SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

CinePete Montgomery Clift plays Father Logan, a priest in Quebec City who receives a murderer's confession and must respect his vow of secrecy, even when circumstantial evidence incriminates him in the murder itself. He also has obligations to a politician's wife (Anne Baxter), herself involved in the case through a previous love affair with Father Logan.We expect Hitch to do something quite startling with the material, but I Confess turns out comparatively flat and somber, without the trademark Hitchcock humour. There are some compelling stylistic flourishes and considerable tension, particularly in the opening and closing scenes, but generally I Confess is more of a psychological drama than a suspense thriller, and the psychology here, unlike other Hitchcock films, lacks much intensity. ,We never get inside the psyche of Father Logan. He remains closed to the spectator, guarded, seemingly impervious to human emotions. Reportedly, tensions between director and method actor Montgomery Clift prevented full treatment of the character, and he comes across as a wooden, saint-like figure who seems emotionally removed from his predicament. In addition, the Production Code would prohibit too much license outside a strict clerical portrayal of a Catholic priest. Thus, the earlier romance with the politician's wife has little depth of emotion. Anne Baxter's decorative, overly romantic "confession" seems a mere fantasy from a teen romance novel. Surprisingly, it is Alma, the murderer's wife, who slyly engages our attention. The burden of confession falls on her as well as Father Logan - they are compatriots, condemned to rigorous silence. As Alma, German actress Dolly Haas conveys deeper anguish than does Clift, and there is great satisfaction in seeing her set things right at the end, standing up against a judgmental mob and her own deadly husband.The murderer Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) also has more dimension than the main characters - truly a treacherous figure, abusive, filmed in sinister angle throughout the film. His "confession" at the end has intensity and feeling, and when he tells the priest, "I am as alone as you are," he gives valid insight into the plight of Father Logan himself.The visual level of I Confess compels our attention. The film is well photographed: the alleyways, churches, stone walls, and Old World architecture, along with the landmark Chateau Frontenac, give Quebec City both a Gothic and a contemporary film noir quality.The occasion of filming I Confess in Quebec City was apparently an event in itself, and provides the basis for Robert Lepage's later Canadian film Le Confessional (1994).

jacobs-greenwood A couple of things unusual about the beginning of this Alfred Hitchcock film: one of its first scenes features the director's cameo, as he walks across a gap (for steps) between buildings, and another shows a dead body (through a window) on the first floor of a building.The rest of this average drama's story is about who this murder victim is, and the eventual realization on the part of the police inspector as to "who done it". As is somewhat typical, we (the audience) know who did it, and are frequently frustrated as the events go contrary to what we might wish. In fact, the main suspect is a Priest, played by Montgomery Clift, who also knows who did it.However, since the guilty party admitted his crime to Father Logan (Clift) in a confessional, he is unable to tell Inspector Larrue (Karl Malden) what he wants to know. Another subplot involving Father Logan, the fact that his former lover is now a respectable married woman (Anne Baxter) who was being blackmailed by the victim, is added to complicate matters even further, such that the Priest becomes the primary murder suspect.The story takes place in Canada, where foreign-born handyman- gardener Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) murdered Villette (Ovila Légaré) for the $2,000 he needed so that he and his wife Alma (Dolly Haas) could make a better life for themselves. The couple is currently living in the church where she also works as a cook-servant and Father Logan resides.After Keller confesses his deed to Father Logan, while he's later relating his crime to his wife, he decides not to do what Father Logan advised - to turn himself in. Instead, he returns the money and "discovers" the body. Father Logan suspects that Keller has not followed his advice and finds that Inspector Larrue is investigating the crime. Larrue then sees Logan greeting a woman (Baxter) outside the building of the murder scene and begins to believe that the Priest must be involved somehow.Upon further investigation, he learns the identity of the woman to be Ruth Grandfort, the wife of an elected official (Roger Dann) known socially by his prosecutor Willy Robertson (Brian Aherne). Larrue is then able to get both an alibi, and a motive, for Father Logan from Ruth, who almost married Logan before the war. After the war, when Logan returned to discover that Ruth was married, they were "caught" together by Villette, who then blackmailed Ruth. So, with Father Logan being unwilling to break his sacred vows to tell what really happened to Villette, he is put on trial for the man's murder.If you can get over the incredible coincidence that ties Father Logan, who heard the real murderer's confession, to a person (Baxter's character) that has a real motive for wanting Villette dead, it's actually quite compelling, if somewhat frustrating (like the contrived ending) at times.The screenplay was written by George Tabori and William Archibald, from the play Our Two Consciences by Paul Anthelme.

blanche-2 "I Confess" is a Hitchcock film from 1953 film starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Brian Aherne, Karl Malden, and O.E. Hasse.The film is based on a French story, Nos Deux Consciences and takes place in Quebec City, Canada. It concerns a priest (Clift) honoring the seal of confession, even as he stands accused of murder.O.E. Hasse plays the church caretaker. He takes the priest's cassock and commits murder while wearing it. Then he goes to confession. The story is complicated by a past relationship the priest had with a woman (Anne Baxter) from his home town. This is a minor Hitchcock film, but still quite good, with excellent performances. Clift gives a very internalized performance, so that he doesn't give anything away to the detective (Malden).Hitchcock would tell Clift to look up or look to his right, and later insert what Clift was looking at. Of course, this wasn't enough for Clift, nor should it be for any actor. He wanted to know what he was supposed to see! It drove Hitchcock crazy.Everyone is excellent in the movie. The seal of confession has long been a bedrock of plotting since forever. The murderer knew what he was doing, as the church believes it is better for a killer to go free than break the seal. It's a sacred trust, and the murderer is all the more evil for realizing it.

AaronCapenBanner Alfred Hitchcock directed this drama that stars Montgomery Clift as Father Michael Logan, a catholic Priest in Quebec who finds himself caught up in a murder investigation when the church caretaker(named Otto), after murdering a man whose home he was robbing, flees to the church for sanctuary after confessing the crime to Logan, who tries to convince him to turn himself in to the police, though he refuses. His wife Alma works in the church as a housekeeper, and keeps watch over him. The inspector in charge of the investigation(played by Karl Malden) comes to suspect Father Logan, which puts him in a bind if Otto won't confess, since he can't break confidentiality, even to save his life... Good cast can't save misfired drama, that never comes to life with a compelling story, despite some potential. A shame.