Hitch #39 - I Confess (1953)

… and three Hitch posts in a week - as many as the whole of 2023 and 2024 combined. We might actually make it to the end of this series eventually!

I did quite enjoy I Confess although I still find the whole Catholic confessional thing baffling (and I was brought up a Catholic so ought not to I suppose), which makes the story rather hard to get a handle on.

Dolly Haas and Montgomery Clift in I Confess

I watch the film thinking that if “the confessional” is sacrosanct surely there would be no problem with Father Logan saying “Otto was in the church when I arrived, and asked me to take his confession, but obviously I can’t tell you what he confessed” - which might have given the cops something else to look at?

Also, I’m not too sure why Otto dressed up as a priest to do his burglary? Maybe it was the only dark clothes he could find?

The cast were mostly pretty good, and the location work was great… although I enjoy location work a lot more when it’s in locations I know, and I don’t know Quebec.

There were a few nice Hitch touches but nothing particularly memorable.

Dolly Haas as Alma was particularly good - even if her constantly pained expression did rather flag her as the ultimate cause of Otto’s downfall. Montgomery Clift was also rather great - he has such a beautifully expressive face, OK - it was mostly the same expression for a lot of the film… but it was a good one! Anne Baxter was mostly rather wasted.

• Source: DVD
• Rating: 6/10
• Hitchcock Zone: I Confess (1953)