Nothing To Fear: Alfred Hitchcock And The Wrong Men

by Jason Isralowitz

Overview

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 bracing drama based on the real-life false arrest of Queens musician Christopher “Manny” Balestrero. Manny's ordeal is part of a larger story of other miscarriages of justice in the first half of the twentieth century. Attorney Jason Isralowitz 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’s film bears witness to issues that animate the contemporary innocence movement. Given the hundreds of exonerations of the wrongfully convicted in recent years, this genre-bending work of true crime and film history is a must-read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781949024425
Publisher:	Fayetteville Mafia Press
Publication date:	01/14/2023
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Attorney Jason Isralowitz was born in Booth Memorial Hospital in Queens, not far from the former home of Manny Balestrero and the streets where Alfred Hitchcock filmed parts of The Wrong Man. He has loved movies ever since seeing Jaws and The Omen on the big screen at the impressionable age of seven. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Boston University in 1990, Isralowitz attended University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has practiced law in Manhattan for 30 years and is currently a partner at one of the nation’s premier firms.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Those Who Suffered Before

Chapter 1 Prisoner 95111 10

Chapter 2 "Life Is a Dangerous Thing" 28

Chapter 3 Phil the Ghost 37

Chapter 4 The Key to Freedom 44

Chapter 5 Guilt by Association 54

Chapter 6 The "Insoluble" Problem 65

Part 2 People V. Balestrero

Chapter 7 When the Music Stopped 76

Chapter 8 Trial 91

Chapter 9 Stricken Again: The Fight for Compensation 111

Part 3 The Wrong Man

Chapter 10 "My Basic Fears" 120

Chapter 11 Nothing but the Truth 137

Chapter 12 "I Don't Dare Look" 143

Chapter 13 "Just a Routine Matter" 149

Chapter 14 Prosecutorial Oversight 159

Chapter 15 A Spiraling Trauma 164

Chapter 16 Who Will Listen? 170

Chapter 17 "OK, Manny?" 176

Chapter 18 "The DNA of Its Time" 184

Conclusion 193

Epilogue 201

Acknowledgments 208

Notes 210

Selected Bibliography 238

Index 248

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2023

Isralowitz, a lawyer, presents this book as a blend of criminal justice and film commentary, but its true focus is a history of egregious errors in the New York City legal system that frequently put innocent men in jail from the 1930s to the 1950s. Isralowitz shares compelling incidents of mistaken identity, all building to his main subject, Manny Balestrero, who was falsely accused of armed robbery in 1953. His initial trial ended in a mistrial due to a juror's outburst, and before his second trial began, the real culprit was found. Manny was never imprisoned, though his wife spent two years in a facility for patients in need of treatment for mental health. Balestrero's story became The Wrong Man, a rarity among Hitchcock films in that it was based on a true story. It stuck so close to the facts that critics felt it was devoid of the usual Hitchcock magic. The author's dissection of the film is well-researched. He skillfully interpolates behind-the-scenes stories with facts from the case and documents the devastation a false arrest can inflict on families. VERDICT Come for the Hitchcock, stay for the history. Fascinating.—Peter Thornell

Library Journal