationally engaging; listeners wanting a more formal academic or historical approach may find the casual banter style less suitable.

As heard by us

A sharp Hitchcock-Grant debate that makes Suspicion's ending the main event.

Awesome Movie Year uses its 1941 bonus slot to finally get to Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, and the conversation has a nice push-pull to it: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, and the film's steady fog of doubt give Josh Bell and Jason Harris plenty to work with.

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Why you'd press play

Cary Grant, Hitchcock, and one Suspicion ending that won't sit still.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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