There are a variety of hints scattered around this psychological thriller that play to the audience’s suspicion. From the opening chase sequence to the scene where Charlie and the detective become locked in the barn, Hitchcock crafted the editing meticulously so that the tension builds with subtle hints of what is to come. Shadow of a Doubt features connecting sequences of shots that build suspense but need to be conjoined in order to progress the story forward. It is a small portion of a larger story that, when joined together, creates the entire narrative. Hitchcock understood the idea of the montage and how the act of cutting a piece of film is meant to join that piece of story to another. Of course the most elementary form is the juxtaposition of imagery in various sizes.” Montage means the assembly of pieces of film, which move in rapid succession before the eye and create an idea. Mosaic is assembling something to create a whole. We call it cutting, it isn’t exactly that.

“Well you have two kinds of what we might call montage.

Shadow of a doubt movie quotes