The Wrong Man

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The Wrong Man

1956

1h 45m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

28 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Musician Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda) needs money to pay for his wife Rose's (Vera Miles) dental procedure. When he tries to borrow money from their insurance policy, someone at the office mistakes him for a man who had robbed them twice at gunpoint. After Manny is arrested, his defense attorney, Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle), works to demonstrate that Manny has an alibi for the crimes. The stress of the case, however, threatens to destroy Manny's family before his name can be cleared.

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Brandon Judell

IndieWire

06/15/2021

[O]ne of the master's must overlooked offerings. . . . But Henry Fonda's performance as the accused and our own current events keep this Wrong Man very pertinent. (Be aware the studios forced a happy coda onto the feature.)

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

06/29/2015

Hitchcock's ultimate point evokes cosmic terror: innocence is merely a trick of paperwork, whereas guilt is the human condition.

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A.H. Weiler

New York Times

03/25/2006

2.5/5

Frighteningly authentic, the story generates only a modicum of drama.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

04/26/2025

[Alfred Hitchcock] uses his skill to create a conventional life with mundane detail, an observant, unobtrusive camera, and patient direction, and then turn it into a real-life nightmare.

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Jean-Luc Godard

Cahiers du Cinéma

04/04/2022

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. "Che sera, sera," because What Will Be Has Been.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

08/23/2020

6/10

In its efforts to be comprehensive about the proceedings, educating audiences who might not know the ins and outs of a run-in with the law, the pacing isn't always tight.

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Oct 20

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Kyle M

@RT77296778 Sep 20

This is no exception when Hitchcock decisively delivered a factual story that is just as tense as his suspenseful fares, effectively stirring resonating anxiety aligned into a distressing grip through this procedurally sharp and reverent, timeless docudrama that excelled the desired level of authenticity. (A-)

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Isaiah Y

@zayman2 Sep 9

Good Hitchcock film with a great performance by Henry Fonda

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Jacob B

@RT48293763 Sep 8

Hitchcocks quiet, deliberately paced film that is unfortunately overshadowed by his other films of that period (“Vertigo” and “North By Northwest” and “To Catch A Thief”), still holds it own. More ‘realistic’ in its presentation, and based on a true story of a man wrongly accused of murder, this film of the Master of Suspense shows you why he was called that. By the end my stomach was in knots.

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Robin R

@RobinRice Aug 24

Very boring movie. In this instance, Hitchcock unfortunately allowed his imagination to be supplanted by the dullness of reality.

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Will G

@Wgoodeve 12/27/2024

What a great Alfred Hitchcock movie. The protagonist is accused of being a criminal which leads to a courtroom drama. His wife develops mental health issues. Henry Fonda was good in this film.

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Henry Fonda

Manny Balestrero

Vera Miles

Rose Balestrero

Anthony Quayle

Frank O'Connor

Harold J. Stone

Lt. Bowers

Esther Minciotti

Mama Balestrero

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Synopsis

Musician Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda) needs money to pay for his wife Rose's (Vera Miles) dental procedure. When he tries to borrow money from their insurance policy, someone at the office mistakes him for a man who had robbed them twice at gunpoint. After Manny is arrested, his defense attorney, Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle), works to demonstrate that Manny has an alibi for the crimes. The stress of the case, however, threatens to destroy Manny's family before his name can be cleared.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Maxwell Anderson, Angus MacPhail
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 22, 1956, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 4, 2016
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm