A Rush to Judgement
The director Alfred Hitchcock is remembered as the master of suspense through such films as Psycho, The Birds and Rear Window. His films often involved mistaken identity, creating great dramatic tension, yet invariably with a touch of dark humour. Also, audiences got used to Hitchcock’s cameo appearances raising a smile, easing the tension. But there is one film where the humour is dropped all together, Hitchcock doesn’t put himself into the action, but introduces the story to stress that, unlike all his other films, this one is true. The Wrong Man (1956) starred Henry Fonda, but it didn’t do well at the box-office and it’s largely forgotten today. This year marks the 70th anniversary of its release and critics are reappraising it, calling it a forgotten masterpiece. Fonda gives a sensitive performance as Manny Ballestrero, an ordinary man with a wife and children, arrested and jailed for a crime he did not commit. His story is told with frightening realism using the actual New York locations where the events took place - The Stork Club where Manny played bass in the band; the Prudential Insurance Office where an armed robbery had been committed; and the courtroom where Manny’s trial was conducted. In truth, Manny had visited the Insurance Office to enquire about a loan against his wife’s policy to pay for her necessary dental work. However, the office staff rushed to judgement, identifying Manny as the man who had robbed them a few days earlier. The resulting nightmare of Manny’s trial and imprisonment led to a harrowing nervous breakdown for his wife Rose.
Filmed in black and white, often in deep shadow, The Wrong Man has all the menace we expect from Hitchcock, although it’s abrupt ending may unsettle modern audiences. My interest in the film lies in its strong catholic overtones. Upon arrest Manny is allowed to keep his rosary which he then holds throughout the courtroom scenes. When Manny is at his most desperate and his mother asks him if he prays, he says he prays for help, and she tells him to ask for strength. As he prays before a Sacred Heart painting, Christ’s face slowly dissolves into Manny’s before the true thief’s countenance is revealed superimposed over his. What is Hitchcock saying? Is Manny, like Christ, suffering for the sins of another? (Hitchcock’s other ‘catholic’ film I Confess (1953) has an innocent priest walking his own via dolorosa for someone else’s guilt.) Or is The Wrong Man showing us prayers answered by the first appearance of the true thief, soon to be arrested? Whatever else the film says, the real Manny Balestrero spoke of the dangers of rushing to judgement: ‘Before you accuse anyone, you should think, because you can destroy a family, physically and mentally, like mine could have been destroyed.’
