I Confess (1953)

In director Hitchcock's and Warner Bros.' noirish and somber psychological crime (melo)drama - it was based upon journalist Paul Anthelme's 1902 French play Nos Deux Consciences (translated Our Two Consciences), with a screenplay by George Tabori and William Archibald. It was another of Hitchcock's 'wrong-man' thrillers although it was one of his lesser-known, under-appreciated works in his filmography. The contrived tale of blackmail, scandal, confessions, human suffering, a secret love affair, murder, and guilt performed poorly at the box-office, with revenue of only $2 million.

The solemn morality play concerned the predicament of a Catholic priest who learned of a murder during a church confessional, and then became the prime suspect, but due to his conflicted religious vows and personal passivity, he was powerless to defend himself. The film's tagline asked: "If you knew what he knew, what would you do?" I Confess was the precursor to Hitchcock's similarly-themed film The Wrong Man (1956).

At the time of the atmospheric and moody film's release in the mid-1950s, French New Wave directors (i.e., Francois Truffaut, Jean Luc Godard, and Claude Chabrol) all considered I Confess (1953) to be a masterpiece. The musical score by Dimitri Tiomkin, and visually-stunning, expressionistic cinematography (Robert Burks) and religious martyrdom symbolism added to the film's dark atmosphere.

• during and after the film's opening title sequence set in Quebec City, Canada on an August evening, there were views of the magnificent Château Frontenac Hotel but it was under dark clouds; Hitchcock's cameo (his silhouetted figure walked along the top of a steep set of stairs) was followed by many angled street signs ("DIRECTION") pointing to the right - toward a crime scene

Street Signs in Quebec City, Canada

• a tracking shot through an open window of a nearby house revealed the dead body of a man on the floor, later identified as lawyer Monsieur Villette (Ovila Légaré); the killer hastily exited and ran down a dark, shadowy cobblestoned street, wearing the disguise of a priest's cassock that he removed, before entering Ste. Marie's Rectory in Quebec City, Canada; the rectory's devout Roman Catholic priest Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift), on the job for two years, observed from an upper window as the man entered through a side door into the nave; Father Logan entered the sanctuary and asked: "Who's there?" - the film's first line of dialogue
• the Father took a candle to the rear of the sanctuary, and approached his caretaker-handyman Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse), a grateful German war refugee-immigrant who was praying in a pew; the heavily-accented Keller (who had been working for Father Logan for six months) nervously insisted that he must offer a confession, although it was late at night: ("I must confess to you. I must tell someone. I want to make a confession"); in the church confessional, the distressed and guilt-ridden Keller was compelled to confess to the Father while receiving the sacrament of penance, that he had sinned - he had accidentally killed Mr. Villette while trying to rob him of $2,000 dollars, to start a new life with his wife Alma (Dolly Haas), the church's housekeeper

Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) - Praying in the Rear of the Church Sanctuary

Keller's Confession of Sin in the Booth to Father Logan

Keller Also Confessed to His Wife Alma (Dolly Haas)

• later that evening, Otto also revealed his dark secret to his wife Alma that he had committed murder; he assured her that his secret was safe, because Father Logan was barred and forbidden from revealing information acquired by a confession: ("He cannot tell them what he heard in confession")
• the next morning, Otto proceeded to return to Villette's house at his regularly scheduled work time, one day a week (on Wednesdays) as a part-time gardener; back in the church, Father Logan had breakfast with Father Millars (Charles Andre) and Father Benoit (Gilles Pelletier); one of the film's running jokes was Father Benoit's clumsy dealings with his bicycle
• the troubled Father Logan abruptly left the breakfast table when he heard Alma mention that Otto was at Mr. Villette's house for his gardening job; he briskly walked to Villette's home and found it to be a bustling crime scene with investigators and a crowd that had gathered; he arrived, learned of the murder, and was ushered inside to meet Inspector Larrue (Karl Malden) in charge of the case, claiming that he had an appointment (for an unspecified reason); Logan overheard from Inspector Larrue how his employee Keller had found Villette's body and reported the death to the police; it appeared that Keller had brought back the stolen money (as he had promised Father Logan) and then pretended to be shocked to find Villette's body
• through Villette's front windows, Inspector Larrue took notice that Father Logan met with a well-dressed, short-haired blonde female on the street - he whispered to her: "Villette's been murdered" - she responded with relief: "I can't believe it, we're free"; [Note: she was shortly later identified as Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter), the wife of Pierre Grandfort (Roger Dann), a prominent member of the Quebec Parliament whom she met for lunch.]
• Inspector Larrue contacted Chief Crown Prosecutor Willy Robertson (Brian Aherne), who was informed of the Villette murder case with "no clues, no fingerprints, no motives, no suspects"; in Larrue's and Robertson's presence in the police station on Wednesday afternoon, two young French schoolgirls (Carmen Gingras and Renée Hudon) were called in from their school-day to testify that they saw a priestly-dressed figure leaving Villette's house between 11:00 and 11:30 pm the previous evening (Tuesday night) while returning home from baby-sitting
• the smug and practical-minded Larrue called Father Logan in for further questioning that evening at the police station; meanwhile, to hide evidence and frame Father Logan, the malicious and villainous Otto Keller (off-screen) planted the unwashed bloody cassock that he wore on the night of the murder in Logan's trunk in his room
• during Father Logan's questioning, he refused to provide any specific information about his past acquaintance with Villette, the reason for his appointment, the identity of the lady he met on the street, or any other possible alibi to dogged Inspector Larrue ("I'm not able to help"); when confronted by the fact that a priest was seen leaving Villette's house at the time of the murder, Father Logan admitted he was out walking with someone around 11:00 pm on the night of the murder, but was unable to answer any further details about Larrue's questions: "It isn't possible for me to answer them"; his denials prompted the Inspector to suspect Father Logan's involvement; off-screen, Larrue ordered Detective Murphy (Judson Pratt) to trail Logan
• certain that Father Logan was guilty, Larrue immediately contacted Robertson by phone, who was socializing that evening at a party hosted by Ruth Grandfort and her long-suffering, jealous husband Pierre Grandfort; after the call, Ruth asked about Prosecutor Robertson's discussion with Larrue concerning the Villette murder case (and learned about the suspicion of a priest's possible guilt - "A priest was actually seen leaving Villette's house....Larrue thinks it's Logan from St. Marie's Church")
• after the guests had left, Pierre noticed his wife Ruth's obvious distress about Logan's troubling predicament - and surmised: "You're still in love with him....What does one do when one's wife is in love with a priest?"; Ruth directly admitted she was in an unhappy marital relationship with Pierre: "You can leave me...I'm not in love with you. I've never been in love with you, you know that...I've never pretended anything with you"; alone in the study, Ruth (off-camera) phoned Michael to plan to secretly meet with him with important information the next morning on the 9 o'clock ferry from Québec to Lévis
• the next day, Father Logan was trailed by Murphy and Det. Sgt Farouche (Henry Corden) as he left the Rectory on foot to meet up with Ruth on the ferry; during the trip, she warned him that he was a murder suspect; she urged him to admit to the police that they were together on the night of the murder: ("The only thing is for me to tell them you were with me that night"), but Logan protectively refused: ("You've got to think of yourself, think of your husband"); she told him that even after 7 years of marriage, she didn't love Pierre and still loved Michael: ("I love you, Michael. I've always been in love with you...I know it's wrong. I can't help it"); he vowed that he had "changed" and now had made the commitment to being a priest: ("I chose to be what I am. I believe in what I am...I want you to see things as they are and not, and not go on hurting yourself"); in response, she turned away and told him: "I shan't bother you again"

On the Ferry: Ruth to Father Logan: "I love you, Michael"

• after trailing and watching Logan on the ferry, the two detectives reported back to Larrue that the female on the ferry was also the person who had spoken to Logan outside the Villette residence - Ruth Grandfort - they had positively identified her after following her back to her home
• the probing Inspector Larrue began to consider that all of Father Logan's associates were potential suspects (all of whom eventually turned out to be 'red herrings'); he called in both Ruth and Logan for questioning in the presence of her husband Pierre and Chief Prosecutor Robertson; Ruth claimed that all of her recent contacts with Father Logan were for "personal" matters; she also described how they briefly interacted outside Villette's home the morning after the murder, when Logan told her that Villette had been murdered and there was no need for an appointment with lawyer Villette; and then she added how she and Logan had met together in her car on the previous night to discuss things at the time of the murder - between 9 and 11 pm; therefore, Logan couldn't have killed Villette
• Larrue pressed Ruth to learn the reason for an appointment with Villette - she told how she was the victim of lawyer Villette's blackmail scheme: "Monsieur Villette was blackmailing me. I had met Father Logan to ask his advice"; during their late-night discussion, Father Logan had agreed to intercede for her and meet with Villette the next morning, but obviously by that time, Villette had been discovered dead
• in order to clear Father Logan's name and her own reputation, Ruth was pressured into revealing - from her point of view - her past nostalgic history and complicated former love life with Father Logan (before he was a priest): "The blackmail was about me and Father Logan"
• Ruth narrated a series of romanticized flashbacks and montages (out of place from the rest of the film) - to provide what could be judged as an inappropriate or forbidden love affair, and to explain how the murder victim had blackmailed them. [Note: Censors undoubtedly whitewashed Ruth's and Logan's relationship that involved a true sexual liaison and possibly an illegitimate child.]:
  
  
  • she and Michael Logan had fallen in love after being childhood friends, but when World War II broke out and he volunteered for military service with the Regina Rifle Regiment, he didn't want to marry and then make her a widow: ("He asked me not to wait for him")

Flashback: Michael Logan's and Ruth's Love Affair Before the War

• they lost contact after he eventually stopped writing to her; she married her employer Pierre after working for him as his secretary, and Ruth thought she had put Logan out of her mind: ("I thought I was through with..."), but it was a loveless relationship; she met Villette for the first time at her wedding
• the day after Logan returned from the war, he and Ruth spent a summer day on a nearby island, but she didn't tell him that she was married; a storm forced them to miss the last ferry, and they had to shelter for the night in a summer gazebo; Villette - the owner of the house - found them there in the morning in a compromised situation; Logan knocked Villette down onto the ground after he made a condescending remark, and then Villette looked up and greeted Ruth with her married name - "Good morning, Madame Grandfort"; for the first time, Michael learned that Ruth was married: (Ruth: "What could I say to Michael?")

Flashback: Villette to Ruth - "Good morning, Madame Grandfort" - Revealing that Ruth Was Married

• the next time Ruth saw Logan was five years later during his ordination ceremony to be a priest - Villette was also in the audience, and appeared to be starting to stalk her: ("Then I began running into Villette all the time. He appeared everywhere I went"); recently, shady shyster lawyer Villette had approached Ruth to persuade her husband Pierre to help him escape a tax scandal, and when she refused, Villette threatened to blackmail her in 24 hours by publicizing the night she spent with Logan years earlier
• fearing a personal scandal, on the night of the murder, Ruth met with Father Logan (until 11 pm) to get his advice without telling Pierre; the two agreed to meet in front of Villette's house the following morning at 9:30 am to confront the lawyer with his blackmailing scheme, unaware that Villette had been murdered; the next morning, Father Logan told Ruth that Villette was dead, and Ruth reacted that she was "free"
• it appeared that Ruth had provided a solid alibi for Logan's whereabouts; however, Inspector Larrue discovered that the autopsy report about Villette's death indicated that Villette had died at around 11:30 pm; this fact suggested that Logan could have had enough time to kill Villette after speaking to Ruth, and that Villette's blackmail scheme provided Father Logan with a motive for the murder; Ruth's testimony had unintentionally provided the authorities with more incriminating and entrapping evidence against Logan, making him the prime suspect; she admitted as much to Pierre: "I was going to help Michael, but I've destroyed him," and realized that she did further damage to her own marriage
• Ruth met with Father Logan and alerted him to the fact that he would soon be arrested, and wondered: "There must be something I can do," but he felt powerless; afterwards in the sanctuary, the craven and unstable Otto Keller began to fear that after Father Logan's arrest, he would expose his crime to the police and break his vow of silence - he taunted Father Logan: ("You're trying to frighten me, perhaps. You think by telling me that, I will give myself up....Perhaps you'll point your finger at me. Perhaps you'll say: 'It's Keller'....Perhaps you will tell them. You can't tell them as long as you are a priest. Can you?"); as Alma watched in their living quarters, Keller went to his dresser and reached for his loaded gun ("I am ready!")
• realizing that he was about to be arrested, and without telling anyone, Father Logan aimlessly walked out of the Rectory into the city; his sudden absence caused panic among other priests, Keller, and Inspector Larrue; as Father Logan pondered all of his alternatives, and after he walked below a large silhouetted statue - a Christ-like symbol of religious martyrdom, he finally ended up in a city cathedral to seek solace, and then calmly and voluntarily turned himself in to Inspector Larrue in his office
• during Logan's courtroom trial, detective Murphy testified that a search of Logan's belongings revealed a bloody cassock (the one that Otto had planted earlier in his patent-leather trunk); a pathologist further testified that the cassock's blood stains were type O and matched victim Villette's blood type; Keller testified that he saw Logan acting "distressed" as he allegedly entered the church after the murder, a little after 11:45 pm; in the audience, a disconcerted Alma nervously watched as her husband lied on the stand
• also on the stand, Ruth reluctantly admitted in public that she was in love with the "accused" during the war, at the time of her marriage, and on the night of the murder; Chief Prosecutor Robinson then asked insinuating questions about whether there was any additional "illicit" contact between her and Logan ("her lover") after their night in the summer house: "I'm trying to discover if Villette's blackmail was based on his knowledge not merely of one night at his home, but also of a continuous, uninterrupted, illicit..."; she denied an on-going, long-term romantic affair with Father Logan, although her testimony wasn't entirely convincing

Courtroom Trial Sequence
Chief Prosecutor Robinson	Otto Keller	Alma Keller
The Judge	Ruth Grandfort	Father Logan

• during Logan's testimony, he rejected the accusation that he was the owner of the bloody cassock; he also repeatedly vowed that during the night in the gazebo with Ruth, he did not know that she was a married woman, and he was not yet a priest who had taken his celibacy vows; he was forced to confess that he had hit Villette outside the gazebo "in anger," but adamantly told the court: "I'm not capable of murder"; when asked to corroborate Keller's account of a timeline on the night of the murder, Logan stated he arrived back at the Rectory at 11:15 pm, and could only state a simple disagreement ("The rest is not true"), and then he steadfastly refused to elaborate - without his own "version of the truth"
• although the Judge personally disagreed with the verdict, the all-male jury ultimately ruled that Father Logan - although suspicious - was not guilty (due to insufficient evidence about his wielding of a weapon); the large hostile mob outside the courthouse that disapproved of the acquittal harassed and almost crushed Logan to death as he left the courthouse
• Otto's conscience-stricken wife Alma Keller was so upset by the trial, and the danger that Father Logan was facing, that she rushed to his side to do what's right and defend him, and started to shout out that her husband was the murderer and that Logan was innocent: ("Stop it. He's innocent. My husb..."); the worried Otto, realizing that he was about to be revealed as the murderer, pulled out his gun and shot Alma in the midst of the crowd; as the crowd dispersed and Alma was dying, Larrue asked what she had shouted, and another officer replied: "She said he was innocent"; confused, Larrue queried Alma: "What about Villette, Mrs. Keller?"; she only responded to the Father and begged him: "Forgive me" before she died - sacrificing herself for Otto's sins
• Otto fled into the nearby Château Frontenac hotel where he was pursued by Murphy and other police officers, Larrue and Father Logan; the desperate Keller shot and killed a chef in the kitchen, and then was cornered in the grand ballroom; Larrue was flabbergasted that Logan wouldn't explain Keller's motive to shoot his wife: "What was she doing? Was she trying to warn you or save you?...What more can you tell me about him?....Father, what are you trying to do? Protect this Keller?"
• surrounded by police and ordered to surrender, the defiant Otto moved about the ballroom's stage and main floor area; when Larrue asked him: "What about Villette?", Otto responded with a self-incriminating answer: "So the priest talked"; he was unknowingly tricked into accusing the Father of breaking his vow of silence and betraying him to the police: "My only friend, Father Logan. How kindly he hears my confession and then a little shame, a little violence, that's all it takes to make him talk. It was too much for you, huh? You are a coward like all other people, aren't you? A hypocrite like all the rest"; thus, he hypocritically admitted and confessed to his own sinful act of murder; as he ranted, Inspector Larrue finally deduced that the reprehensible Otto Keller was Villette's murderer
• Larrue ordered his police sharpshooter to wound Otto in the right shoulder; Logan attempted to warn Otto: ("Don't make them do it, Keller!"), but Otto fired first and was struck and mortally wounded; defying orders and putting himself in great danger, Logan entered the ballroom and slowly approached to talk to the dying Otto and prevent further gunfire and violence: ("Put the gun away. There's been enough bloodshed already"); Otto threatened to shoot Logan, but the fearless Father continued walking toward him; when Keller was told of his wife Alma's death, he blamed Logan as the "guilty" one; ironically, Keller had murdered the woman he loved and wanted to save, in order to save himself; he insanely rationalized that he would put the Father out of his misery: ("To kill you now would be a favor to you"); as he raised his gun, Keller was shot a second time; he fell into Logan's arms and in his last dying breath, asked to have his sins absolved

"Put the gun away, There's been enough bloodshed already"

"To kill you now would be a favor to you"

The Dying Keller to Father Logan: "Forgive me"