The problem that most people have with The Wrong Man is that it's not the Alfred Hitchcock we've come to expect. No unflappable hero like Cary Grant, no cool blonds to accompany the hero like Madeleine Carroll, or Grace Kelly, no McGuffin as Hitchcock always describes the object everyone is after in his films.
The object our protagonist, in this case Henry Fonda, is after is to clear his good name. And The Wrong Man is based on the true story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero who apart from working odd hours due to his job is your average normal family man. Fonda is a bass fiddle player in the orchestra at the famous swanky Stork Club in Manhattan.
Fonda's Kafkaesque nightmare starts when wife Vera Miles needs some ready cash so he goes to borrow on his insurance policy. His dumb luck to walk into the insurance office and look like a man who had held the place up before. Fonda's even wearing the same type clothes.
The insurance company calls the police and Detective Harold J. Stone is assigned. Remember this was the days before Miranda warnings were mandatory, otherwise had Fonda called a lawyer right then and there, he might not have gotten in this mess. Stone convinces himself he's got the right man and Fonda is arrested.
When the police think they are on the right track it's mighty hard to dissuade them. Back when I was a working person as an investigator for the NYS Crime Victims Board, I handled a couple of claims arising out of the break-in murder of a lesbian woman in Brooklyn in 1995. The woman's partner was also injured by the same man who broke in. However the police were absolutely convinced that the partner herself had a hand in the killing. They told that to one and all who would listen including me in my official capacity. The partner's claim was held up as a result of this.
As it turned out the police on a totally different case arrested a man who confessed to the break-in murder/robbery. Now the partner was never arrested as Henry Fonda was, but she was under suspicion by all because the police investigating went on a totally different track. The surviving partner eventually got all that was due her by my agency. So I'm here to tell you that these things can and do happen in real life and the case of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero was no aberration.
Actually though, as good as Fonda is in the part, the best work in the film is done by Vera Miles. She blamed herself and her mismanaging of the household finances as the reason for her husband's troubles. She suffers a complete mental breakdown as a result. Vera's performance was Oscar caliber stuff, it should have been considered by the Academy.
Although it would seem a most odd choice for the role, British actor Anthony Quayle played Frank D. O'Connor, former State Senator, who defended Balestrero. O'Connor later worked the other side of the courtroom when he became District Attorney of Queens County, President of the New York City Council and Democratic candidate for Governor in 1966 against Nelson Rockefeller. O'Connor later went to the New York State Supreme Court where he was well respected. I'm sure O'Connor in real life was pleased with the way Anthony Quayle played him.
Though a film like this would be more identified with someone like Jules Dassin, Alfred Hitchcock did a fine job. Pity the film was not better received because the movie going public expected certain things from a Hitchcock film.
The object our protagonist, in this case Henry Fonda, is after is to clear his good name. And The Wrong Man is based on the true story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero who apart from working odd hours due to his job is your average normal family man. Fonda is a bass fiddle player in the orchestra at the famous swanky Stork Club in Manhattan.
Fonda's Kafkaesque nightmare starts when wife Vera Miles needs some ready cash so he goes to borrow on his insurance policy. His dumb luck to walk into the insurance office and look like a man who had held the place up before. Fonda's even wearing the same type clothes.
The insurance company calls the police and Detective Harold J. Stone is assigned. Remember this was the days before Miranda warnings were mandatory, otherwise had Fonda called a lawyer right then and there, he might not have gotten in this mess. Stone convinces himself he's got the right man and Fonda is arrested.
When the police think they are on the right track it's mighty hard to dissuade them. Back when I was a working person as an investigator for the NYS Crime Victims Board, I handled a couple of claims arising out of the break-in murder of a lesbian woman in Brooklyn in 1995. The woman's partner was also injured by the same man who broke in. However the police were absolutely convinced that the partner herself had a hand in the killing. They told that to one and all who would listen including me in my official capacity. The partner's claim was held up as a result of this.
As it turned out the police on a totally different case arrested a man who confessed to the break-in murder/robbery. Now the partner was never arrested as Henry Fonda was, but she was under suspicion by all because the police investigating went on a totally different track. The surviving partner eventually got all that was due her by my agency. So I'm here to tell you that these things can and do happen in real life and the case of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero was no aberration.
Actually though, as good as Fonda is in the part, the best work in the film is done by Vera Miles. She blamed herself and her mismanaging of the household finances as the reason for her husband's troubles. She suffers a complete mental breakdown as a result. Vera's performance was Oscar caliber stuff, it should have been considered by the Academy.
Although it would seem a most odd choice for the role, British actor Anthony Quayle played Frank D. O'Connor, former State Senator, who defended Balestrero. O'Connor later worked the other side of the courtroom when he became District Attorney of Queens County, President of the New York City Council and Democratic candidate for Governor in 1966 against Nelson Rockefeller. O'Connor later went to the New York State Supreme Court where he was well respected. I'm sure O'Connor in real life was pleased with the way Anthony Quayle played him.
Though a film like this would be more identified with someone like Jules Dassin, Alfred Hitchcock did a fine job. Pity the film was not better received because the movie going public expected certain things from a Hitchcock film.