The Wrong Man

Date: February 4th, 2023
Time: 2:30 pm.
Price: $5.00
Location: In person at Kingsland Homestead,

In 1956, Alfred Hitchcock focused his lens on an issue that cuts to the heart of our criminal justice system: the risk of wrongful conviction. The result was The Wrong Man, a wrenching and largely overlooked drama based on the real-life arrest of Queens musician Christopher “Manny” Balestrero for two robberies he did not commit.

With documentary-like authenticity, Hitchcock and his team meticulously re-created Manny’s journey through the corridors of justice and the devastating effect of the arrest on his wife, Rose. In so doing, the director cast a damning light on New York’s history of mistaken identity cases. The Balestreros fell victim to the same rush to judgment and suggestive eyewitness identification procedures that had doomed innocent defendants in earlier cases.

Join us at KIngsland Homestead as the Queens Historical Society hosts Attorney Jason Isralowitz who tells this story in a revelatory book that situates both the Balestrero case and its cinematic counterpart in their historical context. Drawing from archival records, Isralowitz delivers a gripping account of Manny’s trial and new insights into an errant prosecution. He then examines how Hitchcock fused striking visual motifs with social realism to create a timeless work of art, with memorable performances by Henry Fonda and Vera Miles.

A genre-bending work of true crime and film history, Nothing to Fear: Alfred Hitchcock and the Wrong Men is a must-read not only for fans of Hitchcock, but also for anyone interested in the history and causes of wrongful convictions.

Copies of the book will be on sale!!!!

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