I guess many people would argue with me over it, but I do think this is a great film. I like it for its simple plot. Just one man mistaken for another for their similiar appearances. No any side development. This is great. And the spectacular photography and the wonderful acting. Somewhere during the film I even doubted the man was really the criminal.
We are all globe villagers.
Its really a great film. very underrated. Great Performances. And it deserves to be mentioned among other great Hitchcock films.
This film foreshadows Vertigo. Hitchcock wanted Vera Miles for leading female role in Vertigo. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.
Vera Miles is so much more vivid and emotionally appealing than Kim Novak! I wish she had that role. At the same time I see some points in Vertigo that certainly overshadow "The wrong man". The way Hitch uses color to explain certain things about his characters for instance.
shareIt isn't Hitchcock's best film in my opinion but I have seen 22 or 23 of films and I do believe it is his most underrated. I also think it is the best performance in the 11 films I have seen by Henry Fonda, an actor who I don't particularly rate.
shareWow, guess I'm in the minority. If Hitch had made a movie-of-the-week, this would have been it. It just seems so made for television in substance and style. Even tho' based on a true story, the depiction of the characters is very paint-by-numbers, Miles's acting was way over the top in places (the transition from sane to crazy was hardly subtle and realistic), and the whole picture is very dated now. I mean, seriously, having the suspect do some sort of perp-walk through the various crime scenes -- by himself? Is that what law enforcement did in the 50's? Not one of my favorite Hitchcock's films by a long shot.
shareI must say, I thought Henry Fonda's performance was brilliant.
I have some issues with the actress who played his wife, but I don't think it was her fault. The scene where she assaults her husband just came off as a little ludicrous and I'm presuming it was intentionally directed in that melodramatic style because of the time. However, as a result the scene has dated badly and, in that scene alone, the actress comes off as a pretty weak performer.
I've been working my way through the films in reverse order (rankings so far here: http://www.imdb.com/list/fdYCobnSfOY/ ) and I actually reckon that Hitchcock's most underrated film so far is "Topaz".
I wonder if 'Vertigo' would have been a different movie with Vera Miles in it. She's very different from Kim Novak. It was a lovely painting of Vera Miles that they did which appears in 'Vertigo.' But as the wife in 'The Wrong Man,' she appears quite plain at times.
shareI always thought the one weakness of Vertigo was Kim Novak. As an actress, she just didn't have an air of mystery, which was so important to the story. So Vera Miles might've been better. I thought she was very good as Rose.
shareI am not the greatest fan of Hitchcock, but of late I am becoming so.
"The Wrong Man" was one of many Hitchcock films I have not seen. I was aware as a being interested in film in the '50's, '60's, and so on exposed to this great director's work on TV and in the Cinema. "Psycho" created an Earthquake in the cinema when it was released. Lines of people waiting to go into see it. It was one of the scariest films I've ever witnessed.
But, I digress. I watched "The Wrong Man" tonight for the first time tonight, and it has placed itself in my "Highest Rated" films.
Enough, or Too Much!
Fixated Film Freak in Forestville
It is interesting how opinions vary! I can't even fathom how someone could think this is Hitchcock's greatest work. But, OK. Different people enjoy different things. And I accept that it was BASED on a true story, so that might negate some of my criticisms to some people. But still....
I enjoyed the photography, level of detail, and Miles' performance in this film. However, as I wrote in my review, the neatly paced, clear narrative of the first part of the film did not match the constructs of the film later on...it just seemed to go off track. A courtroom scene that starts with some intriguing aspects, then just ends abruptly. A lawyer who we never get to learn what his angle is going to be. A lead character who is, admittedly, frightened, but has the personality of a frying pan.
What was with the arching camera when Manny was arrested? I get he was dizzy with confusion, but he wasn't drunk! That was an odd effect. How about his wife and her "instant insanity"? I didn't buy that for a moment.
Worst of all, the conclusion. Manny's wife just stares off into space, completely bonkers. The smiling nurse rambles off her prepared lines that she most assuredly gives everyone..."It takes time". Depressed, Manny leaves her.
Suddenly, it's upbeat music, a shot of palm trees, and guess what! the titles tell us. Everyone lived happily ever after in Florida!
I was just appalled. What an odd little film. There is good reason no one knows about it, it's not very good!
Get real. This comes nowhere NEAR Hitchock's great, or even mid-level
work. Even his highly under-appreciated "Lifeboat" blows this away.
This is an intriguing film, but it's slower than hell, and the documentary-
style aspect didn't really suit Hitch. Fonda was also way too old.
Best asset: Vera Miles, who should've been Oscar nominated for her
superb work. On balance, the film is dark and depressing, but, sadly,
still relevant, as DNA is now freeing people locked up for decades for
crimes they didn't commit. A good, but far from great, Hitchcock film.
Vertigo, along with Psycho are the best Hitchcock movies, in my opinion
shareDefinitely not my favorite Hitchcock film. My favorite would have to be rear window. It is such a unique film.
shareAbsolutely stunning black and white cinematography, ahead of its time with the off-kilter camera angles and extreme close-ups. Too bad the rest of the movie didn't match the ingenuity and aura of its visuals. It has practically no suspense, and either Fonda is too limited an actor or the narrative is too prosaic to convincingly grip the viewer with a sense of nightmarish injustice.
shareI agree with your first sentence, but not the rest. I don't think the film was striving for suspense as much as it was striving to put the viewer inside Manny's head to live his nightmare with him. The "prosaic" narrative adds to the sense that any one of us could be in Manny's shoes someday and, as you said, the visuals are masterful.
shareSomewhere during the film I even doubted the man was really the criminal.