The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Michael Hayes (screenplay)
Charles Bennett (story) ...

Release Date:

1 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A little knowledge can be a deadly thing!

Plot:

A family vacationing in Morocco accidentally stumble on to an assassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering.

Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | American | Government Agent | Assassination | Marriage

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

James Stewart	...	Dr. Benjamin 'Ben' McKenna
Doris Day	...	Josephine Conway 'Jo' McKenna
Brenda De Banzie	...	Lucy Drayton (as Brenda de Banzie)
Bernard Miles	...	Edward Drayton
Ralph Truman	...	Inspector Buchanan
Daniel Gélin	...	Louis Bernard (as Daniel Gelin)
Mogens Wieth	...	Ambassador
Alan Mowbray	...	Val Parnell
Hillary Brooke	...	Jan Peterson
Christopher Olsen	...	Henry 'Hank' McKenna
Reggie Nalder	...	Rien
Richard Wattis	...	Assistant Manager
Noel Willman	...	Woburn
Alix Talton	...	Helen Parnell
Yves Brainville	...	Police Inspector

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Arabic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (nf) | Brazil:Livre | Spain:T | UK:PG | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #17717) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Norway:16 | USA:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Avenue Bab Jdid, Marrakech, Morocco

Company:

Filwite Productions

Trivia:

The film was unavailable for decades because its rights (together with four other pictures of the same period) were bought back by Alfred Hitchcock and left as part of his legacy to his daughter. They've been known for long as the infamous "Five lost Hitchcocks" amongst film buffs, and were re-released in theatres around 1984 after a 30-year absence. The others are Rear Window (1954), Rope (1948), The Trouble with Harry (1955), and Vertigo (1958).

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During the interrogation after the Albert Hall assassination attempt, the telephone used is an obvious Western Electric American-made phone instead of a British-manufactured telephone - betraying the fact that the interiors for this picture were shot in Hollywood.

Quotes:

[to Louis Bernard]
Hank McKenna: If you ever get hungry, our garden back home is full of snails. We tried everything to get rid of them. We never thought of a Frenchman!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Topaz': An Appreciation by Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Storm Cloud Cantata

Despite the slow pace at the start this is tighter and better than the original

Whilst on holiday in Morocco the McKenna family meet the mysterious Louis Bernard. Later the next day the same man stumbles into the marketplace, stabbed and dying. With his last words Bernard whispers the details of a conspiracy to assassinate a statesman in London. To keep McKenna quiet the criminals kidnap his son. The McKenna's go to London to try and track down their son with the one clue they have – Ambrose Chappell.

If you are looking for someone to remake a Hitchcock film then probably Hitchcock himself is your best bet. Here he takes his black and white British film and updates it to the 50's. Much of the plot stays the same but it's a little padded out. This is particularly evident in the first half where it does go a bit too slow for my liking and feels like a travelogue film for some parts! The majority though moves along nicely and is more dramatic than the 1934 version. Where that was a little still and very British, this has a lot more emotion and is pretty tense at times.

Stewart does very well in the lead and is convincing as the man becoming increasingly desperate as he hunts for his son. Day is OK but is a little annoying. I'm not a big fan of her so that may have something to do with it, but her singing was stretched and caused the film to drag and I only felt for her character in the Albert Hall scene where she showed her conflicting emotions very well. The villains are less than the original – but who could compete with Peter Lorre?

Overall this colourful version starts slowly and feels padded with African footage. However once the drama actually starts it works very well and is actually tighter and better than the 1934 film of the same name. Like I said, if you want someone to make a good remake of a Hitchcock film then surely the man himself must be your first stop.