On View : Hallmark Without a Hitch

When Diane Ladd was asked to appear in the television remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “Shadow of a Doubt,” premiering tonight on CBS, she promptly turned down the offer.

“I said, ‘Remake that as a movie of the week! They have got to be kidding! Take a masterpiece and chop-liver it?’ ”

But Ladd, a best supporting actress Oscar nominee this year for “Wild at Heart,” changed her mind when she learned “Hallmark Hall of Fame” was producing the remake. “I went to see the Hallmark (presentation) ‘Sarah, Plain and Tall’ with Glenn Close, and I thought, ‘My God, look what classy shows Hallmark is doing.’ ”

Class has been Hallmark’s calling card. During the last 40 years the greeting card-sponsored dramatic showcase has won 65 Emmy Awards and presented such acclaimed and diverse fare as “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” “Victoria Regina,” “A Storm in Summer,” “The Promise,” “Foxfire,” “The Tenth Man” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Its last drama, “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” placed No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings the first week in February.

“Shadow of a Doubt” is a 180-degree switch from the sweet romance of “Sarah.” The psychological thriller is about a small-town teen-age girl named Charlie who discovers her namesake--charming and handsome Uncle Charlie--is actually the “Merry Widow” serial murderer.

Released in 1943, the original “Shadow of a Doubt” was scripted by legendary playwright Thornton Wilder with Sally Benson and Alma Reville and starred Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright as the Charlies. It was Hitchcock’s personal favorite.

The Hallmark version stars Mark Harmon and Margaret Welsh as the uncle and niece. Ladd plays young Charlie’s mother. Tippi Hedren, who starred in Hitchcock’s “The Birds” and “Marnie,” has a cameo as one of Uncle Charlie’s victims.

Brad Moore, vice president of television programming at Hallmark Cards Inc., doesn’t think Hallmark has veered from its usual offerings with “Shadow.”

“We have done mysteries several times in the past like ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ and ‘The Tenth Man,’ ” he said. “This is not a mystery, but there is a good deal of suspense. We try to do programs that really involve the audience and really get them emotionally tuned into the program. We think suspense is a wonderful way to do this.”

John Gay, who adapted the screenplay, hadn’t seen the original film in years. “I am fairly old, but I was pretty young when I saw the film,” he said, laughing.

Gay has written more than 30 scripts for TV films and miniseries, including “Fatal Vision,” “Windmills of the Gods,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Around the World in 80 Days.”

“ ‘Shadow’ to me is basically a story of a small-town average American family with a very lovable Uncle Charlie whom they adore and who just happens to be a serial killer,” Gay said. “There’s a strong bond between Charlie and young Charlie and that to me provides the substance of the drama--how that love and affection turns to suspicion and, ultimately, fear. That’s the element I wanted to focus on and develop more in the screenplay.”

Gay added a new opening scene in which audiences see Uncle Charlie seduce and murder a wealthy widow, played by Hedren. “When you look at the original film, 10 minutes into it there isn’t any doubt that Uncle Charlie is the killer,” he said. “Since there isn’t any doubt to begin with, the drama is in the girl’s reaction and the family’s reaction to Uncle Charlie. So I thought it would be interesting to see him do this thing.”

He also set the film in the early 1950s.

Director Karen Arthur (“Bump in the Night”) said it was a challenge to direct the remake and “see how the material holds pure. Hitchcock was extraordinary. It was with trepidation you approach any project that has been made before, particularly in the hands of a master.”

Part of “Shadow” was filmed in Santa Rosa in Northern California, the same filming site as the original. “The house we chose to shoot in is across the street from the house Hitchcock shot in,” Arthur said. “I framed a couple of shots in the movie with that house in the background.”

Hedren’s appearance is a homage to Hitch. “It’s a very sexy little role,” Hedren said. “All the time I kept thinking, ‘How would Hitchcock direct me in this?’ That is what really made it fun. I tried to visualize how he would direct me. Hitchcock was very deliberate in his movements of your facial expression and everything. It’s hard to explain.”

Although Ladd is pleased she took the part, she thinks the new version of “Shadow” doesn’t compare to the original. “I don’t think it could. It’s a different medium, a different budget and a different schedule and script. However, it’s a very good, classy Hallmark show. We had a director who has extracted some gold from the script.

“I did this because it was a classic. I remember Martin Scorsese saying it was one of his inspirations. A lot of people never saw the original and if they see our movie, some will go back and see the original.”

“Hallmark Hall of Fame: Shadow of a Doubt” airs tonight at 9 on CBS.