TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (1956) with Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone and Nehemiah Persoff (Videos, Videos, Videos!)

By David in TN
friday, september 8, 2023 at 5:25:00 p.m. edt

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (1956) with Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone and Nehemiah Persoff.

Film Noir Guide: “Fonda, a bass player at New York’s Stork Club, is identified as the holdup man who has been robbing local business establishments. Stone is the detective who traps Fonda by having him duplicate a note written by the real stickup man—his printing is similar and he misspells the same word. Quayle is the sympathetic attorney whose faith in the unfortunate musician compensates for his inexperience.”

“Fonda’s wife (Miles) stands by her man until she cracks under the pressure and winds up a zombie in a mental institution. Persoff plays Fonda’s brother-in-law, who puts up the seven thousand dollar bail money.

“Based on a true story, The Wrong Man is a bleak tale that may be too much for some sensitive viewers to sit through—it’s that depressing and seemingly hopeless. Despite the almost unbelievable coincidences that have to take place for the story to work, Hitchcock, in his opening narration, swears it’s all true. Fonda gives a standout, low-key performance, and Miles is sensational as his neurotic, guilt-ridden wife.”

David in TN: Eddie Muller finally has a classic. While “based on a true story,” there was more evidence to clear him than in the movie. The events took place in 1953 and it was filmed in May, 1956. Note how a subway trip from the 5th Avenue Subway station (per IMDB) to 7420 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights, Queens looked after midnight 67 years ago. The restaurant where Fonda has breakfast was at the same address as the subway station.

The home of Manny and Rose Ballestrero was (per IMDB) at 78th Street Jackson Heights. In 1956, a White working-class family could live there. According to wikipedia White Flight started soon after.

N.S.: The Wrong Man was an entry in the new genre of pseudo-documentary crime movies founded by Jules Dassin, Albert Malz, and Malvin Wald, with their classic crime picture shot on the streets of New York City, The Naked City (1948). The movie starred Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, and Don Taylor, and inspired Herbert ("Bert") B. Leonard to produce the legendary TV series, Naked City (1958-1963), which was likewise shot on the streets of New York. (Leonard also produced the equally legendary series, Route 66 [1960-1964], which was shot along the path of the famous highway.)

I must respectfully disagree with the judgment of my old friend and partner-in-crime, David in TN. I saw The Wrong Man 50 years ago, and was underwhelmed, even though it starred one of my favorite actors, Hank Fonda (Mr. Roberts).

The movie bombed, the genre died with it, and Hitchcock would never again work with Fonda.

I hope otherwise, but suspect that The Wrong Man inspired Fonda to produce a movie the following year that I can only describe as evil: 12 Angry Men.

In 12 Angry Men, Fonda played the lone juror who took on 11 fellow jurors who were ready to convict and send to the electric chair a young Puerto Rican man for stabbing his father to death.

The movie is evil, because the defendant was clearly guilty as hell, and it promoted the blood libels of author-co-producer (later creator of the multi-Emmy winning TV show, The Defenders, 1961-1966), Reginald Rose, that the presumption of innocence is a get-out-of-jail-free card, in cases of guilty-as-hell hispanic and black defendants, and that jurors have carte blache to violate laws and regulations which apply to the jury room. More than any other media figure, Rose contributed to the destruction of the American legal system.

Of related interest:

“The Naked City: An Internet Resource, Including Jump the Shark Rescue!”


Previously, at WEJB/NSU, on Reginald Rose:

“On September 20, 1954, Dramatic History was Made, with the Only Broadcast of the Original, 50-Minute, Reginald Rose Teleplay, 12 Angry Men (Complete, Restored Video)”;

“Stacking the Deck: An Analysis of the First, TV Version of Reginald Rose’s Legendary Play, Twelve Angry Men, and Rose’s Dirty Little Secret”;

12 Angry Men: A Revisionist View (Reginald Rose’s War on the American Legal System);

“See One of the Greatest Courtroom Dramas Ever Performed on Live TV: An Expert Restoration of Part One of Reginald Rose’s Two-Hour Pilot The Defender, Starring a Sensational Ralph Bellamy, with a Young William Shatner, Martin Balsam, and ‘Steven McQueen’” (Video);

“LIVE TV RESTORATION: Studio One: The Defender, Part Two.” (Video);

“David in TN and Nicholas Stix: More on The Defender”;

“Somebody Once Knew How to Write Speeches: Officers of the Court”; and

“Here are some of the unreleased episodes of The Defenders! (Videos).”