Just perfect...

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

First, I feel the need to verbalize that the flashback sequence in this film that illustrates Anne Baxter's testimony is incredibly haunting and one of the most memorable little bits of cinema, in my biased eyes. At first sight, I was in love.In fact, much of the film has the same understated and tragic tone. It is not an outwardly suspenseful film, as many have noted. It relies on expressive lighting (that seems to borrow from European films of the time), solid performances by Baxter and Malden, and a romantic, emotional core. Clift as the center of the film can be a bit underwhelming at times, but his work is believable and never distracting.Just because this film deviates from what is stereo-typically Hitchcock does not mean it should continue to be overlooked. It was a bit of a flop at the time of its release, and had plenty of strife connected to both the director and lead, but to me, that hardly shows. Its an unusual, visceral gem of a film that deserves a second look.

I was glued to my seat finally getting to watch "I Confess" from start to finish yesterday on TCM. It's one of the most intricately and densely intertwined portrayal of human morality and tragedy I've ever seen in a movie. AND FROM HITCHCOCK?! Huh?! So he does have a soul and a comforting philosophical view on humanity.The somewhat soap opera style plot is so cerebrally involving and cleverly unfolding in a kind of spiral fashion in the form of a who done it murder investigation. You really do have to follow carefully and listen intently to the dialog because it seems to stray to explain a confession about a past relationship in a maudlin fashion but comes to slap you in the face as it unintentionally makes the wrongly accused appear even more guilty. You will realize in this movie the importance of the Miranda warning (that didn't exist in the '50's) before police interrogation. But strangely in this movie the more the innocent keep quiet the more guilty they appear.And on another philosophical layer the plot shows the results of relying on the frailty of human prejudices against extra marital affairs, religious morality and blackmail as it is steadfastly and stone faced managed by one priest who can keep his mouth shut by becoming the sacrificial lamb in order to honor his convictions of the confession from a poor immigrant who's entire personality crumbles from the guilt like a demon that calls out as it all plays out as a twist at the end that would make even Shakespeare weep. I mean you really don't know in the movie from where the release is coming till the very end. The dialog of the antagonist at the end is gut-wrenchingly sad. This movie also made me realize the power of being invested emotionally from watching a movie from start to finish because in the past I always caught the ending's climactic scene of "I Confess" as some typical '50's B-movie espionage spy flick and didn't give it much thought to watch it the next time I happened to catch at the start. This time I teared up at the very same ending scene.Unbelievable! And from a Hitchcock flick! This IS his best!

In Quebec City, Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift) finds a guilt-ridden Otto Keller in his church. Otto confesses that he killed Villette at whom he works as a gardener. He was trying to steal money to start a new life with his wife Alma. Witnesses tell Inspector Larrue (Karl Malden) that a priest was seen at Villette's at the time based on the outfit. Logan is brought in but he refuses to cooperate. Larrue suspects Logan. Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter) overhears it and warns Logan. He was her great love back before the war and still is. Villette had seen the lovers stranded on an island and recently tried to blackmail Ruth. Villette needed Ruth's husband who is a leading political figure to get him out of tax problems. A case starts to be formed but the confessional keeps Logan from pointing a finger at the real killer.This is a slightly different Hitchcock movie. It's not a whodunnit. The movie shows you the killer right away. I do wish that Montgomery Clift could or be allowed to emote more. He is quietly suffering throughout. He gets to put his face in his hands to show even greater suffering. The Quebec City locations provide some good backdrop. It doesn't draw the same tension but it's still well made Hitchcock.

Most likely somebody has told you a secret on the condition that you promise to tell no-one. I think it is quite common that people have a hard time keeping such promises. But what if keeping the secret puts you in a difficult spot? That is the premise of this movie. Not only is Father Logan required to keep a secret in respect for the privacy of the confessional, but the secret he has to keep is one that would clear him of a murder charge. That kind of pushes the keeping a secret business to the limit.I think any Montgomery Clift performance is worth seeing, and this one is no exception. Clift is able to say a lot with facial expressions and Hitchcock gives him an opportunity to use that talent with many extreme close-ups. Clift's Logan can display a combative side at some points while evincing a disciplined, spiritual, rectitude at others.If you go into this expecting a Hitchcockian high-wire thriller, then you will most likely be disappointed. The script is more introspective than action packed.I don't associate Hitchcock with film noir, but I think that "I Confess" is a good example of that genre. The use of high contrast black and white lends a dark overtone to the proceedings, particularly in the use of shadows and dark cityscapes. I was impressed with the photography, perhaps the most artistic of any Hitchcock I have seen. The print on the DVD I watched was pristine, amazingly so for a movie that is over sixty years old.The original score by Dimitri Tiomkin is bombastic and intrusive--a big negative.It is interesting to compare this with the 2011 "The Confession" that has a similar initial premise but plays out in a much different way.