I Confess

I have a vinyl playing in the background with Dimitri Tiomkin’s famous movie scores. I Confess is currently playing, and it’s beautiful. Something about the theme always brings me back to a scene in the movie where Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter are laying in a field together. They’ve just reunited after Clift has been gone to war. It’s a lovely day, then suddenly, a thunderstorm comes through and disrupts the serene afternoon between the two old lovers. The movie’s theme music doesn’t actually play during this scene, but instead during the opening credits.

Let me backtrack though. I Confess is the 1953 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Along side Clift and Baxter, the film stars Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, and O.E. Hasse. It takes place in Quebec City, Canada, and was filmed mostly on location. The photography is breathtaking! The film opens with a shot panning over the St. Lawrence River, looking at a religious building. We hear the ethereal Tiomkin theme during this shot. Hitchcock’s cameo is in the next scene, showing him walking across a steep stairway called the L’Escalier Casee-Cou (Breakneck Steps). Throughout the movie, you’ll see many religious buildings and artifacts. Hitchcock chose Quebec City to film specifically for this reason. He wanted a city steeped in Catholicism, one where priests walk among the people.

I Confess is about a priest who is told in confessional about a murder that has just been committed. Soon after, Father Logan (Montgomery Clift) turns into the prime suspect because of his connection to the dead man. As the movie goes on, we find out the connection between Father Logan, the dead man, and everyone in between. The question that will continue until the shattering conclusion is, what will Father Logan do? Keep his Seal of Confession, or tell the police what he knows? To the general public, it’s an obvious choice; you tell the truth. But for a priest, the Seal of Confession must not be broken. Hitchcock once said ” There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it”, and this is never truer than in I Confess. The anticipation the viewer feels throughout almost the entire movie for what Father Logan will do is often tense. We know Father Logan is innocent, but when they go to trial, will he then break his Seal of Confession? Will the jury convict him of murder?

One of my favorite aspects of this film is Montgomery Clift’s performance. Francois Truffaut said it best in his book on Hitchcock, that, ” Throughout the picture his attitude as well as his expression is consistent. He has an air of total dignity at all times, and it’s only through his eyes that we sense his bewilderment at all the things that are happening to him”. It’s truly through his eyes, that we can see what Father Logan is thinking and feeling in those critical scenes with Otto Keller, or Ruth. You can also see his confusion, and sense it just from his eyes. His body language remains stoic and any hint of distress is hidden completely. His sometimes brooding yet calm take on Father Logan makes him feel like he’s one of us, but better. I think that’s the perfect description of Father Logan, and Montgomery Clift’s take on him.

Montgomery Clift was a method actor. He would try to identify and understand the characters inner motivations and emotions in order to portray his characters in the realest way possible. This is one of the reasons Hitchcock had such trouble working with him. He would ask him to look at a building, Clift would ask why his character would do that when it seemed his character would most likely look at something else, etc.. Clift would want explanations from Hitchcock on why his character would do certain things, and Hitchcock expected an actor to just do as he said. Hitchcock felt actors should just “act” and keep going, the film didn’t live or die by an actors performance. But method acting is a craft, one that the actor takes very seriously and goes to great lengths to get into character and be a real as possible. From the many negative comments documented from Hitchcock on Clift, it’s obvious he was not a method actor’s director.

This was not a commercially successful film upon it’s release. It wasn’t until the late 50’s and the emergence of the French New Wave, that the film caught on among viewers, and had a little success. Perhaps the lack of humor was a factor. Although many of Hitchcock’s films dealt with serious material like murders, they always had a bit of cheeky humor. Often characters had great one liners, or be in a situation you couldn’t help but laugh at them at (like in The Trouble with Harry). But I Confess is basically stripped of any humor. However, I don’t feel that humor would have elevated it. It stands on it’s own as a great film, just the way it is. Another factor perhaps was, the amount of coincidences within the film. Many find that the connections between the victim Monsieur Villette, Father Logan, Ruth, and Otto are outside the realm of possibility. Stranger things had happened at that point in history though. So to me, this wasn’t hard to believe. Yes, it may have been fantastical to some that these characters were all connected, but it simply isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Hitchcock said many times that he did not like this film, and he shouldn’t have made it. I can’t help but wonder, was this a very personal film, and it’s lack of commercial success an ego killer for him? Did he dislike the script, acting, all of the above so much he hated the whole movie? I have always been intrigued as to why the public, critics, and even Hitchcock himself, haven’t held this movie in a better regard. Lesley Brill said in The Hitchcock Romance of I Confess, “It is a matter of taste as to whether I Confess ranks among Hitchcock’s greatest films”. It certainly ranks among my favorites. I have good taste though 😉

Two things I chose not to discuss that are important in most Hitchcock films are romance, and the MacGuffin. To be honest, I like the romance in this film, and I think that alone would make a fabulous essay. Maybe I’ll write one this year. It’s a really interesting dynamic Father Logan and Ruth have as old lovers, and then being entangled in a murder investigation. The more times I’ve seen I Confess, the more my opinion on their relationship, both the past one and current one, changes. But, because I do think it would constitute it’s own essay, so I did not dive into it here. As for the MacGuffin, some people feel it is the murder confession given at the beginning of the film, others feel there isn’t one in this movie. I see both sides, and didn’t feel I had enough space here to delve into it. If you do not know what a MacGuffin is, do a quick google search. Once you’re familiar with it, you can be on the look out for it in other movies. Especially ones by Hitchcock.

I hope you enjoyed this little review on I Confess. I’m going to take the next couple of weeks to read But Have you Read the Book, get my review done, and do an interview with Kristen Lopez (which I am so excited for)! Let me know in the comments if you’ve seen this film, or plan too. I’d love to chat about this one!

Slow down and enjoy a Tuesday Matinee.

Megan