A highly predictable film by the standards of today but the plot nonetheless creates effective tension and a sense of claustrophobia surrounding Ingrid Bergman’s character such that we feel her character’s psychological state of being gaslighted. This shift goes along with the 1940's shift of camera angles being chosen to put the audience into the psychological state of mind of the character rather than just show the actions as clear as possible and focus on the actors.
THE MONSTER HAS MOVED INTO OUR OWN HOUSE. We definitely see a shift in the storytelling back to the complex moral situations of the 1920s with incredibly delicate and sophisticated tales about the flaws of humanity as well as our redeeming qualities. Tales like Greed, Gold Rush, The Wheel, The Smiling Madame Beudeut, The Unknown, Sunrise, gave way to the genre flicks and films that diluted the story into more clear cut Good protagonist vs Evil Monster storylines.
Now as WW2 is in full swing rushing towards its end and the world is dealing with the moral challenge of Nazis and human rights and atrocities committed against civilians it makes sense that the culture has shifted back to the storyline of the villain being inside the home with the story blending those two roles much like in Shadow of a Doubt, also starring Joseph Cotten. It makes sense that films are beginning to return to addressing the ills of society in a far more nuanced and complex manner after the War shook our understanding of morality that had been built to be this christian dogma since the Hays Code took effect in 1934. This is almost a rejection of that code saying Americans need to see the truth of the world given how close we have come to watching it be destroyed.
Side note - Ingrid Bergman is the poster child for the 1940’s woman. She is submissive, passive, pretty, but not scandalous, needing and yearning to be dominated by a man. Even as she tries to stand up to her male captor at the end she can’t even do it. She throws the door open and yells for Joseph Cotten to come running in and save her.
Women have shifted into the subservient role they will occupy in the 50’s. And the hero and the villain have become much closer since they were separated by genre convention and escapist tendencies in film in the 30’s.
Film noir has taken over the scene in Hollywood, partly feeding off this new psychological craze and pushing it forward. We see the 40s exist almost as a new 20’s and this movie embodies that shift back towards stories that are real talking about hard-hitting dark issues that reach into the core nature of mankind and expose our ugly truths and how all of us are susceptible to that behavior.