Film Details

Dr. Phillip J. Skerry, film scholar and Professor Emeritus at Lakeland Community College, has just published a new book that links physics (!) and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Dark Energy: Hitchcock’s Absolute Camera and the Physics of Cinematic Spacetime (Bloomsbury, 2013) “applies the theories of dark energy, entropy, black holes, and quantum mechanics to Hitchcock’s technological genius and camera aesthetics” (quoting the book jacket). Tonight Dr. Skerry explains some of his ideas as they relate to a 1943 thriller that Hitchcock often cited as his best American film. Shadow of a Doubt, co-written by Thornton Wilder, follows a young woman as she slowly gleans that her beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) may be the notorious “Merry Widow” murderer. Skerry calls Uncle Charlie a “Prince of Dark Energy” and he will explain why before and after the screening. He will also sell and sign his book.