Hitchcock’s fourth American film has much in common with Rebecca: based on an English novel, set in England, and shot in Hollywood, with silly-ass specialist Nigel Bruce again prominent among a mainly Anglo-Hollywood cast. Joan Fontaine again plays the naive and nervous heroine, drawn, early on, into marriage with a charismatic Englishman – this time Cary Grant, in the first of his four starring roles for Hitchcock.

Because we are again tied mainly to the woman’s viewpoint – the man materialises, as if magically, in response to her day-dreaming – it is hard, right up to the end, to tell if he is charmingly irresponsible or something much more sinister. This uncertainty bothered the studio, leading to panicky attempts at re-editing, but it was an immediate commercial success and, like Rebecca, still exerts a powerful hold.

This event is part of The Genius of Alfred Hitchcock: Part Four, the final part of our complete retrospective of Hitchcock’s 52 surviving films (March 2nd – 31st).