I Confess (DVD, 2004)

The 1953 classic Alfred Hitchcock movie. Shot in Quebec, this film was nominated for the 1953 Cannes grand Prize.

Plot summary:
Otto Kellar and his wife Alma work as caretaker and housekeeper at a Catholic church in Quebec. Whilst robbing a house where he sometimes works as a gardener, Otto is caught and kills the owner. Racked with guilt he heads back to the church where Father Michael Logan is working late. Otto confesses his crime, but when the police begin to suspect Father Logan he cannot reveal what he has been told in the confession.

Others have described the plot and excellent photography. I find the best aspect of this movie is the unswerving faith Father Logan has to his church and its principles. The one minor flaw occurs near the end where the prosicutor realizes the enorminity of his failure to realize what was going on and his failure's possible terrible result. He just doesn't looked shocked enough. Compare this with Sidney Greenstreet in the Verdict. I"m surprised a great director like Hitchcock let this go. Oh well, no one is perfect.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY IN FILM NOIR STYLE, WITH THE BACKDROP OF QUEBEC, CANADA, WORKS BRILLIANTLY FOR HITCHCOCK, IN THIS OFTENTIMES OVERLOOKED GEM. MONTGOMERY CLIFT AND ANNE BAXTER GIVE AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE UNK OWN TO MOST PEOPLE. THE CAMERA ANGLES, ESPECIALLY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS OF QUEBEC ARE BREATH TAKING! PLEASE NOTE THE EXCEPTIONAL ACTING PROVIDED BY THE SUPPORTING GERMAN ACTRESS PLAYING THE MAID AT THE RECTORY (AND THE WIFE OF THE MURDERER), WHOSE PAST HISTORY IN GERMAN FILM HISTORY, MAKES HER PERFORMANCE EVEN MORE INTRIGUING.

Montgomery Clift shines in this little known movie set in Quebec City, Canada in 1953--the same time that the movie was made. Clift plays a Catholic priest, Father Michael Logan. Anne Baxter is equally good as his previous girlfriend, Ruth Grandford, that he had before becoming a priest. Karl Malden plays the police Inspector La Rue.

Late one night, Father Logan hears the confession of a janitor in the rectory, who has just committed murder while trying to steal some money. (Under Catholic doctrine, a priest cannot ever disclose to anyone what anyone has ever confessed to him.) As the light of day dawns, the victim turns out to be a man that the priest knew. When Father Logan visits the crime scene, he learns that the murder was committed by a man in a priest uniform. The police represented by Karl Malden are immediately suspicious of Father Logan, since he came to the crime scene.

As it turns out, the murdered man knew Father Logan when he was involved with Ruth, a girlfriend that he had before World War II. Ruth is now married to a Canadian parliament official but is still obviously in love with Father Logan. The eventual dilemma occurs when Father Logan is suspected of being caught by the murdered man while Father was supposedly having an affair with Ruth. And thus we have motive for murder.

This dilemma is intensified as the movie progresses--all the way to a murder trial with Father Logan as the accused murderer. The real murderer sits silently thinking that Father Logan will not be convicted. But does he?

This wonderful movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and as usual he appears in the beginning clips of the movie. How this movie has escaped mass appeal or awards I cannot understand. Please spread the word!