The Wrong Man (1956)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Charles Cooper, Harold J. Stone, John Hildebrand, Doreen Lang, Laurinda Barrett, Norma Connolly, Esther Minciotti.

Taken directly from a true story, this dry but fascinating docudrama is a somber experiment on Hitchcock’s part, eschewing his usual spine-tingling suspense tricks in favor of a deliberate rundown of a series of events that see struggling musician Fonda walk into a bank and get accused of being a robber that had recently stuck up the place. Perhaps it was inevitable for Hitch to deconstruct one of his favorite subjects to its bare essentials, though the approach does no favors for dramatic tension or human interest. Despite the mounting paradoxes in the case against Fonda, it never feels less than authentic, which is the only way that sympathy can be generated. Fonda does his usual solid, understated work but Miles flounders her nervous breakdown moments later in the film. Hitchcock provides a brief prologue narration.

69/100