The Wrong Man (1956)

In Alfred Hitchcock's stark, and very serious film-noirish crime drama filmed in a realistic, semi-documentary style - it was notable as the only Hitchcock film based on a "real-life" story - a mistaken target, a false arrest by police, and a miscarriage of justice. The under-rated, low-key film was based upon the true story of a man falsely accused of armed robbery; the story was first told in Life Magazine's 1953 profile by Herbert Brean titled "A Case of Identity," and later, the plot was derived from author Maxwell Anderson's account of the incident in The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, who was commissioned by Hitchcock to write the screenplay.

In the true story of the four-month ordeal of struggling musician and family man Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero, in early 1953, he sought a loan and visited a Prudential Insurance office in Queens. Employees wrongly identified him as a stickup man who had twice held up the office the previous year. Manny was arrested, arraigned and imprisoned, resulting in his wife's nervous breakdown. Two of its taglines were: "Somewhere... somewhere, there must be the right man!", and "An innocent man has nothing to fear."

Hitchcock's offbeat and uncharacteristic film, although it involved the director's familiar theme of a wrongly-accused individual, was not critically or financially successful and only made $2 million.

• in the opening (before the title credits), in a rare sight, director Hitchcock, seen in silhouette within a deep triangular-shaped shadow at a distance on a movie soundstage and lighted in extreme chiaroscuro, spoke directly to the audience to warn them: "This is Alfred Hitchcock speaking. In the past, I have given you many kinds of suspense pictures. But this time, I would like you to see a different one. The difference lies in the fact that this is a true story, every word of it. And yet it contains elements that are stranger than all the fiction that has gone into many of the thrillers that I've made before"
• the opening title credits played over a view of a lively evening at the swanky and fashionable Stork Club during one night's performance (January 14, 1953) of an unseen jazz band; a title card prefaced the film: "The early morning hours of January the fourteenth, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, a day in the life of Christopher Emanuel Balestrero that he will never forget..."
• with multiple dissolves denoting the passage of time until closing as usual, after leaving the Stork Club just before dawn and walking to the 5th Ave. subway (flanked by two NYC cops), 38 year-old string bass player-musician Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero (Henry Fonda), who was paid $85 dollars a week, was proceeding home to his Jackson Heights (Queens) neighborhood of New York City; he was particularly interested in the "Racing at Hialeah" page of a newspaper; Manny briefly stopped in for pre-dawn coffee and toast at the Bickfords Cafeteria, and circled a few of his winning betting choices

Struggling Family Man - Manny Balestrero

Rose Balestrero (Vera Miles)

Two Sons: (l to r) Gregory and Robert

• once he returned home, the devoted Catholic and family man (with two young boys) spoke to his wife Rose Balestrero (Vera Miles) who was awake, and they discussed with some concern that she had just heard that she needed unaffordable $300 dollar dental work (to alleviate the pain of her four impacted wisdom teeth); they had always been struggling financially: (Rose: "We borrow money, and then for years, we pay out on the installment plan. It keeps us broke...Every time we get up, something comes along and knocks us right back down again"); Manny attempted to look on the bright side: ("That's life, honey. That's the way it is. I think we're pretty lucky, mostly....We're in love, we've got two good, bright boys, I've got a job I like. I think we're doing pretty well"); however, Rose was more fearful and lacked confidence, and made a prophetic prediction: ("Oh, Manny. Sometimes I'm so frightened waiting for you to come home at night"), but he reassured her: "I always come home, don't I?"
• the next morning before leaving for the day, Manny reminded Rose that he might be able to obtain the funds for the dentist by cashing in her insurance policy; he promised to return by 5:30 pm, and told his two sons that he would give them music lessons: Gregory (Robert Essen) and Robert (Kippy Campbell), on the harmonica and piano respectively
• in the afternoon, Manny visited the office of the Associated Life Insurance Company, located in the Victor Moore Arcade Building, to ask about obtaining a loan from Rose's policy, to pay for her expensive $300 dental work; the three suspicious female clerks in the office, the window teller Miss Alice Dennerly (Peggy Webber), Miss Duffield (Anna Karen), and Miss Ann James (Doreen Lang) spoke amongst themselves after Miss Dennerly alerted the other two due to her certainty that the customer at the counter was the one who had twice robbed the same office the prior December: ("I think the man at the window is the one that's been here before"); he was mistakenly identified as a suspect, although he had only asked questions about the policy and was told that his wife would have to come in-person to the office; on his way home around 4:00 pm, Manny briefly visited with his Mama (Esther Minciotti) and ailing father (Silvio Minciotti)
• afterwards, as Manny approached his Queens home around 5:30 pm, he was detained by police officers (who ineptly called him "Chris"), and not allowed to enter his home or tell his wife about his whereabouts; he was told he would be driven to the 110th Precinct for a "routine matter" that wouldn't take long; in an inner office, without a lawyer present and without being advised of his rights, Detective Lt. Bowers (Harold J. Stone) explained how there had been a rash of "holdups" in the area, and that Manny "fit the description" of the thief; when Manny reacted: "That's crazy," Bowers replied: "From what you say, this whole thing's a big mistake"; Manny rightly claimed he was innocent: "Why are you keeping me?...I'm completely innocent"

Intense Questioning by Detective Bowers (Harold J. Stone) and Detective Matthews (Charles Cooper)

• the Detective explained how, as the authorities, they had to follow their procedures and look into any accusations, before clearing him; Bowers assured Manny with a trite platitude: ("It's nothing for an innocent man to worry about. It's the fella that's done something wrong that has to worry"); Manny asked to phone his home because he was never late without calling, but he was disallowed
• to see if he could be positively ID'd by store owners, Manny was driven to a liquor store that he had never visited (he claimed he didn't drink) in order to walk in and out of the store, to see if the proprietor might identify him; he had to repeat the same routine in Lenny's Delicatessan, and then in a third place
• meanwhile, Rose phoned Manny's mother, worried that Manny hadn't come home and might have had an accident
• back at the precinct, the police began to grill Manny about his spending and borrowing habits, finances, debts, his take-home pay, and the number of his visits to the race track; after becoming exasperated by the line of questioning, Manny was finally told what he was being accused of - he had been identified as the suspect for two robberies of the Associated Life Insurance Co., where he held four family policies: (1) December 18th, $71 dollars, and earlier (2) July 9th, $200 dollars
• Manny was instructed twice to print out in his own handwriting the words of the robber's hold-up demand note that were read to him; his printing resembled the note's writing, and in the second instance, he happened to mis-spell the word "drawer" as "draw" - the same mistake made by the robber in his hold-up note; two of the insurance clerks were also brought to the precinct to identify him in a police line-up; Detective Matthews determined that Manny was a "positive identification"; innocent 'everyman' Manny protested the charges ("Don't you see I'm just tryin' to tell the truth?") and refused to admit to committing a crime

Questioning by Police (Det. Bowers and Matthews) At the Precinct About Similar Handwriting to the Robber's Hold Up Note

• based on tentative and flimsy evidence and unusual coincidences, Manny was arrested for assault and robbery, fingerprinted and ultimately put in a jail cell that evening; Manny was stripped of his possessions (and tie) - except was allowed to keep his rosary beads; when he asked about notifying his wife, Det. Matthews told him (falsely): "That's been taken care of"; he was utterly dejected as the cell door loudly shut behind him; he surveyed the box he had been put into, paced back and forth, and finally leaned back against his cell wall in the oppressive and nightmarish space, and made two fists; his confinement and disorientation were depicted by the camera's rotation (moving in rapid, clockwise circles) around his head - a subjective shot from an objective POV, until the screen turned black

Feelings of Dislocation in His First Night in a Jail Cell

• Manny's wife Rose was never contacted, and became distraught over Manny's unexplained absence; when the police finally called after he had been physically jailed, Rose was being attended to by Manny's mother and his married sister Olga (Lola D'Annunzio) and brother-in-law Gene Conforti (Nehemiah Persoff), who couldn't believe the news: "Something sure went wrong"
• after a night in jail, Manny was driven in a Police Department van with other prisoners to a downtown felony court, where at 10:00 am, he was paraded up to a stage, but then excused and due to be questioned by the DA's office; in a courtroom, a trial date of February 2nd was scheduled and his bail was set at $7,500 dollars - the standard amount for an armed robbery; he was not allowed to speak to his family members in the courtroom; in a thoroughly dehumanizing process, he was handcuffed to another prisoner and incarcerated for a very short stint in a cell in the Long Island City Jail, while the Confortis helped to raise his bail - and he was finally released ("You've got bail!"), to everyone's relief
• in the felony court, a criminal attorney Frank D. O'Connor (Anthony Quayle) was recommended to defend Manny; Rose was persistent in getting ahold of O'Connor at his home, and arranged to meet with him at his Victor Moore Arcade law office; there, the lawyer urged Manny tell his "full story" about himself, including his life, his work and all the events after he went to the insurance office; after a dissolve, he agreed to take the case, but admitted that he was inexperienced in criminal cases
• his strategy was to have the Balestreros prove their alibis for their whereabouts during the two earlier robberies, by locating individuals to vouch for him; in the first instance (on July 9th), Rose remembered that they were vacationing for four days at a resort hotel in Cornwall, NY; the couple contacted the innkeeper Mr. Ferraro (Dino Tarronova) and his wife (Rossana San Marco), and remembered how they had played cards all day on an outdoor porch during a rainstorm with three other vacationers (during a birthday celebration for Mrs. Ferraro); after trying to contact two of the three, their presence couldn't be substantiated, because they had recently died; the third individual, an ex-prizefighter, might still be located
• due to the stress of the case, Manny's strained and guilt-ridden wife Rose blamed everything on herself, because she didn't know how to 'economize': ("It's my fault this happened to you. It's these wisdom teeth. I knew I shouldn't let you go down there, and yet I let you go right ahead....I let you go to the insurance company to borrow money for me, and then this fell on you...The truth is, I've let you down, Manny. I haven't been a good wife")
• on the date of the second robbery (December 18th), Manny's alibi that he had a toothache and a swollen jaw were confirmed by his dentist, and he thought that this might help his case (none of the witnesses said the robber had a swollen face)

Rose Began to Blame Herself: "I haven't been a good wife"

Early Signs of Rose's Mental Illness

• it was worrisome to both Manny and O'Connor that Rose was beginning to show signs of listlessness and staring off into space; after a session in the law office, O'Connor offered an unofficial diagnosis: "I'd say she's a very sick woman"
• Rose increasingly suffered from insomnia and a loss of appetite, and had given up an interest in everything; when he entered the house and their bedroom in the pre-dawn hours after a night of work, she insisted to Manny that they not care any more about what might happen, and completely withdraw from life: "Don't you see? It doesn't do any good to care. No matter what you do, they've got it fixed so that it goes against you. No matter how innocent you are, or how hard you try, they'll find you guilty. Well, we're not gonna play into their hands anymore. You're not going out. You're not going to the club and the boys aren't going to school. I've thought it all over, sitting here. We're going to lock the doors and stay in the house. We'll lock 'em out and keep them out"
• Rose also became accusatory that Manny was the "crazy" one and questioned whether he was actually guilty: "You think I'm crazy, don't you? Don't you? Well, you're not so perfect either. How do I know you're not crazy? You don't tell me everything you do. How do I know you're not guilty? You could be. You could be"
• she became totally unhinged and admitted defeat: "It'll beat us. And you can't win. They spoiled your alibi. They'll fix it so that they can smash us and they will. They'll smash us down"
• there was a brief, kinetically-filmed sequence between them when she completely lost control and began to mentally deteriorate; she pushed the comforting Manny away, and struck him with a hairbrush - she broke a mirror and lacerated his forehead - seen in a fragmented mirror image

A Confrontational Scene: She Struck Him With a Hairbrush in the Forehead, and His Mirror Image Was Fragmented and Broken

• and then as he comforted her, she admitted she realized that something was very wrong: ("It's true, Manny. There is something wrong with me. You'll have to let them put me somewhere")
• Dr. Bannay (Werner Klemperer) was summoned to examine Rose, who was expressing tremendous feelings of fear and guilt; she told him how she needed to punish herself for failing her husband: ("People had faith in me and I let them down.... When my husband was arrested. That's when I knew I'd let him down....They wanted to show me up.... They wanted to punish me, because I'd failed him and then let him down. I did everything all wrong....they knew he wasn't guilty. I was guilty. They were after me. They were after me, and they'll get me. It's no good trying. It's useless...They come at me from all sides. And it's no good. They know I'm guilty")
• afterwards, the doctor diagnosed Rose's sickness to Manny - she had fallen into a deep depression, and had become totally apathetic and paranoid: "Her mind is in an eclipse. She doesn't see anything as it is, and she blames herself for everything that has happened to you...And she believes this so strongly that it darkens the whole world for her. She sees great, lurking dangers everywhere, and she thinks she's brought them on you....She's buried under some kind of landslide of fear and guilt....She's living in another world from ours. A frightening landscape that could be on the dark side of the moon....Now, she knows she's in a nightmare, but it doesn't help her to know. She can't get out")
• Dr. Bannay recommended institutionalizing Rose in a mental hospital for proper care and treatment, in order for her to get well: ("The best thing would be to place her in a controlled environment where she can receive medical care.... It must be chosen carefully and must give her a tranquil surrounding. And the kind of assistance she needs to find her way out of this maze of terror she's in"); Manny was assured: "No case is incurable"; soon after, Manny drove Rose to a residential mental hospital in Ossining, NY where she was institutionalized
• during the trial, Manny was convincingly charged by the prosecutor Mr. Tomasini (John Heldabrand) (who embellished Manny's crimes) while his defense lawyer's cross-examinations were theoretical, off-track, unsubstantial and weak; however, the proceedings were interrupted due to a juror's off-handed remarks: ("Your Honor, do we have to sit here and listen to this?"), and it was judged that the comment was prejudicial to the defendant, and the case was ruled a mistrial

Manny On Trial

DA Prosecutor Mr. Tomasini (John Heldabrand)

Defense Lawyer O'Connor

• as Manny awaited a second trial, in the film's most memorable sequence, the falsely-accused Manny followed the advice of his Mama at the kitchen table, to pray for strength: ("My son, I beg you to pray"); Manny began to pray in the kitchen, then moved to his bedroom to pray more (as he clutched his rosary), in front of an iconic painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; as his lips moved in prayer, there was an astonishing match-cut scene in which the face of the actual look-alike robbery criminal (wearing a hat and overcoat and walking down a street toward the camera) became super-imposed and merged onto Balestrero's transparent face - there was an unmistakable resemblance between the real armed robber and Manny

The Miraculous Double-Exposure Prayer Shot

• the overlapping image disappeared as the real robber turned and entered a delicatessan, where the shopkeeper recognized him; the real robber (Manny's 'double') was apprehended in the midst of committing another armed robbery

The Real Suspect Committing Another Robbery in a Deli

Manny's 'Double' Was the True Holdup Suspect, Thereby Clearing Manny of the Crimes

• in the police station as the robber was brought in, Detective Matthews happened to coincidentally see the man in the hallway, and suspected that the man's face uncannily resembled Manny's appearance - he followed up on his hunch
• while performing at the Stork Club, Manny was summoned to the 110th Precinct ("They got the right man. Everything's going to be all right"), where his lawyer O'Connor told him: "Well, I guess it won't be long now"; the two insurance office clerks identified the new suspect as the real robber, and were sheepishly embarrassed as they left the office and noticed Manny in the hallway; as the suspect passed by Manny, Manny lashed out at him: "Do you realize what you've done to my wife?"; off-screen, the robber confessed to committing the crimes that were charged against Manny, and the case against the wrongly-accused was dismissed, but his life and the life of his family had already been shattered
• a newspaper clipping reported the mixup between the 'doubled' suspects, describing how the suspect admitted to over 40 robberies
• in a heartbreaking sequence, with the newspaper article in hand, Manny visited Rose in the Ossining, NY sanitarium, joyful that he had been cleared and was innocent: "Honey, it's all over. They caught the man who committed the holdups. It's all over, darling"; when she was unresponsive, he repeated his "good news" a second time to her that their nightmare was over: "There's no more trial, Rose. They know I'm not guilty. They caught the man who did it. They know I'm innocent. We can start our lives all over again. We can start someplace else if you'd like it better"; Rose glanced away from Manny, and told him: "That's fine for you" and then calmly rejected him: ("Nothing can help me. No one. You can go now...It doesn't matter where I am, where anybody is....That's fine for you. You can go now"); Manny - who was hoping to take her with him ("I was hoping for a miracle") - was forced to leave her there
• in the film's epilogue, Rose was "completely cured" two years later, left the sanitarium, and the couple moved to Florida: "Today, she lives happily in Florida with Manny and the two boys..and what happened seems like a nightmare to them -- but it did happen..."