The Wrong Man (1956)

My Review

“The Wrong Man” is an engrossing film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock, telling the the true story of an innocent man charged with a crime. The Master of Suspense departed from his usual drama story and made this docudrama based on a 1956 novel by Maxwell Anderson, “The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero,” who also wrote the screenplay with Angus MacPhail.

Henry Fonda is perfect in the lead role of Balestrero, bringing his everyman persona to the film. The talented supporting cast includes Vera Miles as his wife, Anthony Quayle as his attorney, Harold J. Stone and Charles Cooper as the police detectives, Kippy Campbell and Robert Essen as their two sons, as well as Nehemiah Persoff, Werner Klemperer, Doreen Lang, and Esther Minciotti as Mama Balestrero. Uncredited cameos (early in their careers) include Harry Dean Stanton, Tuesday Weld, Bonnie Franklin, Patricia Morrow, and Barney Martin, who later became super-famous as Morty Seinfeld (Jerry’s dad) on NBC’s “Seinfeld” (1991-1998).

The grim and absorbing melodrama “The Wrong Man” was modestly successful in theaters for producer Alfred Hitchcock and Warner Bros. Pictures.