On this date in 1905, the great actor Joseph Cotten was born in Petersburg, Virginia.  A longtime friend and collaborator of Orson Welles, Cotten was one of the most dependable leading men of the 40s and 50s, an actor with the charisma of star and the talent of an artist.

Today’s scene that I love comes from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1943 masterpiece, Shadow of a Doubt, and it features Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten.  Wright plays Charlie.  Cotten plays her beloved uncle, who is also named Charlie and who might very well be a serial killer.  In this scene, Uncle Charlie drags his niece to a seedy bar, where he confesses that, as she earlier deduced, he is a suspect in a murder investigation.  With a mixture of charm and intimidating, Charlie tries to convince his niece to keep his secret to herself.