The small town setting definitely adds to the appeal of this picture. Everything seems so normal before Uncle Charlie's sinister arrival. Having said that, the characters are delightfully eccentric - I especially like the banter between the whodunnit experts, but the whole cast pleases. The script contains some real gems. Incidentally, almost ten years later the two leads, Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright, were cast as a married couple in an entertaining little thriller, The Steel Trap .