The Wrong Man (1956)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock | 105 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, John Heldabrand, Doreen Lang, Norma Connolly, Lola D’Annunzio, Robert Essen, Dayton Lummis, Charles Cooper, Esther Minciotti, Laurinda Barrett, Nehemiah Persoff, Kippy Campbell Charles Aidman, Sammy Armaro, Barry Atwater, Michael Ann Barrett, John C. Becher, Henry Beckman, Ray Bennett, Werner Klemperer, Alexander Lockwood, Patricia Morrow, Bonnie Franklin, Alfred Hitchcock

Poignant events from your childhood often have an impact for the rest of your life. Such was the case with Sir Alfred Hitchcock. When he had been naughty as a little boy, his father had become so angry that he sent him to the police station with a note for the sergeant in his hand. The officer read it and put young Alfred in a cell for ten minutes. “That’s how we do it with naughty boys,” he rebuked him. Since that time, Hitchcock had a phobia of police and police stations. A fear that was expressed in many of his films. When he learned of the tragic story of Christopher Emmanuel Balesteros, who was wrongfully imprisoned because he happened to resemble a wanted criminal, he didn’t hesitate for a moment to make a film about it. ‘The Wrong Man’ (1956) is nevertheless, because of its realistic character, the proverbial oddball in the oeuvre of the master of suspense.

Manny Balesteros (Henry Fonda) is an ordinary man. He lives with his wife Rose (Vera Miles) and two sons in a simple house in New York and earns a living as a musician in a band that plays every night in a chic nightclub. They don’t have much but are happy and that’s what it’s all about in the end, isn’t it? When his wife suffers from her wisdom teeth and urgently needs dental care, Manny decides to go to the insurance company to ask for an advance on her policy. Once there, however, he is mistaken by the desk clerks for the man who has committed a violent robbery twice. They warn the police and before he knows it, the stunned Manny is at the station, where he is immediately treated as a serious criminal. He can’t even call his terrified wife to explain where he is. In the end, enough money is collected to pay his bail, but then follows the long wait for the trial. While Manny gathers evidence with attorney Frank O’Connor (Anthony Quayle) to exonerate him, his wife Rose struggles with enormous guilt that eventually kills her.

‘The Wrong Man’ is an outsider for several reasons. It is in fact the only film that Hitch based on true events, in which he presents these facts as secrely as possible and with documentary precision. He even announces it personally in a pre-movie monologue (instead of his usual cameo). Not only the script by Angus McPhail, but also the sober way of filming indicate that this film is free of frivolities. It’s pure seriousness. For that reason, the film is also called the most serious Hitchcock, because the undertone of black humor that characterizes his other work is hard to find. Technical highlights and original camera angles are limited to two or three scenes. They had to distract the viewer as little as possible from the message of this film. That message was not so much that the American justice system is bad, but that it should not be trusted blindly, because the possibility that something could go wrong is always present. Incidentally, the public was not exactly open to this; the visitor numbers of the film were disappointing and the critics were not waiting for a serious Hitchcock.

Years later, ‘The Wrong Man’ has thankfully been reinstated. And the film owes this mainly to the excellent acting of lead actors Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. Fonda, with his good-natured guy next door image, is cut out for the role of Manny. You see him change from a good family man into a devastated and helpless wreck. Because it is such a sympathetic character you feel for the main character from start to finish. At first he is stunned, then he willingly cooperates in the investigation with the intention of proving his innocence. Finally, fear sets in when it becomes clear that he really should go to jail. Thanks to Fonda’s integrity, ‘The Wrong Man’ is Hitchcock’s most moving film. Vera Miles plays one of the best roles of her career. Miles, a personal favorite of the director, was also supposed to play the lead role in ‘Vertigo’ (1958) but had to drop out because of her pregnancy. In ‘Psycho’ (1960), she plays Janet Leigh’s concerned sister. Miles’ character Rose is a devoted woman who wants to help her husband but feels so guilty that she goes into psychosis. There are nice supporting roles for Anthony Quayle as lawyer O’Connor and Harold J. Stone as Police Inspector Bowers.

Although the theme of ‘The Wrong Man’ is familiar to fans of Hitchcock’s work, its neo-realistic style does not make it a typical film from the acclaimed director. Due to the lack of his specific black humor, many viewers ignored this film and that is a shame. Because ‘The Wrong Man’ is one of Hitchcock’s most underrated films. The production quality is exceptional, thanks in part to the beautiful music of Bernard Herrmann and the beautiful cinematography of Robert Burks, who both frequently collaborated with the master of suspense. Plus, Henry Fonda and Vera Miles play like their lives depend on it. With this film, Hitchcock proves that he could not only captivate his audience, but also move them if necessary.