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I Confess
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I Confess (1953) More at IMDbPro »

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I Confess (1953) -- Refusing to give into police investigators' questions of suspicion, due to the seal of confession, a priest becomes the prime suspect in a murder.

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   4,902 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 25% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
Writers:
George Tabori (screenplay) and
William Archibald (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for I Confess on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 March 1953 (USA) more
Tagline:
FILMED IN CANADA'S COLORFUL QUEBEC BY WARNER BROS. (original print ad - all caps) more
Plot:
Refusing to give into police investigators' questions of suspicion, due to the seal of confession, a priest becomes the prime suspect in a murder. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
R.I.P. Karl Malden (1912-2009)
 (From Fangoria. 1 July 2009, 2:07 PM, PDT)

Eleven Gay Historical Figures Worthy of the "Milk" Treatment
 (From AfterElton.com. 4 February 2009, 8:14 PM, PST)

User Comments:
The seal of confession is highly illustrated by Hitchcock's "I Confess." more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Alfred Hitchcock's 'I Confess!' (USA) (promotional title)
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Runtime:
95 min
Country:
USA
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Spain:18 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (1988) | Brazil:16 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Peru:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16036) | West Germany:12

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock]crossing the top of a staircase during the opening sequence. more
Goofs:
Continuity: After the guests leave, Ruth begins tidying and her left arm is bare under a long band of her dress. When her husband enters in the room, her arm is covered, with the dress band held between her left arm and her body. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Fr. Michael William Logan: Who's there?
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Bewitched: I Confess (#4.28)" (1968) more
Soundtrack:
Love, Look What You've Done To Me more

FAQ

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36 out of 38 people found the following comment useful:-
The seal of confession is highly illustrated by Hitchcock's "I Confess.", 12 August 2000
9/10

If the transfer of culpability was a basic theme in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train," it furnished the provocative dilemma to "I Confess."

A German refugee, Keller (O.E. Hasse), murders a lawyer named Vilette (Ovila Legare) when he is caught stealing... Keller thereupon confesses his crime to Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift), a priest at the Quebec church where he is a sexton...

Vilette was blackmailing Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter), who was in love with Logan before he was ordained and who continues to love him in spite of his religious vows and her subsequent marriage to Pierre Granfort (Roger Dann).

Keller wore a cassock when he committed the crime and Father Logan is unable to supply an alibi for the time of the murder - a series of coincidences which eventually find the priest on trial for murder...

The dilemma of "I Confess" relates to Catholic church law which specifically forbids the clergy from disclosing those sins exposed in the privacy of the confessional... Thus forced into complicity with the murderer, Father Logan behaves as though he is guilty despite his innocence in much the same way Guy Haines takes on some of Bruno's guilt in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." The film's tension derives from the audience's knowledge of the cleric's ethical problem and its desire to see him break his vows to save his own life...

Montgomery Clift makes the clergyman's inner torment apparent simply by the anguished expression in his eyes, and creates sympathy for a man who could be an object of mockery by maintaining his dignity...

Compassionate, grave, and restrained, Clift delineates the priest's conflicting emotions with the distinguished nuances of expression... His face, vulnerable but brighter by discerning yet kind eyes, reveals his suffering with eloquent intensity...

While a determined Karl Malden looks for every scrap of information to clear the murder, an embarrassing crown prosecutor (Brian Aherne) is in despair to establish a motive for the murder...

With moody atmosphere, set against the background of picturesque Quebec photographed in black and white, "I Confess" is solemn and entertaining, never getting out of control, with an overpowering sense of doom and enough amount of suspense in the manhunt of a killer...

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What are some other recommended strong Catholic-themed movies? genplant29
That Song! f111151
Why shouldn't I shoot you? Because you call me Otto? - SPOILER manuel-pestalozzi
Film noir radix111
When I was watching Monty in this one... toby-greatwood
Does anyone agree that this movie often has a very Silent film look? genplant29
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