Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Wrong Man

Hitchcock, 1954, 105m

Some movies cannot escape being seen, because they are there. This CD with it's coat of dust was long due for it's turn. One knocks at Hitch's with an expectation of receiving money's worth and his movies have the momentum to ferry you across.

Chris (Henry Fonda) is a family man, working as a musician at the Stork Club, struggling with the bills of a four member family, when he is mistaken for a hold up man. The nightmare begins for the already beleaguered family. The movie is different from the usual Hitchcock, in being based on a true story and in poignantly depicting a tragic social situation of justice misfired which is probably more common than we think.

Hitchcock seems unable to resist delivering pious psychological homilies as a conclusion in many of his films, which are amusing more than irritating. Psycho is the prime example. This itch seems to have grown stronger with the passage of time. Marnie was oozing Freud.

Stars: 3/4

2 comments:

Nathanael Hood said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......it warms the cockles of my heart to hear people talk about this film. I think that it is easily one of Hitchcock's most overlooked films. It also has my personal favorite Hitchcock cameo.

Did you know that in the jail scene when Fonda was being put into jail, one of the inmates recognized him and yelled out, "Whatcha in for, Henry?" Hitchcock actually left it in the film!

S. M. Rana said...

@Nathan: Hitchcock is certainly an addictive substance.