Review #1,331: 'The Wrong Man' (1956)

Alfred Hitchcock earned the title of 'master of suspense' with some good old fashioned grafting (he had been making films since the silent era) combined with an understanding of the possibilities of cinema - and an eagerness to explore them - that few directors shared. Ask most film goers to name a Hitchcock film and the answer will likely be Psycho, Rear Window, The Birds or North by Northwest. Few will name The Wrong Man, the tightly constructed and thoroughly engaging little thriller from 1956, made after fluffier works To Catch a Thief and The Man Who Knew Too Much. This is perhaps because The Wrong Man is the filmmaker's least Hitchcockian effort, toning down the sugaryness (he labelled his movies as like 'slices of cake') and playing the story straight with little artistic flair. Even his obligatory cameo is reduced to mere narration at the film's opening.

Many of Hitchcock's thrillers revolve around a case of mistaken identity, which naturally forces the protagonist to make a break for it in the hope of proving his innocence before the police catch up to them. This time, however, the story is true. Based on the plight of Christopher 'Manny' Balestrero, a hard-working jazz musician who found himself identified by many witnesses as a hold-up man, The Wrong Man is Hitchcock's closest brush with realism. Shot on the streets of New York and using locations from the real-life story, there is more of a naturalistic feel to the film that what we are used to from the great director. Hitchcock still squeezes in some subtle camera tricks, depicting Balestrero's situation as disorientating, claustrophobic and increasingly hopeless. But with an actor of such effortless charisma as Henry Fonda at his disposal, Hitchcock mainly opts to tell the story through his lead actor's incredibly expressive face.

Hitchcock documents Balestrero's journey from being incorrectly identified by some terrified clerical workers when trying to take a loan from his life insurance policy for his wife's (Vera Miles) dental work, to his frustratingly unfair trial. The film is used to highlight flaws in a system designed to seek justice, in which an accused isn't allowed to give evidence to prove their innocence (as a truly innocent man doesn't need to prove anything), and a jury under oath makes their minds up before the trial even starts. It's a catalogue of errors from the very start, forcing Manny to seek out his own witnesses to prove he could not have committed the crime. The final reveal also comments on the folly of placing too much trust in eye-witness testimony, and the fact that many are still wrongly jailed due to failings in the system make the film's musings all the more poignant. One of Hitchcock's most underappreciated gems.


Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, Charles Cooper
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #138: 'The Searchers' (1956)

Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) is an outsider; a wanderer after the Confederate wars were lost by the south. Arriving back at his brothers ranch in Texas , three years after the end of the civil, Ethan is later dismayed by the systematic killing of his brothers family and the kidnapping of his young niece, Debbie, by the Comanche. Ethan enters a 5 year odyssey to find his niece. He later discovers that she has become "one of them". Ethan hates them "Injuns". His plan now is to find Debbie and kill her; It's better that she dies than to live as a Comanche. His total, racist hatred towards the Indians is palpable throughout the film.

There's no disputing John Ford's film making virtuosity in this 'classic' Hollywood western. The outsider nature of Wayne's character is highlighted in the mise-en-scene and positioning of the shots. Ethan is nearly always framed in shots through windows, doorways and rock. We as the spectator are looking out at his character. Wayne is always outside looking in. He is alienated in-frame; his racism detached from the audience. This framing device also provides from this film, one of the most iconic images from the history of cinema. At the close of the film, as the family is reunited with Debbie, Ethan dithers at the doorway before turning to walk away. We are not supposed to like this bigoted character, yet we are to follow his "heroic" quest. Wayne sits uncomfortably throughout the film, seemingly looking awkward with the dimensions of Ethan.

This segues into John Wayne himself. I have only seem a small handful of Wayne's films. Two (now three) I have thoroughly enjoyed - Stagecoach (1939) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). However, these are more to do with the pleasure of the films themselves and not the Wayne performances. I really have a lot of difficulty liking him. Like his performance in The Searchers, I was agitated and uncomfortable. Wayne walks through his performances like a man with severe hemorrhoids. He stands, walks, shoots awkwardly. His diction sounds like a frustrated sex-pest drawling, and spurting out lines as if he had recently had a throat-stroke.

Aside from my passionate hatred of John Wayne, I can state that whilst he is clearly out of place with a compromised character - and not the clear-cut hero characters he was used to playing - it is quite refreshing to see him play something a little left-field (or right-field, if you like!), this is thoroughly entertaining western film making, in the classic Hollywood mode. The sumptuous cinematography capturing the true beauty of Monument Valley - it's location - is stunning. No one shots that landscape quite like Ford. It's no wonder that this was nominated in 2008 as the greatest American western, and number 12 on the AFI's top 100 American films of all time. I have to state though, that the western genre only really delights me when made outside of America.


Directed by: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Marc Ivamy