FAQ

Shadow on the Wall is based on the 1943 novel Death in the Doll's House by Lawrence P. Bachmann and Hannah Lees. The novel was adapted for the movie by American screenwriter William Ludwig.

She apparently died when Susan (Gigi Perreau) was very young, as Susan reminds her father that Celia (Kristine Miller) is not her real mother because he told her himself that her real mother died. No details are given about her death.

The shadow refers to a shadow that Susan sees after she is awakened by a gunshot and finds that her stepmother has been murdered. However, Susan has amnesia following the incident and doesn't remember anything about the murder. David (Zachary Scott), Susan's father, is eventually charged with the murder, and Susan begins to regain her memory. All she can remember of the shadow is that it had a feather on its head, and so she thinks it might have been an Indian.

With David's approval, Aunt Dell (Ann Sothern) gains custody of Susan. Dr Canford (Nancy Reagan) and Susan's lawyer deliver her to Dell's house in the country. As they are about to leave, Dell turns on the porch light. Susan notices Dell's shadow on the wall and recognizes the ribbon sticking up from her hair as the same "feather" she saw on the shadow of the person who shot Celia. She begins to scream, "It was Aunt Dell!" Dell breaks down and confesses to the lawyer. In the final scene, David is released from jail, and he and Susan go home together.