The Wrong Man (1956)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Maxwell Anderson (screenplay) and
Angus MacPhail (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 December 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

The police were convinced... The witnesses were positive ...Yet he was... THE WRONG MAN

Plot:

True story of an innocent man mistaken for a criminal.

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Robbery | Insurance | Trial | Police Detective

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Christopher Emanuel 'Manny' Balestrero
Vera Miles	...	Rose Balestrero
Anthony Quayle	...	Frank D. O'Connor
Harold J. Stone	...	Detective Lt. Bowers
Charles Cooper	...	Detective Matthews
John Heldabrand	...	Tomasini
Esther Minciotti	...	Mama Balestrero
Doreen Lang	...	Ann James
Laurinda Barrett	...	Constance Willis
Norma Connolly	...	Betty Todd
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Eugene 'Gene' Conforti
Lola D'Annunzio	...	Olga Conforti, Manny's Sister
Kippy Campbell	...	Robert Balestrero
Robert Essen	...	Gregory Balestrero
Richard Robbins	...	Daniel, the guilty man
Dayton Lummis	...	Judge Groat
Peggy Webber	...	Miss Dennerly
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barry Atwater	...	Mr. Bishop (scenes deleted)
Alexander Lockwood	...	Emmerton (scenes deleted)
Sammy Armaro	...	Suspect (uncredited)
Michael Ann Barrett	...	Mrs. Daily (uncredited)
John C. Becher	...	Liquor store proprietor (uncredited)
Henry Beckman	...	Prisoner at Arraignment Hearing (uncredited)
Harold Berman	...	Court stenographer (uncredited)
Mary Boylan	...	Curious customer (uncredited)
Paul Bryar	...	Interrogation officer (uncredited)
Ed Bryce	...	Court officer (uncredited)
John Caler	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Leonard Capone	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Paul Carr	...	Young man (uncredited)
Gordon Clark	...	Police attendant (uncredited)
William Crane	...	Juror (uncredited)
Spencer Davis	...	Prisoner's lawyer (uncredited)
M'el Dowd	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Josef Draper	...	Juror (uncredited)
Richard Durham	...	Department of Corrections employee (uncredited)
Olga Fabian	...	Mrs. Mank (uncredited)
Bonnie Franklin	...	Young girl (uncredited)
Chris Gampel	...	Department of Corrections employee (uncredited)
Earl George	...	Delicatessen proprietor (uncredited)
Charles J. Guiotta	...	Court officer (uncredited)
Cherry Hardy	...	Waving woman (uncredited)
Will Hare	...	Raymond McKaba, O'Connor's law partner (uncredited)
Rhodelle Heller	...	Stork Club customer (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Prologue narrator (voice) (uncredited)
William Hudson	...	Police lieutenant from 110th Precinct (uncredited)
Anna Karen	...	Miss Duffield (uncredited)
Mike Keene	...	Department of Corrections employee (uncredited)
Werner Klemperer	...	Dr. Bannay (uncredited)
Walter Kohler	...	Manny's Felony Court Attorney (uncredited)
William LeMassena	...	Sang (uncredited)
Maurice Manson	...	District Attorney John Hall (uncredited)
Barney Martin	...	Juror (uncredited)
Marc May	...	Tomasini's assistant (uncredited)
John McKee	...	Police Turnkey (uncredited)
Dallas Midgette	...	Customer at Bickford's (uncredited)
Silvio Minciotti	...	Mr. Balestrero (uncredited)
Patricia Morrow	...	Young girl (uncredited)
Daniel Ocko	...	Felony Court judge (uncredited)
Natalie Priest	...	Delicatessen proprietor's wife (uncredited)
Allan Ray	...	Suspect (uncredited)
Frances Reid	...	Mrs. O'Connor (voice) (uncredited)
Maria Reid	...	Spanish woman (uncredited)
Rossana San Marco	...	Mrs. Ferraro (uncredited)
Penny Santon	...	Spanish woman (uncredited)
Frank Schofield	...	Department of Corrections employee (uncredited)
Elizabeth Scott	...	Waving woman (uncredited)
Helen Shields	...	Receptionist (uncredited)
Otto Simánek	...	Mr. Mank (uncredited)
Oliver Stacey	...	Stork Club customer (uncredited)
John Stephen	...	Stork Club customer (uncredited)
Dino Tarronova	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Dan Terranova	...	Mr. Ferraro (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy	...	Mr. Wendon (uncredited)
John Truax	...	Suspect (uncredited)
Don Turner	...	Detective (uncredited)
John Vivyan	...	Detective Holman (uncredited)
Maurice Wells	...	Department of Corrections employee (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Maxwell Anderson		(screenplay) and
Angus MacPhail		(screenplay)
Maxwell Anderson		(story)

Produced by
Herbert Coleman	....	associate producer
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography by
Robert Burks

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Art Direction by
Paul Sylbert

Set Decoration by
William L. Kuehl

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director (as Daniel J. McCauley)

Sound Department
Earl Crain Sr.	....	sound

Stunts
Lucky Kargo	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank J. Calabria	....	additional photographer (uncredited)

Other crew
George Groves	....	technical advisor (as George Groves Sergeant New York City Police Department Ret.)
Frank D. O'Connor	....	technical advisor (as Frank D. O'Connor District Attorney Queens County New York)

Thanks
Sherman Billingsley	....	grateful acknowledgment (as Mr. Sherman Billingsley)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1957) (France) (theatrical)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (1957) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Action Gitanes (1999) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (200?) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Department of Commerce and Public Events, City of New York  co-operation

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:A (1957) | UK:PG (1988) | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | Peru:14 | USA:Approved (PCA #18117) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue subway station, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The Victor Moore Arcade was torn down in the late 1990s as part of a project to build a new transport hub.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Manny enters prison, a prisoner shouts "What'd they get you for, Henry?", using the actor's name, Henry Fonda.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Prologue narrator: This is Alfred Hitchcock speaking. In the past, I have given you many kinds of suspense pictures. But this time, I would like you to see a different one. The difference lies in the fact that this is a true story, every word of it. And yet it contains elements that are stranger than all the fiction that has gone into many of the thrillers that I've made before.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

True story-authentic locations

Based pretty much on the actual events & people of a miscarriage of justice that took place in Queens County, New York in the early 50's. The names of most of the people who took part in the event are unchanged in the movie and the location shots where the actual events took place add a touch of dark realism to the movie. The basic plot revolves around a musician who worked at the world famous Stork Club who was mis-identified by witnesses and arrested because he resembled an armed robber. Hitchcock dwells on the slow descent into helplessness and powerlessness that a citizen endures as he wends his way through the NYC (or any other) criminal justice meat grinder. There are chilling shots of his transport , by paddy wagon, into the Ridgewood Felony court and the Long Island City House of Detention. The lawyer he hired, Frank O'Connor, (his real name) went on to become District Attorney of Queens county and was later heavily involved in the infamous Kitty Genovese case. Not your typical Hitchcock film but one well worth seeing if for no other reason than to see one of Henry Fonda's better performances as the quietly stunned Christopher Emmanuel (Manny) Balestrero who sees his life, career and family endangered by forces he has little control over.