Scott Renshaw said:
I've been laboring under the impression that conventional wisdom considered this "minor Hitchcock"--which serves me right, because conventional wisdom is so often complete balls. In an odd way, this feels like a precursor to something like FARGO, a procedural about the psychological hurdles that make it hard to grasp the possibility of guy-next-door evil. But even if it's not that, the potato truck sequence alone would be enough to make it a minor masterpiece. And it's a wicked sort of inversion of the "wronged man" premise Hitchcock was so well known for, since it's clear that Blaney is perfectly capable of murderous violence, if not the specific kind at issue here. Also loved how Hitchcock keeps playing with shots about people--including we, the viewers--being denied full information regarding what's happening (the track back from the top of the stairs, the verdict, etc.). If I had any sense that the stuff involving the police inspector and his wife's cooking were there for anything but too-goofy comic relief, this score could go even higher.
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