#PickoftheWeek | Famous False Accusation Is Focus of Film, Book + Chat
BY QEDC It's In Queens
It’s a sweet event based on a bitter story with a bittersweet ending.
On Jan. 14, 1953, Jackson Heights resident Manny Balestrero, 43, was arrested, arraigned, and imprisoned after employees accused him of stealing $271 from the local insurance company office where they worked.
After a mistrial, Balestrero was awaiting a second trial when the real perpetrator, Charles James Daniell, was nabbed in a Florida robbery. Daniell, who had an uncanny resemblance to Balestrero, admitted to committing several dozen crimes around the United States.
Balestrero, a professional musician at Manhattan’s Stork Club, was exonerated, but the damage was done. As a devout Catholic, he struggled with guilt and anger, while his wife, Rose, had a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized despite having two young sons.
This tale is depicted in Alfred Hitchcock’s only fact-based film, The Wrong Man (1956), starring Henry Fonda as Balestrero and Vera Miles and Rose. The story and the story behind the movie are depicted in Jason P. Isralowitz’s brand new, 250-page, Fayetteville Mafia Press book Nothing to Fear: Alfred Hitchcock and the Wrong Men.
Isralowitz will discuss his work and the entire Wrong Man Phenomenon at the Queens Historical Society on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2:30 pm. He will also sell and sign copies of his book whose title is a play on the proverb “An innocent man has nothing to fear.”
Drawing from archival records, Isralowitz’s account provides insight into the errant prosecution, the negative effects of false accusations, and a brief history of mistaken-identity cases while also examining the art behind the ways that Hitchcock and the actors recount the story.
Isralowitz is a Queens native who works as an attorney at Hogan Lovells in Manhattan. He has a specialty in motor vehicle franchise law.
The Queens Historical Society is located at Kingsland Homestead at 143-35 37th Ave. in Flushing.
Editor’s note: The intersection of 73rd Street and 41st Avenue was co-named “Manny ‘The Wrong Man’ Balestrero Way” in 2014. The Balestrero family lived there before moving to Florida after the ordeal.