The Wrong Man (1956)

THE WRONG MAN is a bleak Alfred Hitchcock movie filmed in suitably low-key style with crisp B&W photography and two very deeply felt performances by HENRY FONDA and VERA MILES.

Hitch's fear of police (traumatic experience as a youth) serves him well in crafting the kind of intimidation a man feels when he's unjustly accused of a crime he hasn't committed. Eyewitnesses place him at the scene of the crime and the police are ready to lock him up and put him away in prison.

The only one who believes in him (or his innocence) is his wife, VERA MILES, but she begins to undergo serious mental stress as the situation seems to get more and more hopeless. Eventually, she is driven to the brink of insanity and her heart hardens toward her husband. Vera Miles is excellent in the role, subtle and completely believable.

What distinguishes THE WRONG MAN from other Hitchcock films is that it's all filmed in a brisk, documentary style that leaves no room for the usual gimmicks. It's about as straightforward in its story-telling manner as any of his films has ever been, based on a true life incident in the life of a man falsely accused.

Summing up: Well worth watching, but not unless you're willing to be more than a little depressed by the somber mood.