The Wrong Man (1956) - Analysis of Props Used

The Wrong Man (1956)

The 1956 movie The Wrong Man directed by Alfred Hitchcock, circles around the true story of musician Manny Balestrero (played by Henry Fonda) who is a normal typical husband of Rose (played by Vera Miles) who was wrongly accused of multiple armed robberies in a case of mistaken identity that later on drove his beloved wife into inanity. In this 1956 film, paranoia is a distinctive characteristic that is constantly leaving its characters in anxiety and frustration. Creating the theme of paranoia was much moved along and aided in this film by the use of props.

Props in film is one of the basic design aspects needed to create any movie, film, or show. According to Maggie McFee, “Types of props can be broken down into five categories which are Set Dressing, Set Prop, Hand Prop, Personal Item Prop, and Gags or Special Effects Props” (McFee 2015). There are defiantly other sub-types and variations, but this covers the main types. Set dressing is props that are planned to dress a set in backing of the story and atmosphere. Anything that sells the set. A dressing prop that actually functions such as a light that turns on or a fireplace that lights is called ‘practical’. Some set dressing that goes past the standard is called ‘specials’. A set prop is a special prop that is part of a set like dressing, but actually has one or more practical uses or effects. It is not just for only looks. It does not really do anything, so it is not a practical prop, but is used for business’ ('business' is characters doing something like rummaging through stuff or flipping switches). Hand props might or might not be a part of the character's costume and wardrobe and they can be featured various amounts of times throughout the show. Some props come have duplicates depending on their use and whether or not they get destroyed. A personal item prop, those are made specific for a certain character. Unlike a generic hand prop, they are often managed much differently and more carefully. Lastly, gags (a gag meaning roughly 'something that does something') or special effects props are exactly what it sounds like. Special effects can often (but not always) be a prop.

When it comes to props, it must be the perfect seat for that character. Generally, the props represent character's identity and the prop will give the audience subconscious hints as to how to feel about the situation or character. In The Wrong Man, the props that stood out to me as being the number one prop used to create the feeling of paranoia in the film is the 16 lamps spread throughout the film. The very first lamp to appear was in the living room of the Balestrero as Many and Rose’s two children were arguing about playing their instruments. This lamp that was sitting on top of a desk across from the piano and it was made out of a fishbowl (ironic considering that scene was centered around the children). From there, every single lamp to appear always appeared during emotional or situational conflicts. The biggest example of how these lamps created paranoia is when Rose was in the therapist’s office and there was this perfect close-up image of her staring into this lamp as Rose says to the doctor: "When my husband was arrested, I knew I'd let them down.... The police wanted to punish me because I'd failed him and let them down and did everything all wrong.... They knew he wasn't guilty. They knew I was guilty. They were after me. They were after me and they'll get me." and the camera zooms into her face staring into this lamp. As Jacqueline Rose writes in the article Paranoia and the Film System, “Paranoia is latent to the reversibility of the ego's self-alienation. Furthermore, since the projective alienation of the subject's own image is the precondition for the identification of an object world, all systems of objectification can be related to the structure of paranoia (Rose 1974)”. This lamp that is half-light and half dark that perfectly illustrates the theme of paranoia by giving us a visual of her feelings and how Rose feels “self-alienated”. And then a second later Dr. Bannay tells Manny "her mind is an eclipse... as if on the dark side of the moon” while surrounded by two boring looking lamps. From there, there is a super bright lamp as Rose is being lead up the stairs to the mental institution and then there is zero lamps that appear from that moment all the way until Rose is seen once again at the end of the movie (which by no coincidence is when the lamps start appearing again).

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock creates notoriously paranoia films that hold an aspect of puzzles to solve. For his film The Wrong Man he offered a series of subconscious 'clues' toward the meaning of the movie such as the lamps (there are many examples though such as when at the beginning of the movie the camera angles to see Manny through the bars of the insurance company foreshadowing his arrest and his time behind actual bars). In this example the lamps might be there as a moral story for something else, much similar to how painters would conceal pieces of information to the importance of their art such as items or hidden numbers or initials such as Thomas Kinkade. Even though there was no property (prop) director in this film, I am sure the amount of communication between film director Alfred Hitchcock, art director Paul Sylbert, and set decorator William L. Kuehl was hugely beneficial in creating the significance of the props in this movie and the feeling paranoia it aided.

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Source Cited: McFee, Maggie. "What Are the Different Types of Props in Film?" N.p., 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 07

Mar. 2017.

McGrail, Lauren. "Using Your Character’s Surroundings: The Importance of Props and Foreshadowing." Using Your Character’s Surroundings: The Importance of Props and

Foreshadowing. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017. Rose, J. "Paranoia and the Film System." Screen 17.4 (1976): 85-104. Print.

The Wrong Man. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. 1956.

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