The Man Who Knew Too Much

Plot synopsis:
Bob and Jill Lawrence (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) are a British couple on a trip to Switzerland, travelling with their daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam). Jill is participating in a clay pigeon shooting contest. She is the best shot but she loses first place to a male sharpshooter because, at the crucial moment, she was distracted by the noise of a chiming watch which belongs to Abbott (Peter Lorre).
Bob and Jill have befriended Frenchman Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay) who is staying in their hotel. One evening, Louis is fatally shot as Jill dances with him. Before he expires, Louis tells Bob where to find a note to be delivered to the British consul. Bob reads the note, which contains vital indications about a planned international crime.
The criminals kidnap the couple's daughter Betty and threaten that she will be killed if her parents tell anyone what they know. Unable to seek help from the police, the couple return to England. They follow a series of leads and discover that the group, led by Abbott, intends to assassinate the head of state of an unidentified European country during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The group has hired the winner of the Swiss clay-pigeon contest as gunman for the assassination, who has excellent sharpshooting skills. Jill attends the concert and distracts the gunman's aim with a scream at the crucial moment.
The criminals return to their lair, which is the temple of a sun-worshipping cult in a working-class area of Wapping in London, near the docks. Bob had entered the temple as he was searching for Betty, and is being held prisoner in the adjoining house. Betty is also imprisoned there in another room. The police surround the buildings and a major gunfight ensues; the police are issued with rifles. The criminals hold out until their ammunition runs low and nearly all of them have been killed.
Betty climbs up to the roof, fleeing from the gunman who follows her. A police marksman dares not try to shoot him, as he is standing so close to Betty. Jill grabs the rifle and her sharpshooting skills finally triumph—she shoots the gunman and he falls off the roof without harming Betty.
The police storm the building. Abbott, the criminal mastermind, is still alive and hiding behind a door, but he is betrayed by the chiming of his watch, and is shot and killed by the police.
A terrified Betty is reunited with her parents.

Tags: suspenseful, mystery, murder

Review:
While Doris usually gets all the acting praise from this movie, it's probably because everyone expects James Stewart to be great in a Hitchcock film.
He's wonderful in this movie, but if you know and love him like the rest of the country, it's not really a surprise.The Man Who Knew Too Much isn't the most famous Alfred Hitchcock movie out there, but it's absolutely worth watching.
The Albert Hall sequence works well in both films, with this one having the added bonus of allowing the audience to see Bernard Herrmann, who wrote so many great scores for Hitchcock's films, conducting the orchestra.Despite having essentially the same story, the two versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" have a much different feel.
The original film was shot inside a studio.For whatever reason he chose this of all his films to remake, Hitchcock now with an international reputation and a big Hollywood studio behind him (Paramount)decided to see what The Man Who Knew Too Much would be like with a lavish budget.
It became Doris Day's theme song for the rest of her life and still is should she ever want to come back.In fact the song is worked quite nicely into the plot as Doris sings it at an embassy party at the climax.Instead of doing it with mirrors, Hitchcock shot the assassination scene at the real Albert Hall and like another reviewer said it's not directed, it's choreographed.
Some of these dragged out sequences, such as the one that sees James Stewart and Doris Day eating in a Moroccan restaurant are good because it helps establish the different culture that our American protagonists have found themselves in, but for every restaurant scene, there's an opera sequence and it's the latter that make the film worse.The plot follows a middle-aged doctor and his wife that go to Morocco for a holiday with their young son.
That film was his 1934 movie "The Man Who Knew Too Much" which starred Leslie Banks and Edna Best as vacationing parents who unwillingly become involved in an international espionage involving an assassination plot.
This time casting the always competent James Stewart and the lovely Doris Day as the vacationing parents and having a son – not daughter –being kidnapped, Hitchcock created one of his most underrated films that I think deserves to be placed alongside his lists of masterpieces.This was the third of the four movies that Hitchcock made with James Stewart and this is the one that is the least dark and the most free-spirited.
Dearborn, Michigan?In spite of several plot holes and a generally weak, if not lame, script, the excellent direction, the solid camera work, the fascinating location scenes in both Marrakech and in London, and the wonderful work by leads James Stewart and Doris Day overcome all of the obvious weaknesses.
It's certainly more polished, and pitched for maximum audience engagement, yet also a tad off the high standard the Master was setting for himself by the 1950s.Dr. McKenna (James Stewart) and his wife Jo (Doris Day) are vacationing with their boy in Marrakesh when they become witnesses both to a murder and to a secret so dangerous their boy is kidnapped to secure their silence.
Ultimately, Bernard Herrmann is seen conducting at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London at the climax of the picture.James Stewart was an actor that worked well with Mr. Hitchcock.
James Stewart gave another great performance under Hitchcock's eye (he was my favorite Hitchcock leading man), and Doris Day was charmingly determined and convincing as a confused wife  and mother, desperately searching for her son.
It does happen, once in awhile, that a remake emerges as a far better film than the original, which is true of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, which not only changes many of the plot twists but also changes the setting to a more exotic one in Morocco.The script is much more detailed and wittier than the original, giving charismatic roles to JAMES STEWART and DORIS DAY as the American husband and wife who learn about an assassination plot and then have to spend the rest of the story trying to rescue their son from the would be assassins.Not surprisingly, Day does get a chance to have her way with a song and in this case it's a good one, Que Sera, Sera, which went on to become a huge recording hit for her.
But the musical sequence that dominates the film and provides its most climactic moment is the Albert Hall sequence using "Stormcloud Cantata" (with Bernard Herrmann conducting) and the famous symbols that are about to clash, timed with the assassin's shot.Photographed on location in gorgeous Technicolor, with a good score by Herrmann and an intelligent script by John Michael Hayes, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is superior entertainment from "the master of suspense".Especially worth noting are the sinister performances by BRENDA de BANZIE and BERNARD MILES as the kidnappers and DANIEL GELIN as the man in the marketplace whose death puts the whole story into gear.Trivia note: Hitchcock himself called his early version "the work of an amateur" and got his wish to do a remake at a time when he was doing his best work..
Her character may not have been written as strongly as the original, but she's definitely not reduced to the role of a passive, "Yes, dear", pretty thing on Jimmy Stewart's arm.There were some really clever lines written for Hank (the couple's son who later gets kidnapped) in the opening scene on the bus- it's too bad Christopher Olsen read them so woodenly.
Some little touches that make this film undeniably Hitchcockian- the use of non-English dialog, especially French (something Hitch did on a much larger scale in "To Catch A Thief"); the use of foreboding, Arabic music in the hotel when the assassin appears; Stewart and Day talking to each other in the church, singing their words to the tune of the hymn; the Albert Hall scene, specifically showing the musicians and the assassin's accomplice following the score, building up tension, as well as the percussionist getting the cymbals ready; and finally the assassin's gun as it appears from behind the curtain.
Hitchcock's remake of his 1934 film concerns about the known story of McKenna marriage(James Stewart, Doris Day, in the first version Leslie Banks, Edna Best) along with their 11-years-old son travelling through Morocco during vacations.
While they are in Marrakech they also know a couple(Bernard Miles and Brenda De Banzie) and happen suddenly on the scene of a killing, the dying whispers a political message.Then the child is abducted to ensure their silence and McKenna gets help to Morocco's Inspector Buchanan(Ralph Truman).This is a superb movie about a family who stumbles on to an obscure international conspiracy and then they're forced into action is excellently played by James Stewart and Doris Day. This exciting film displays suspense, intrigue, tension, and interesting drama well written by John Michael Hayes and Charles Bennett .
In fact, I'm surprised that there wasn't an official complaint from "The Yard" to Mr Hitchcock for showing them thus in what was supposed to be a serious thriller.The story is unbelievable and, as another reviewer has already written, an insult to high calibre actors such as Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day.
American couple James Stewart and Doris Day (a convincing husband and wife) are swept up in an assassination plot while vacationing in Morocco, and are frantic when their young son is kidnapped.
Hitchcock's 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much differs little in plot outline from the original British-made film which Hitchcock also directed over two decades earlier.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1955) is Alfred Hitchcock's own remake of his 1934 thriller about a married couple (James Stewart and Doris Day) on vacation in Morocco where they got caught up in a nightmare that include murder, espionage, assassinations and the worst of all, kidnapping of their 10-years-old son.
Alfred Hitchcock directed this film, featuring Jimmy Stewart & Doris Day as Benjamin & Josephine McKenna, a married couple vacationing in Morocco with their young son Hank, who stumble upon an assassination plot after a dying Frenchman disguised as an Arab falls into his hands , having been literally stabbed in the back.
I haven´t seen the first version of this film.First of all I would like to say that the Albert Hall sequence is some of the most exciting things I have seen in cinema history.The acting is great and I love Alfred Hitchcock´s style.He mixed Suspense with comedy.This film was good but not the best Hitchcock.Still I highly recommend it and it´s very entertaining.4,5/5.
I know that this film is not considered to be one of Hitchcock's great works, but it will always hold a special place in my memory as it was the first of his movies that I ever saw.Since then I have seen some of his more acclaimed movies such as 'Psycho', 'Rear Window', 'North By Northwest' and 'Notorious'.
Alfred Hitchcock may have made better films than this (Psycho and Vertigo come to mind), but in terms of pure, solid filmmaking, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" will keep you entertained from beginning to end.For a basic plot summary, the film focuses on the McKenna family, who (while on a vacation to Morocco) find themselves caught up in a case of political espionage that threatens to tear the family apart.Basically, every portion of this film is solid:-Plot: Will keep you on the edge of your seat as the McKenna's race against time to put together the pieces and come out ahead.-Acting: The combination of Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day pretty much assure a strong "acting" grade, and that is exactly what this movie deserves.
They both play great roles that help draw you into the overall context.-Music: Bernard Hermann conducts the soundtrack, so excellence is pretty much guaranteed.-Direction: Hitch includes enough suspenseful interludes and unique camera angles to keep you involved even at the points when the plot bogs down a bit.Overall, this is a solid Hitchcock film that, while perhaps not one of his very best, is easily up near the top of his filmography..
I'd probably put this movie, a big-budget remake of his British- made original back in 1934, in that category (along with "Dial M For Murder" and "To Catch A Thief") but watching it again, I was still greatly entertained by it.It helps to have star power to sell the film and whilst Stewart and Day don't at first seem the most natural married couple you'll ever see on screen, their chemistry picks up as their predicament progresses.
The screenplay even manages to introduce Day's later big hit song "Que Sera Sera" not only to give her a sing but, cleverly, as a valuable plot device.Stewart and Day, the latter dressed by Edith Head in classic mystery-blonde grey, are fine in the leads and of the supporting cast I particularly liked the weasel-faced actor who played the would-be assassin.
A remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name, The Man Who Knew Too Much tells the story of a family which, while vacationing in Morocco, gets unexpectedly entangled in an assassination plot and is pursued by the conspirators who are hellbent on preventing them from causing any sort of interference with their plans.Having watched a number of Hitchcock's films in the past few days, I was expecting another mood-escalating thriller from the genius filmmaker who never fails to amaze but this time the experience wasn't as satisfying as it has been on most occasions previously.
The film no doubt delivers on most goods but unfortunately feels slightly overlong & extended in the end.Featuring a clever plot, impressive direction, rich cinematography, mesmerising music and striking performances from James Stewart & Doris Day, The Man Who Knew Too Much has its moments, including one where it could've culminated magnificently well before the actual conclusion.
The original Man Who Knew Too Much from 1934 was a very good film, though not classic Hitchcock, gritty and suspenseful with a creepy Peter Lorre.
James Stewart is superb as he was in all of his Hitchcock outings(Vertigo is the best of his Hitchcock films and performances though) and Doris Day is affecting in a rare dramatic role.
That twist that it does, when the McKenna's think they can trust the Drayton's and not Louis Bernard, and in the end, this last one is the one they were wrong about and the Drayton's are bad, was quite interesting.James Stewart, was again fantastic, as well as the lovely Doris Day for her acting and also, singing talents.This is not Hitchcock's best, but surely for me, one of his best.
Over the years I have enjoyed viewing this great Alfred Hitchcock picture which has a great story about Dr. Ben McKenna, (James Stewart) and his wife Jo McKenna, (Doris Day) who decided to visit Morocco for a brief vacation of three days and it becomes a complete nightmare.
I have enjoyed viewing this picture many times over the years and it is truly a great film with Doris Day and James Stewart..
Compared to Hitchcock's other works 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' (both of the actually) are rather overlooked or even forgotten.James Stewart and Doris Day star as a wedded couple who are on vacation in Morocco with their son.
A remake of Hitchcock's 30s version, it features Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day as a husband and wife travelling overseas with their young son who unwittingly become embroiled in an international assassination plot which results in the kidnapping of their son.The story is OK, with typical Hitchcockian twists and an air of mystery that Stewart perhaps seems a little to adept at working out.
Hitchcock proves he is the master of the thriller in this tale of kidnap, espionage and intrigue.The characters were brilliantly played - particularly by Stewart again - if a little dark much of the time.Much as Doris Day was beautiful, I didn't half find her dead annoying though..
Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart) and Jo McKenna (Doris Day) travel to Morocco for a holiday where they meet a mysterious man named Louis Bernard (Daniel Gélin) on a bus.The next day this man is murdered, but before he dies he tells Ben a secret; an assassination will take place in London.The crooks kidnap the couple's son Hank (Christopher Olsen) making sure Ben won't reveal their plan to anybody.Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) is a very intense thriller.The acting is superb as it always is in Hitchcok's films.James Stewart is marvelous.Doris Day is a delightful person and actress and she gets to show her singing talents as well.The song Que Sera, Sera has an important part in the movie.This movie is a movie of many classic scenes.In the final scenes at the Albert Hall, done without dialogue, you can barely blink your eyes.This movie is fifty years old now.Time hasn't decreased its power in any way..
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" does a good job with its drama, but somehow it lacked a draw in human warmth that it should have had, or at least interesting characters.I did not sense a real attraction between James Stewart and Doris Day, and their son seemed more annoying than he ought to have been.
As in the original the assassination attempt is scheduled to take place during a concert at the Albert Hall (in keeping with Hitchcock's fondness for setting key scenes in or on landmark buildings or structures), and the work being played is again Arthur Benjamin's "Storm Clouds Cantata", specially composed for the 1934 film.
This Review is about Alfred Hitchcock's "The man who knew too much", starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. To begin with I'm a fan of Mr. Hitchcock, I have seen a great number of his films.
All I can say is that I really liked this one.The story is very basic: A well to do American couple (played by the inevitable James Stewart the lovely Doris Day) is vacationing in Morocco, where their son is kidnapped and taken to London.
James Stewart has also a great performance like all other Hitchcock's films that he made.
Day & Stewart are the American couple vacationing in Morocco, where they stumble upon an assassination plot against a British ambassador, which in turn leads to the kidnapping of their son.
Definitely to add to that list now is "The Man Who Knew Too Much," a quintessential film by this brilliant director.James Stewart and Doris Day play Dr. Ben and Jo McKenna, respectively, vacationing in Morocco with their young son, Hank, played by Christopher Olson.
James Stewart and Doris Day (both great performers) play two characters whom you don't feel you can relate to at all.
In this Hitchcock suspense/thriller, an unsuspecting American family (Jimmy Stewart, Doris Day and their young son) get caught up in political intrigue while vacationing in Morroco after they befriend a mysterious Frenchman.
James Stewart and Doris Day are a family on vacation in Morocco where they encounter a mysterious Frenchman in a bus, an English couple in their hotel, a stabbing in the Square in Marrakesh and their son being kidnapped.They find themselves in an assassination plot as events shift to London and ultimately to a finale at the Albert Hall and then an embassy of an unnamed country.This colour version of a film is a remake of Hitchcock's earlier work and was shot on location in Morocco and London but the constant filmed backdrops is off putting.
In a remake of Hitchock's 1934 movie of the same title, Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart)  the man who knows too much - and his wife Jo McKenna (Doris Day) are holidaying in Morocco with their son Hank (Christopher Oslen) when there is a case of mistaken identity and caught up in the web of an assassination plot.