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USA 1956

Manny Ballestero (Henry Fonda) is a simple, honest, hardworking musician at New York's famous Stork Club. When his wife Rose (Vera Miles)  needs money for some dental work, Manny goes to his local insurance company to borrow some funds on her policy. Unfortunately for him, employees at the office mistake him for the thief who robbed them at gunpoint the year before. The authorities are summoned and the film tells the true story of the injustices that befell Manny and the toll it takes on his wife.

 

Fonda, as always, is flawless. This is certainly not Hitchcock fluff, but rather a stern, hard look at an unjust circumstance. Many consider it one of his better films. I among them. What it does do is identify the Master's versatility. Watch this and you can't say he made the same film over and over again. Refreshing Hitchcock fodder for the aficionados.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 22nd, 1956 - USA

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Comparison:

Warner Home Video - Region 1- NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT

 
Box Covers

   

  

  

Also comes in The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection which includes - Strangers on a Train Two-Disc Edition / North by Northwest / Dial M for Murder / Foreign Correspondent / Suspicion / The Wrong Man / Stage Fright / I Confess / Mr. and Mrs. Smith

          

Distribution Warner Home Video - Region 1- NTSC Warner Archive
Region FREE  - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:45:20  1:45:29.573 
Video 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.73 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

Disc Size: 32,002,829,315 bytes

Feature Size: 29,668,651,008 bytes

Total Bitrate: 32.91 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) , DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)  DTS-HD Master Audio English 1562 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1562 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio French 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
* Dolby Digital Audio Japanese 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles English, Spanish, French, None English, French, Spanish, Czech, Polish, Japanese, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Aspect Ratio 1.78:1

Edition Details:

• Featurette (4:3): "Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and The Wrong Man" (20:14)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:32)

DVD Release Date: September 7th, 2004
Keep Case
Chapters: 30

Release Information:
Studio: Warner

 

Disc Size: 32,002,829,315 bytes

Feature Size: 29,668,651,008 bytes

Total Bitrate: 32.91 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC

 

Edition Details:
• "Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and The Wrong Man" (20:19)

•  Trailer (2:35)
 

Blu-ray Release Date: January 26th, 2016
Standard Blu-ray case

Chapters 30

 

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray February 16': Warner go dual-layered with a very high bitrate and the resulting image is a success - succulent grain, layered contrast and the film looks very impressive in 1080P. We still have the controversy over the aspect ratio - SEE HERE. One of Bernard Herrmann's more passive scores and it sounds great in the DTS-HD master (24-bit). This region FREE Blu-ray has multiple foreign-language DUBs (simply Dolby) and subtitles options. They add no new extras (again) repeating Laurent Bouzereau's, 2004, 20-minute "Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and The Wrong Man" with Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Osborne, Richard Schickel and others - and a trailer. Hard to resist - I loved The Wrong Man - despite the discomforting story and it's heads and tail a/v above the old, very serviceable, DVD.

***

ON THE DVD: Goodness but these DVDs in the Hitchcock Boxset are good... no GREAT!. Here is another example - only difference is that this widescreen (original aspect ratio) anamorphic. Contrast and brightness are superb - really just perfect. I am so happy about these films. Warner deserves Cudos !

NOTE: We believe the original aspect ratio was 1.66 so it appears that this film may be cropped although composition seems fine. SEE HERE for more details.

Gary W. Tooze

Recommended Reading in Film Noir (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)



DVD Menus

Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

Screen Captures

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

More Blu-ray Captures

Is The Wrong Man cropped ?

(Thanks to Henrik for the Full screen caps - taken from VHS copy)

 

IMBd list it as 1:1.66. Probably made as open matte.  The picture in the screen captures may be a little to tight framing (the collar on the
woman is bad composition. The head on the left in the first picture picture also ), but otherwise they look quite correct. - Pepsi

BOTTOM LINE: Yes it was cropped from 1.66 to fit a 1.78 widescreen!

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

Box Covers

   

  

  

Also comes in The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection which includes - Strangers on a Train Two-Disc Edition / North by Northwest / Dial M for Murder / Foreign Correspondent / Suspicion / The Wrong Man / Stage Fright / I Confess / Mr. and Mrs. Smith

          

Distribution Warner Home Video - Region 1- NTSC Warner Archive
Region FREE  - Blu-ray



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Gary Tooze