I LOVE Bernard Hermann's 'Stork Club Mambo" which plays over the credits as the club slowly empties in a series of elegant dissolves. The band stops, the story of one of the musicians begins.
Vera Miles was an underrated actress. Her performance as Rose. I felt should have earned her an Oscar nomination. Of course she would do one more film for Hitchcock. That would be psycho
You're right. A pretty bleak picture. But I do like the credits at the beginning. The patrons of the jazz club disappear table by table until the place is empty. Time to go home.
I took a Hitchcock class in film school and loved this movie immensely. This is one of the few movies in which Hitchcock confronts his catholic guilt and heritage directly (along with I Confess). The stripped down, almost documentary feeling he goes for denotes a sincerity that none of his other movies have. All his movies have a Hollywood gloss to them. I remember this was so simple and heartfelt among all the other movies we had to watch that semester. A real palate cleanser!
@@joebloggs396 I think he is referring to the artifice that pervades Hitchcock's films. I don't mean that in a bad way. Hitchcock's films are just clearly planned and manicured shot-by-shot.
i have this in my noir collection. I find this flick has a good depiction of an over humbling protagonist sometimes found in noir crime dramas. Yet in noir sometimes cream puffing can get comical if it bites too much crust from a toughster on the spot
Watched this for the first time last night. It was a really weird film. Why would the workers of a bank believe that the man who robbed the bank is stupid enough to go back in a number of weeks later and try to withdraw money officially? Was Policework really like this back in the 50s? Maybe it was but it feels so alien compared to todays. Could someone/a number of people say "Thats probably the man" and he then literally gets put in prison on their words? Very odd. The mistrial scene felt bizarre too, but I guess it was there to give further time for the actual robber to strike again.
SPOILERS AHEAD. It's funny, your "bye" sounded a little unsure. I feel more strongly than you do about this movie. I have never seen this movie before and this is what I was hoping for when I started this Alfred Hitchcock viewing "rampage" I've been on. I like this movie a lot and it hit me emotionally - pretty hard too. I don't claim to be a tough guy, but I lost it at the end when he left his wife and just before the false epilogue. There is some recorded history about this on the internet and things didn't end so rosy for Rose. That is more believable than what they tried to sell you at the very end. I prefer happy endings, but if you claim this is a real story, then make it a real story. There was also a touching scene between him and his son and other emotional scenes with his wife. I think Henry Fonda is great here and Vera Miles is pretty good too. I would consider this one of Hitchcock's top films, but I do prefer several others. I prefer the ones that have some classic Hitchcock comedy in them, and this one doesn't really have any laughs. I did laugh along with his wife when you find out the second witness is dead too. Although I didn't realize it was leading to her mental breakdown until the next couple of scenes. The title is kind of funny because it seems like you could title over half of Hitch's movies "The Wrong Man" including some of my favorites. Besides this classic theme for Hitchcock, you also get two other themes that were strong in his life - police and religion. There are definite religious overtones here with the rosary beads and him praying to the Christ painting before the real guy gets caught. HItchcock has told the story about his dad having him locked up for 5 minutes in a cell when he was 5 years old. You see that influence here stronger than in any other movie - at least the ones I've seen so far. He also loves to use breakaway sets, shadows, angles, and unusual camera movements - these are all present here. The spinning camera shot is one I had to turn away cause it was making me dizzy. I also agree with you that I was unsure about the proceedural things in this. It is highly unlikely that you take someone who, among other things, was charged with assault, and let him walk into a store. Also, he didn't get a phone call which you are supposed to have. By the way, you had two mistakes - probably because you waited a month to do the review. Fonda didn't go into a bank where he was accused, but a insurance office where he was trying to see how much he could borrow on his policy. He went on his little "parade" in front of the store owners/clerks after he went to the police station. He was booked later, but he was questioned there first before the trip. Powerful movie that should get more respect than it does - and it's a Hitchcock movie!
It's a shame if that epilogue was false, but that's Hollywood for you I guess. It certainly seemed weird to have that card pop up and not actually film that ending, something seemed off about that.
This movie tells a timeless story, how any innocent true citizen can get wrapped up in a projection of officers and public that are looking for a perpetrator that should be in jail. Just like the story of "the Central Park 5" (which is also filmed) proves, this happens from time and time again, on a regular base, destroying innocent people and their beloved ones. This movie was a life lesson for me that - although you live like an angel - society can judge you for anything you did not do if you are unfortunate. Nowadays the media sits on top of everything but it probably makes it even worst. Great acting of Henry Fonda, master piece of Alfred Hitchcock. Not a very uplifting nor airily movie because it is not entertainment but more educating for who understands.
According to Wikipedia, the historical facts are as follows: Balestrero's attorney, the real Frank O'Connor (1909-1992) was a former New York State Senator at the time of the trial, and later became the district attorney of Queens County (New York City, New York), the president of the New York City Council and an appellate-court judge. Rose Balestrero (1910-1982) died in Florida at the age of 72. Despite the claim in the film's epilogue, Rose never fully recovered after her nervous breakdown. She blamed herself for her husband's arrest. Chris and Rose's son, Gregory, went on to earn a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has become the CEO of the Project Management Institute. Chris Balestrero sued the city for false arrest. Asking $500,000, he accepted a settlement of just $7,000.[11] He earned $22,000 from the film, which went to repaying loans for Rose's care. A street is named “Manny ‘The Wrong Man’ Balestrero Way’’ at 73rd Street and 41st Avenue in Jackson Heights, New York. The street is not far from the former real-life Balestrero home. Not one of Hitchcock's better known or cinematic films but stark and very well-acted.
I LOVE Bernard Hermann's 'Stork Club Mambo" which plays over the credits as the club slowly empties in a series of elegant dissolves. The band stops, the story of one of the musicians begins.
Vera Miles was an underrated actress. Her performance as Rose. I felt should have earned her an Oscar nomination. Of course she would do one more film for Hitchcock. That would be psycho
You're right. A pretty bleak picture. But I do like the credits at the beginning. The patrons of the jazz club disappear table by table until the place is empty. Time to go home.
Hitchcock once told Truffaut “I have a favorite saying that I say to myself, Logic is dull.”
I took a Hitchcock class in film school and loved this movie immensely. This is one of the few movies in which Hitchcock confronts his catholic guilt and heritage directly (along with I Confess). The stripped down, almost documentary feeling he goes for denotes a sincerity that none of his other movies have. All his movies have a Hollywood gloss to them. I remember this was so simple and heartfelt among all the other movies we had to watch that semester. A real palate cleanser!
Not all of his films have a Hollywood gloss because not all were made in Hollywood.
@@joebloggs396 I think he is referring to the artifice that pervades Hitchcock's films. I don't mean that in a bad way. Hitchcock's films are just clearly planned and manicured shot-by-shot.
i have this in my noir collection. I find this flick has a good depiction of an over humbling protagonist sometimes found in noir crime dramas. Yet in noir sometimes cream puffing can get comical if it bites too much crust from a toughster on the spot
Watched this for the first time last night. It was a really weird film. Why would the workers of a bank believe that the man who robbed the bank is stupid enough to go back in a number of weeks later and try to withdraw money officially? Was Policework really like this back in the 50s? Maybe it was but it feels so alien compared to todays. Could someone/a number of people say "Thats probably the man" and he then literally gets put in prison on their words? Very odd. The mistrial scene felt bizarre too, but I guess it was there to give further time for the actual robber to strike again.
They never even reed him his rights it was in trapment plain and simple
SPOILERS AHEAD. It's funny, your "bye" sounded a little unsure. I feel more strongly than you do about this movie. I have never seen this movie before and this is what I was hoping for when I started this Alfred Hitchcock viewing "rampage" I've been on. I like this movie a lot and it hit me emotionally - pretty hard too. I don't claim to be a tough guy, but I lost it at the end when he left his wife and just before the false epilogue. There is some recorded history about this on the internet and things didn't end so rosy for Rose. That is more believable than what they tried to sell you at the very end. I prefer happy endings, but if you claim this is a real story, then make it a real story. There was also a touching scene between him and his son and other emotional scenes with his wife. I think Henry Fonda is great here and Vera Miles is pretty good too. I would consider this one of Hitchcock's top films, but I do prefer several others. I prefer the ones that have some classic Hitchcock comedy in them, and this one doesn't really have any laughs. I did laugh along with his wife when you find out the second witness is dead too. Although I didn't realize it was leading to her mental breakdown until the next couple of scenes.
The title is kind of funny because it seems like you could title over half of Hitch's movies "The Wrong Man" including some of my favorites. Besides this classic theme for Hitchcock, you also get two other themes that were strong in his life - police and religion. There are definite religious overtones here with the rosary beads and him praying to the Christ painting before the real guy gets caught. HItchcock has told the story about his dad having him locked up for 5 minutes in a cell when he was 5 years old. You see that influence here stronger than in any other movie - at least the ones I've seen so far. He also loves to use breakaway sets, shadows, angles, and unusual camera movements - these are all present here. The spinning camera shot is one I had to turn away cause it was making me dizzy. I also agree with you that I was unsure about the proceedural things in this. It is highly unlikely that you take someone who, among other things, was charged with assault, and let him walk into a store. Also, he didn't get a phone call which you are supposed to have. By the way, you had two mistakes - probably because you waited a month to do the review. Fonda didn't go into a bank where he was accused, but a insurance office where he was trying to see how much he could borrow on his policy. He went on his little "parade" in front of the store owners/clerks after he went to the police station. He was booked later, but he was questioned there first before the trip. Powerful movie that should get more respect than it does - and it's a Hitchcock movie!
It's a shame if that epilogue was false, but that's Hollywood for you I guess. It certainly seemed weird to have that card pop up and not actually film that ending, something seemed off about that.
This movie tells a timeless story, how any innocent true citizen can get wrapped up in a projection of officers and public that are looking for a perpetrator that should be in jail. Just like the story of "the Central Park 5" (which is also filmed) proves, this happens from time and time again, on a regular base, destroying innocent people and their beloved ones. This movie was a life lesson for me that - although you live like an angel - society can judge you for anything you did not do if you are unfortunate. Nowadays the media sits on top of everything but it probably makes it even worst. Great acting of Henry Fonda, master piece of Alfred Hitchcock. Not a very uplifting nor airily movie because it is not entertainment but more educating for who understands.
According to Wikipedia, the historical facts are as follows: Balestrero's attorney, the real Frank O'Connor (1909-1992) was a former New York State Senator at the time of the trial, and later became the district attorney of Queens County (New York City, New York), the president of the New York City Council and an appellate-court judge.
Rose Balestrero (1910-1982) died in Florida at the age of 72. Despite the claim in the film's epilogue, Rose never fully recovered after her nervous breakdown. She blamed herself for her husband's arrest.
Chris and Rose's son, Gregory, went on to earn a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has become the CEO of the Project Management Institute.
Chris Balestrero sued the city for false arrest. Asking $500,000, he accepted a settlement of just $7,000.[11] He earned $22,000 from the film, which went to repaying loans for Rose's care.
A street is named “Manny ‘The Wrong Man’ Balestrero Way’’ at 73rd Street and 41st Avenue in Jackson Heights, New York. The street is not far from the former real-life Balestrero home.
Not one of Hitchcock's better known or cinematic films but stark and very well-acted.