The Wrong Man or Wrong Woman
Mistaken identity is a common plot device in his films.
North By Northwest - Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Kaplan, a non-existent CIA agent.
The Wrong Man - Henry Fonda is mistaken for a criminal.
Vertigo - The film revolves around Scottie Ferguson's investigation of the false Madeleine Elster's real identity.
The 39 Steps - Richard Hannay, the main character, is unjustly accused of murdering a woman, a spy by the name of Annabella, AKA Ms Smith.
Frenzy - The protagonist is thought to be the notorious Necktie Killer due the circumstances he finds himself in.
Saboteur - Barry Cane is framed by a saboteur named Frank Fry for an aircraft fire.
Secret Agent - The two main protagonists kill the wrong man, believing he is the German spy they are looking for.
Shadow of a Doubt - Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) is the real killer of the Merry Widow murders, but the police accuse a dead man from a different state. Only he and his niece (Teresa Wright) know the real murderer.
Read more about this topic: Themes And Plot Devices In The Films Of Alfred Hitchcock
Famous quotes containing the words wrong, man and/or woman:
“If you could choose your parents,... we would rather have a mother who felt a sense of guilt—at any rate who felt responsible, and felt that if things went wrong it was probably her fault—we’d rather have that than a mother who immediately turned to an outside thing to explain everything, and said it was due to the thunderstorm last night or some quite outside phenomenon and didn’t take responsibility for anything.”
—D.W. Winnicott (20th century)
“That’s what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure o’ one fool as ‘ull tell him he’s wise.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Truth should not be forced; it should simply manifest itself, like a woman who has in her privacy reflected and coolly decided to bestow herself upon a certain man.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)