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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1950s
    Movies - 1950s Movies - W 2 Mins Read

    Wrong Man, The (1956)

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    The Wrong Man is one of the bleakest movies Hitchcock ever made. Henry Fonda plays Manny Balestrero, a New York jazz musician who is mistakenly identified as the man who robbed an insurance office.

    Though he’s released on bail, the worry and disgrace begin to affect his wife Rose (Vera Miles). They try to find the people who can confirm Manny’s alibi, but they fail.

    Shot in black-and-white with almost documentary-style realism, The Wrong Man is based on an actual case, as stated by Hitchcock himself in a short prologue.

    It explores one of Hitchcock’s perennial themes – that of the man accused of a crime he did not commit (North by Northwest (1959) has a similar situation).

    The director brilliantly conveys how readily the procedures of indictment and incarceration conspire to impart a sensation of guilt even in the innocent.

    In a masterly sequence making use of a subjective camera, we see Manny suffer the humiliation of being booked, searched and fingerprinted – the dirty ink on his hands seeming like a confirmation of his guilt.

    Only distinguished English thespian Anthony Quayle seems out of place in a role that needed an American actor. Still, a fine and disturbing work that meant so much to Hitch he made it without salary and does deserve to be better known.

    Christopher Emmanuel “Manny” Balestrero
    Henry Fonda
    Rose Balestrero
    Vera Miles
    Frank O’Connor
    Anthony Quayle
    Lieutenant Bowers
    Harold J Stone
    Mrs Balestrero
    Esther Minciotti
    Detective Matthews
    Charles Cooper
    Gene Conforti
    Nehemiah Persoff
    Constance Willis
    Laurinda Barrett
    Betty Todd
    Norma Connolly
    Ann James
    Doreen Lang
    Mrs O’Connor
    Frances Reid
    Olga Conforti
    Lola D’Annunzio
    Gregory Balestrero
    Robert Essen
    Robert Balestrero
    Kippy Campbell

    Director
    Alfred Hitchcock

    Video

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