History Film / TheWrongMan

His lawyer Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle) decides to build the defense by proving that it is based on mistaken identity. Fortunately for the Balestreros, they were away on vacation at the time of the first robbery. Unfortunately for them, people who could testify on that are either dead or hard to locate. Rose slowly descends into depression to the point where she is institutionalized. While Manny is eventually released as the real robber , Rose remains in an apathetic state.

His lawyer Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle) decides to build the defense by proving that it is based on mistaken identity. Fortunately for the Balestreros, they were away on vacation at the time of the first robbery. Unfortunately for them, people who could testify on that are either dead or hard to locate. Rose slowly descends into depression to the point where she is institutionalized. While Manny is eventually released, Rose remains in an apathetic state.

In real life, the Balestreros went on to obscurity. But O'Connor became famous for this case and used it to relaunch his failing political career. He served as a New York State Senator in 1955, Queens County District Attorney (served 1956-1965), New York City Council President (1966-1968), and a justice of the New York Supreme Court (1969-1986). He died in 1992, due to an accidental fall from a flight of stairs.

* CriminalDoppelganger: There's an armed robber who closely resembles Manny.

* PoliceAreUseless: As one of his perennial themes, undoubtedly this is one of the reasons Hitchcock was drawn to this story. The police detectives, eager to make an arrest, fall victim to confirmation bias and botch the investigation.

** ThisIsReality: He foregoes the traditional cameo as "every word is true" in this story.

* PoliceAreUseless: As one of his perennial themes, undoubtedly this is one of the reasons Hitchcock was drawn to this story. The police detectives, eager to make an arrest, botch the investigation. By telling them that Manny was a possible suspect, they predisposed the store owners into believing he was the guy. They also fall victim to confirmation bias, making way too big a deal over the handwriting sample and the misspelling (the word "drawer" written as "draw", which, as the final word in the note, and a word whose written version seems longer than the way it's usually said, wouldn't have been all that unusual for two different people to mistakenly abbreviate).

A 1956 {{docudrama}} film directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock and based on an actual legal case from 1953, as covered on the ''The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero'' by Maxwell Anderson and on an article by Herbert Brean.

Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero (Creator/HenryFonda) works as a musician in the Stork Club, a then-famous nightclub of New York City. (The Stork Club was active from 1929 to 1965). His wife Rose (Creator/VeraMiles) needs some dental work and Manny attempts to convince her insurance company to cover the medical expenses. Once he steps into their office, Manny finds himself accused of robbery. He is apparently a look-alike of an armed robber who has visited the office twice already. Several witnesses are willing to testify against him at trial.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Manny Balestrero is an Italian-American, and his mother is a practising Catholic. One of the items Manny keeps with him is his rosary beeds. Hitchcock himself was a practicing Catholic and this is one of his few films which deal with his faith.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Manny is cleared, but Rose remains clinically depressed and hospitalized.]]
** However, [[spoiler: a title card at the very end states that she recovered two years later.]]

Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero (Creator/HenryFonda) works as a musician in the Stork Club, a then-famous nightclub of New York City. (The Stork Club was active from 1929 to 1965). His wife Rose (Vera Miles) needs some dental work and Manny attempts to convince her insurance company to cover the medical expenses. Once he steps into their office, Manny finds himself accused of robbery. He is apparently a look-alike of an armed robber who has visited the office twice already. Several witnesses are willing to testify against him at trial.

''The Wrong Man'' is a 1956 {{docudrama}} film directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock and based on an actual legal case from 1953, as covered on the ''The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero'' by Maxwell Anderson and on an article by Herbert Brean.

'''The Wrong Man''' is a 1956 film, directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock. It is a {{Docudrama}} based on an actual legal case from 1953, as covered on the ''The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero'' by Maxwell Anderson and on an article by Herbert Brean.

* GuiltByCoincidence: Manny so resembles a man who had twice held up an insurance office, that police are called when Manny unknowingly goes there on business. He is arrested after several witnesses identify him as the robber, and in providing a handwriting sample he misspells a word, which was also misspelled in a note written by the robber.

!!Tropes related to the movie:

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Manny is cleared, but Rose remains clinically depressed and hospitalized.]]
** However, [[spoiler:a title card at the very end states that she recovered two years later.]]

* GuiltByCoincidence: Manny so resembles a man who had twice held up an insurance office that police are called when Manny unknowingly goes there on business. He is arrested after several witnesses identify him as the robber, and in providing a handwriting sample he misspells a word which was also misspelled in a note written by the robber.

* ValuesDissonance: Nowadays the case against Manny would probably be thrown out of court due to the police's flagrant violation of his Fifth Amendment rights, including forcing him to transcribe a note which ultimately incriminated him.

'''The Wrong Man''' is a 1956 film, directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock. It is a {{Docudrama}} based on an actual legal case of 1953, as covered on the ''The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero'' by Maxwell Anderson and on an article by Herbert Brean.

Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero (Creator/HenryFonda) works as a musician in the Stork Club, a then-famous nightclub of New York City. (The Stork Club was active from 1929 to 1965). His wife Rose (Vera Miles) needs some dental work and Manny attempts to convince her insurance company to cover the medical expenses. Once he steps into their office, Manny finds himself accused of robbery. He is apparently a look-alike of an armed robber who has visited the office twice already. Several witnesses are willing to testify against him on trial.

His lawyer Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle) decides to build the defense by proving that it is based on mistaken identity. Fortunately for the Balestreros, they were away on vacation at the time of the first robbery. Unfortunately for them, people who could testify on that are either dead or hard to locate. Rose slowly descends into depression to the point where she is institutionalized. While Manny is eventually found innocent, Rose remains in an apathetic state.

* ClearMyName: What Manny has to do. Though he uses strictly legal means.

* ValuesDissonance: Nowadays the case against Manny would probably be thrown out of court due to the police's flagrant violation of his Fifth Amendment rights, including forcing him to transcribe a note which ultimately incriminated him.

** However, [[a title card at the very end states that she recovered two years later.]]

* RealityIsUnrealistic: As commented by the narrator at the beginning of the film.

Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero (Creator/HenryFonda) works as a musician in the Stork Club, a then-famous nightclub of New York City. (The Stork Club was active from 1929 to 1965). His wife Rose (VeraMiles) needs some dental work and Manny attempts to convince her insurance company to cover the medical expenses. Once he steps into their office, Manny finds himself accused of robbery. He is apparently a look-alike of an armed robber who has visited the office twice already. Several witnesses are willing to testify against him on trial.

His lawyer Frank O'Connor (AnthonyQuayle) decides to build the defense by proving that it is based on mistaken identity. Fortunately for the Balestreros, they were away on vacation at the time of the first robbery. Unfortunately for them, people who could testify on that are either dead or hard to locate. Rose slowly descends into depression to the point where she is institutionalized. While Manny is eventually found innocent, Rose remains in an apathetic state.

'''The Wrong Man''' is a 1956 film, directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock. It is based on an actual legal case of 1953, as covered on the ''The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero'' by Maxwell Anderson and on an article by Herbert Brean.

Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero (HenryFonda) works as a musician in the Stork Club, a then-famous nightclub of New York City. (The Stork Club was active from 1929 to 1965). His wife Rose (VeraMiles) needs some dental work and Manny attempts to convince her insurance company to cover the medical expenses. Once he steps into their office, Manny finds himself accused of robbery. He is apparently a look-alike of an armed robber who has visited the office twice already. Several witnesses are willing to testify against him on trial.