The Wrong Man

Selected by Todd Haynes

“Severe in style and implacable in tone…the film is based on the true story of New York club musician Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda), who was arrested for a series of armed robberies he did not commit. Fonda gives one of his greatest performances as an innocent man plunged into a living nightmare…and he is equaled by Vera Miles as the accused’s wife, whose mind begins to unravel as her husband is victimized by the relentless, uncaring justice system.”
— Toronto International Film Festival

“In violently contrasted lighting, [Hitchcock] speaks: ‘This films is unlike any of my other films. There is no suspense. Nothing but the truth.’ One must read between the lines. The only suspense in The Wrong Man is that of chance itself. The subject of this film lies less in the unexpectedness of events than in their probability. With each shot, each transition, each composition, Hitchcock does the only thing possible for the rather paradoxical but compelling reason that he could do anything he liked.”
— Jean-Luc Godard

Film Details

Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 1956
Running time: 105 min
Format: 35mm
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriters: Maxwell Anderson, Angus MacPhail
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Cinematographer: Robert Burks
Editor: George Tomasini
Source: Swank

Films and schedules may be subject to change.

Modern Cinema’s Founding Supporters are Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein. Support is provided by Nion T. McEvoy and the Susan Wildberg Morgenstein Fund. This season of Modern Cinema is generously supported by James C. Hormel and Michael P. Nguyen.