I Confess (film)
| I Confess | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Screenplay by |
George Tabori William Archibald |
| Based on | the play Nos deux consciences by Paul Anthelme |
| Starring |
Montgomery Clift Anne Baxter Karl Malden Brian Aherne O. E. Hasse |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Robert Burks |
| Edited by | Rudi Fehr |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | Canada United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million (US) |
I Confess is a 1953 film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Montgomery Clift as Fr. Michael William Logan, a Catholic priest, Anne Baxter as Ruth Grandfort, and Karl Malden as Inspector Larrue.
The film is based on a 1902 French play by Paul Anthelme called Nos deux consciences (Our Two Consciences), which Hitchcock saw in the 1930s. The screenplay was written by George Tabori.
Filming was done largely on location in Quebec City with numerous shots of the city landscape and interiors of its churches and other emblematic buildings, such as the Château Frontenac.
Father Michael Logan (Clift) is a devout Catholic priest in Ste. Marie's Church in Quebec City. He employs German immigrants Otto Keller (O. E. Hasse) and his wife Alma (Dolly Haas) as caretaker and housekeeper. Otto also works part-time as a gardener for a shady lawyer called Villette.
The film begins late one evening, as a man wearing a priest's cassock walks away from Villette's house, where Villette lies dead on the floor. Shortly afterward, in the church confessional, Keller confesses to Father Logan that he accidentally killed Villette while trying to rob him. Keller tells his wife about his deed and assures her that the priest will not say anything because he is forbidden from revealing information acquired through confessions.
The next morning, Keller goes to Villette's house at his regularly scheduled gardening time and reports Villette's death to the police. Father Logan also goes to the crime scene after hearing Mrs. Keller mention that her husband is there.
At the police station, two young girls tell Inspector Larrue (Malden) they saw a priest leaving Villette's house. This prompts Larrue to call Father Logan in for questioning, but Logan refuses to provide any information about the murder. Now suspecting Logan, Larrue orders a detective to follow Logan and contacts Crown Prosecutor Robertson (Brian Aherne), who is attending a party hosted by Ruth Grandfort (Baxter) and her husband Pierre (Roger Dann), a member of the Quebec legislature. Ruth overhears Robertson discussing Logan, and Larrue's detective discovers her identity by following her home the next day after she meets with Logan to warn him that he is a suspect.
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Wikipedia