4pm, Regal 4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Paul Anthelme (playwright), George Tabori, William Archibald
Cinematographer: Robert Burks
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, Anne Baxter
Running Time: 95 min

One of Alfred Hitchcock’s lesser-known gems, I Confess casts the director’s keen eye on themes of guilt, secrecy, vows, and, of course, murder. Otto Kellar and his wife Alma work as caretaker and housekeeper at a Catholic church in Quebec, Canada. While robbing a house where he gardens, Otto is surprised by the owner and inadvertently murders him. Remorseful, he confesses to Father Michael William Logan (Montgomery Clift) at the church. But Father Logan has secrets of his own which tie him to the murder. Sworn to secrecy by the sanctity of confession, Father Logan finds himself a suspect.

Based on the play by Paul Anthelme, the whole dilemma turns on the protagonist’s principles. Father Michael could easily clear his name and finger the real culprit, but the murderer’s identity is protected by the sacramental seal forbidding priests under any circumstances whatsoever, even at the cost of their lives, from revealing the contents of a confession.

What makes the movie deliciously Hitchcockian is that, aside from the moral dilemma the priest wrestles with concerning his vows, the culprit sets out to frame Father Logan for the crime. There is an additional subplot concerning Ruth Grandfort, (Anne Baxter) a now-married woman with whom Father Logan was involved before he became a priest. Questions arise as to whether or not they are still intimate, which adds to the general suspicion that the clergyman is indeed the murderer.

Karl Malden, (who himself played a priest the following year in the classic On the Waterfront) is excellent as Inspector Larrue, a police officer investigating the murder. The renowned German actress Dolly Hass plays a small but pivotal role (her last as a film actress) as the killer’s wife. Hitchcock and cinematographer Robert Burks make excellent use of the Quebec setting. The film looks uncharacteristically noirish for a Hitchcock film, which adds to its tense, dark mood.

At a time when a shadow of suspicion has fallen on many priests, this film’s themes, and its humanizing depiction of a clergyman who is both virtuous and also more complicated than a mere stereotype of piety, are especially resonant.

Discussant: Andrew Quicke