The Case of the Dog Who . . .

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2014)

. . . Knew Too Much. Director Alfred Hitchcock was well-known for having a wide heartless streak toward many of his characters, though his actual treatment of cast and crew will remain open to debate forever. While it's easy to tolerate a certain level of Expendability for "the master of suspense's" many murder-centric plots, I find it a little harder to take when children and animals are involved. Though two years after REAR WINDOW's debut, young Hank McKenna is threatened through almost the entire story of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, is a hair on his head REALLY harmed? On the other hand, to turn the future Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) into a vicious dog killer goes beyond my pale, meriting at least a one point rating deduction for REAR WINDOW. It's bad enough when a guy named Lars offs his spouse; but C'Mon, Fido, too? We're entering Wicked Witch of the West territory here. Hitchcock gave James Stewart--who otherwise lived A WONDERFUL LIFE--three of his most loathsome roles (NOT counting his outing as little Hank's daddy), and there's a coldness to "Jeff's" opportunistic voyeurism in REAR WINDOW that suggests it's only a matter of time before this character slides a lot further into the wrong side of the law!