the wrong man

the wrong man is the latest of the hitchcock films that i've watched. i would say that, compared with vertigo or north by northwest, the suspense just isn't there. it is a study in ordinary film making. by that i mean ordinary reality is what is being captured, a story that really could happen. and it did happen. the movie is based on a real story, if hitchcock is to be believed. but it's not hollywood-slick and suspenseful like a typical hitchcock film. even so, i'm glad to have seen it. henry fonda is a good everyman who just was in the wrong place at the wrong time, like so many hitchcock protagonists, and got himself into something (being accused of a series of crimes) he had no idea he was getting into. it is interesting to note, according to several sources i've heard from, that hitchcock himself, as a five year old boy, spent five minutes in jail, as a warning from his father, which may have had a psychological impact eventually leading to this film. hitchcock himself was the original wrong man, spending an eternity of five minutes locked up as a small child. i would say, however, in evaluating this film, the "ordinary" quality of the film makes it one of the less enjoyable of the hitchcock films.