SYNOPSIS

I Confess, from the play by Paul Anthelme, is based on a premise custom made for Alfred Hitchcock’s fascination with the dilemma of an innocent man accused of a crime. Montgomery Clift plays Father Michael Logan, a priest who hears the confession of a murderer and soon finds himself framed for the crime. Circumstantial evidence mounts, painting an ever more damning picture of the priest’s crime while he is bound by his priestly vows not to reveal what he has learned in confession.

If other Hitchcock dramas such as SABOTEUR follow the plight of the innocent man through breakneck pursuits, I CONFESS succeeds on the strength of Clift’s ability to convey the real anxiety of the moral dilemma he faces and the effects of the widening chasm between pious intentions and social disgrace. Strong performances are also given by O.E. Hasse as the bitter and murderous gardener Otto Keller and by Anne Baxter as the woman whose faith in Father Logan also threatens scandal.


TRAILER


RELEASE DATE

March 22, 1953

DIRECTOR

Alfred Hitchcock

WRITER

George Tabori & William Archibald

COMPANY

Warner Bros. Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)

GENRE

Crime, Thriller

CERT

U

RUNTIME

95 minutes

IMAGES