The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

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

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:

Assassination | Morocco | American | Bus | Assassin

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
Carolyn Jones	...	Cindy Fontaine
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrick Aherne	...	Handyman (uncredited)
Frank Atkinson	...	Taxidermist (uncredited)
John Barrard	...	Taxidermist (uncredited)
Betty Bascomb	...	Edna (uncredited)
Alexis Bobrinskoy	...	Foreign Prime Minister (uncredited)
Janet Bruce	...	Box Office Woman (uncredited)
Naida Buckingham	...	Lady in Audience (uncredited)
Clifford Buckton	...	Sir Kenneth Clarke (uncredited)
Barbara Burke	...	Assassin's Companion (uncredited)
Peter Camlin	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Abdelhaq Chraibi	...	Arab (uncredited)
Pauline Farr	...	Ambassador's Wife (uncredited)
Harry Fine	...	Edington (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Alex Frazer	...	Man (uncredited)
Wolf Frees	...	Aide to Prime Minister (uncredited)
Milton Frome	...	Guard (uncredited)
Leo Gordon	...	Chauffeur (uncredited)
Walter Gotell	...	Guard (uncredited)
Bernard Herrmann	...	Conductor (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man in Morocco Marketplace (uncredited)
Gladys Holland	...	Bernard's Date at Restaurant (uncredited)
George Howe	...	Ambrose Chappell Sr (uncredited)
Harold Kasket	...	Butler (uncredited)
Barry Keegan	...	Patterson (uncredited)
Lou Krugman	...	Arab (uncredited)
Lloyd Lamble	...	General Manager of Albert Hall (uncredited)
Donald Lawton	...	Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Enid Lindsey	...	Lady Clarke (uncredited)
Mayne Lynton	...	Taxidermist (uncredited)
Janet Macfarlane	...	Lady in Audience (uncredited)
Edward Manouk	...	French Waiter (uncredited)
Richard Marner	...	Aide to Prime Minister (uncredited)
John Marshall	...	Butler (uncredited)
Lewis Martin	...	Detective (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	French Policeman (uncredited)
Ralph Neff	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Leslie Newport	...	Inspector at Albert Hall (uncredited)
John O'Malley	...	Uniformed Attendant (uncredited)
Elsa Palmer	...	Cook (uncredited)
Liddell Peddieson	...	Taxidermist (uncredited)
Arthur Ridley	...	Ticket Collector (uncredited)
Mahin S. Shahrivar	...	Arab Woman (uncredited)
Eric Snowden	...	Special Branch Officer (uncredited)
Alma Taylor	...	Box Office Woman (uncredited)
Guy Verney	...	Footman (uncredited)
Anthony Warde	...	(uncredited)
Patrick Whyte	...	Special Branch Officer (uncredited)
Peter Williams	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Richard Wordsworth	...	Ambrose Chappell Jr (uncredited)
Allen Zeidman	...	Assistant Manager (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
John Michael Hayes		(screenplay)
Charles Bennett		(story) and
D.B. Wyndham-Lewis		(story)

Produced by
Herbert Coleman	....	associate producer
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann		(music scored by)

Cinematography by
Robert Burks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Casting by
Gary Fifield		(uncredited)
Bill Greenwald		(uncredited)
Edward R. Morse		(uncredited)
Tony Regan		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Henry Bumstead
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Arthur Krams

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor
Virginia Darcy	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Dan Greenway	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Hugh Brown	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
Frank Caffey	....	production manager (uncredited)
C.O. Erickson	....	unit production manager (uncredited)
C.R. Foster-Kemp	....	unit manager: London (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Howard Joslin	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Richard Rabis	....	stand-by laborer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Paul Franz	....	sound recordist
Gene Garvin	....	sound recordist
Bill Wistrom	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Visual Effects by
Andrew Bonello	....	digital restoration developer (uncredited)
Sophia Lo	....	digital restoration: Cinesite (uncredited)
Monty Phillips	....	digital artist (digital restoration) (uncredited)
Jerry Pooler	....	digital restoration supervisor (uncredited)
Brad Reinke	....	digital restoration producer (restored version) (uncredited)
Antonio Torres	....	digital artist: digital restoration and color correction, Cinesite (restored version) (uncredited)

Stunts
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bobby Greene	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Leonard J. South	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Richard Mueller	....	color consultant: Technicolor

Music Department
Barbara Howitt	....	soloist: Covent Garden Chorus
John C. Hammell	....	music editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Abdelhaq Chraibi	....	technical advisor
Constance Willis	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Filwite Productions
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Les Films Paramount (1956) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Universal Pictures (1983) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MCA Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Greece) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• London Symphony Orchestra, The (LSO)  music played by
• The Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden  
• The Royal Albert Hall  concert hall (uncredited)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Arabic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Avenue Bab Jdid, Marrakech, Morocco

Company:

Filwite Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock]in the Moroccan marketplace in a crowd watching the elevated acrobats with his BACK to the camera, on the extreme left, immediately before the murder. Be *alert* and look QUICKLY (and if possible, have "pause" and "rewind" controls available), as this cameo is very easy to miss - even after repeated viewings - because the eye is naturally drawn to the acrobats.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the Albert Hall, as Jo's emotion wells up in her and she turns away from the orchestra, a camera shadow passes over her dress.

Quotes:

Jo McKenna: So, what do you do?
Louis Bernard: I buy and sell.
Jo McKenna: I see. And what do you buy and sell?
Louis Bernard: Whatever gives the most profit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Steele Sweet on You (#2.15)" (1984)

Soundtrack:

We'll Love Again

Perfect.

All the trademark Hitchcock elements are in place yet again, for a wonderful example of crowd-pleasing from the man who knew better than anyone just how to work an audience. James Stewart, everyone's perfect everyman returns to familiar ground, with the perfect wife (Doris Day, perfect casting), and perfect family. Into this chocolate box world is thrown some dangerous information, and a downward spiral of kidnap and murder.

As usual, there are the elaborately staged set-pieces, and the intimate psychoanalysis that you would expect. Here, the assassination sequence in the Royal Albert Hall provides the former - a beautifully choreographed blend of music and images building to the pivotal crash of cymbals, and the scenes in Morocco the latter, as our couple become obliviously embroiled in international espionage. It is hard to find fault with any of Hitchcock's contrivances (using the Oscar-winning 'Whatever Will Be' as a plot device to get Doris singing is almost too much, but forgivable), and the the whole cast are superb, giving incredibly naturalistic performances - see the scene in the Moroccan restaurant, which almost seems ad-libbed.

One of Hitchcock's best.