Lent Reviews Week 5: I Confess (1953)

     I Confess was released on February 12th, 1953. Based on the 1902 French play Nos deux consciences (Our Two Consciences) by Paul Anthelme it is directed by Alfred Hitchcock, who saw  the play in the 1930s, and adapted for the screen by George Tabori and William Archibald. In it Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift) hears the confession of the parish caretaker, Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse), who confesses to the murder of a man he works for part time. By a cruel twist of fate, or perhaps providence, Logan is implicated for this crime and cannot clear himself without breaking the seal of confession.

     But Father Logan's dilemma is much more complex then this. Vilette, the man who was murdered, is blackmailing Ruth Grandfort, the wife of a member of the Quebec legislature, who knew Logan before he was ordained. Logan was courting Ruth when he went off to war. When his letters stopped coming she became lonely, and began seeing Pierre Grandfort, who she eventually married. When Logan returned from the war they spent a night together after being caught in the rain on a picnic (Logan claims that they did not sleep together, in any case, he did not know at the time that she had been married). Vilette saw them together and, many years later, tried to blackmail Mme. Grandfort. Father Logan was going to meet with Vilette to reason with him the morning after the murder, leading the police to suspect him. So, in addition to his reluctance to break the seal of confession, Father Logan is reluctant to reveal his relationship with Ruth and bring her scandal.

     Logan is a faithful priest. When Ruth tells Logan that she still loves him, and does not love her husband, he tells her, "I chose to be what I am. I believe in what I am."He does not let his former feelings for Ruth interfere with his vocation. His only thought is to protect her and her husband from scandal. Nor does he consider telling the police about Otto. Under no circumstances will he break the seal of confession. Otto himself is skeptical of Logan's fidelity in this matter. He tells him, "How kindly he hears my confession and then a little shame, a little violence that's all it takes to make him talk." "You are a coward like all other people, aren't you?A hypocrite like all the rest." Otto's words may well echo the thoughts of many in the audience. Hitchcock, who was lifelong Catholic was worried that non-Catholics in the audience might not understand the importance of the seal of confession. "We Catholics know that a priest cannot disclose the secret of the confessional, but the Protestants, the atheists, and the agnostics all say, 'Ridiculous! No man would remain silent and sacrifice his life for such a thing," he said.

     Though, in the end, Logan is acquitted of the murder for lack of sufficient evidence, his reputation as a priest is destroyed by the trial. As he leaves the courthouse he is harangued by an angry mob. "Take off that collar!", one man yells angrily. Wracked by guilt, Mrs. Keller decides to tell the police what really happened but Otto shoots her to prevent this. He is then pursued by the police and Logan, hoping to avoid further violence, tries to talk him down. Believing that the priest has finally cracked and told the police about his confession, Otto admits to the crime in their hearing. In his last moments he asks for Logan's forgiveness, and, despite all the damage he's done, the Priest forgives him, granting him absolution.

     The script really brings home how sacred the seal of confession is. In one scene Otto tries to talk to Fr. Logan about the confession but Logan tries to ignore him. "I don't know what your talking about", he says. The original play was much darker, with Logan and Ruth having a affair which lead to her having a child out-of-wedlock, and the priest was executed at the end of the story. The affair was removed for fear of a negative reaction at the insistence of the Warner Brothers executives and the execution was changed at the objections of the diocese of Quebec, where the film was shot. Because of this, a second writer, William Archibald, was brought on for re-writes. This may account for the films one major weakness: the lengthy bit of exposition that brings the momentum of the story to a dead stop half way through.

     Montgomery Clift's method acting is quite effective. He really sells the inner turmoil of the character. Hitchcock, however, became frustrated with the actor, as his method got in the way of the director's meticulous planning of scenes. Anne Baxter is also great as the desperate Ruth Grandfort, conveying the character's unhappiness with her marriage and her unfulfilled love for Logan. Like Dial M for Murder's Chief Inspector Hubbard, Karl Malden's Inspector Larrue is one of Hitchcock's great detective characters, someone who, one feels while watching the film, could perhaps carry his own series of detective stories. O.E. Hasse breaths a real desperation and sense of danger into Otto Keller while Dolly Haas provides a staunch, sympathetic contrast as his wife, Alma. Hitchcock's direction is fantastic. The way he builds suspense, even without the implicit violent dangers that usually characterize his pictures, is truly stunning. Simple scenes of Logan staring at a movie poster where a man is arrested, or looking into a shop window at a suit of clothes, are imbued with a real sense of urgency and agony under Hitchcock's assured hand. Robert Burks' cinematography, filled with harsh shadows and contrasting imagery and featuring striking images of religious significance, lends the film an atmosphere of guilt, torment and dread. Dimitri Tiomkin's dramatic score, with it's reliance on heavy percussion and brass, emphasizes this effect.

     I Confess is one of Hitchcock's most underappreciated films and a great example of Catholic values being portrayed in secular cinema. Highly recommended!

Score: 9/10