Manny Ballestero is an honest hardworking musician at New York's Stork Club. When his wife needs money for dental treatment, Manny goes to the local insurance office to borrow on her policy. Employees at the office mistake him for a hold-up man who robbed them the year before and the police are called. The film tells the true story of what happened to Manny and his family.
Alfred Hitchcock was fond of telling the story about how his father discouraged his son from even the slightest criminal impulse by having young Alfred locked in a police holding cell for a brief period--a terrifying experience Hitchcock never forgot. Much of the fear from that childhood incident resonates through The Wrong Man, which is unique among Hitchcock's films in that it is based entirely on a factual case that occurred in New York City in January 1953. As Hitchcock states in a shadowy prologue, authenticity was his primary goal--including the use of actual names and locations from the case--and the film gains considerable power from Hitchcock's semi-documentary approach (a film noir style that was still in vogue when Hitchcock shot this film in 1957).
Henry Fonda is perfectly cast as the financially struggling nightclub musician who is mistakenly identified as a robber when he attempts to cash in his wife's life-insurance policy to pay for her much-needed dental work. Vera Miles is equally superb as the suffering wife, who ultimately cracks under the pressure of her husband's wrongful accusation and the drawn-out process of proving his innocence. Through all of this, Hitchcock pays close attention to the mundane details of police procedure, intensifying Fonda's desperation and the narrative tension that was Hitchcock's directorial trademark. As it happens, the strict adherence to factual detail--no matter how absurd or incredible--also renders The Wrong Man somewhat weaker than Hitchcock's classic plots, since in this case truth is decidedly stranger than fiction. Nevertheless, this is still a riveting film that fits quite nicely alongside Hitchcock's better-known films of the 1950s. (Interesting trivia: Miles--who would later appear in Psycho, was Hitchcock's first choice for the Kim Novak role in Vertigo, and Hitchcock was vocally annoyed when Miles's pregnancy prevented her from taking the role that could have made her a star.) --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Very good character study:
Once again Hitchcock surprises us by making a movie that is completely different from the other better known films he made in this era. Theres no Hollywood action and very little of his trademark suspense in this movie. Its almost a procedural Police movie with a bit of court room drama thrown in for good measure. Above all this though is how the relationship between a man and wife is stretched beyond the limit by a simple misidentification. Henry Fonda looks suitably haunted and Vera Miles as his wife... more info
Good:
Alfred Hitchcock was the consummate Hollywood director, in that his films had high production values, big name stars, were immaculately composed and scored- usually by Bernard Herrmann, as in this film, yet they also tended to lack heart, or real human emotion. They were all basically plot-driven vehicles that usually had twist endings, that stretched the bounds of the reasonable. In a way he was the M. Night Shyamalan of his day, except that he was a far superior filmmaker in every way. Every so often,... more info
Art Imitating Life:
The Wrong Man is a brilliant film. This film was my first introduction to Alfred Hitchcock. I remember being about 10 and staying up "late" one night and watching this film. It terrified me. I remembered this film until seven years later when I saw a movie called "Psycho" and began to investigate the director--since then I have been hooked. The film follows the innocent and seemingly normal life of a man mistaken for a crime. As we continue on our journey through the justice system with Manny, we see... more info
Fascinating but not entirely successful "realist" film from "The Master":
"The Wrong Man", set in (then contemporary) 1950s New York, tells the story of a family man played by Henry Fonda who is mistakenly identified as the perpetrator behind a series of robberies. "The Wrong Man" is strange mixture of gritty realism and Hitchcockian sensibilities that doesn't entirely gel, particulary during the second half of the film. Hitchcock had a traumatic childhood experience of being imprisoned that left him with a life long phobia of police and authority figures in general.... more info
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