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Customer Reviews of The Man Who Knew Too Much

My Favoirte Hitchcock Film
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is another of those classic Hitchcock thrillers. It has all the ingredients: a suspenseful plot, first-class acting, dramatic scenes, even great locations and an award-winning song. With all this going for it, though, it just doesn't have quite the impact (in my opinion, anyway) of films like "Psycho", Rear Window", "Vertigo" or "North By Northwest". Perhaps, as somebody else has pointed out, it's because of the "weepy" character portrayed by Doris Day. Sometimes you want to just give her a good shake and tell her to pull herself together. But, who's to say how weepy a woman should be whose child has been kidnapped by terrorists. Perhaps it's because the assasins seem, when all is said and done, a little less ruthless than they ought to be.

Still, this is an excellent movie. The scene in the Royal Albert Hall, leading up to the assasination attempt, is justifiably famous and a great example of Hitchcock's ability to draw out a key scene for maximum dramatic impact. He had truly mastered his craft by this point in his career. While I don't consider this film quite the equal of Hitchcock's greatest movies (for example, the four listed above), it is still nmuch better than the average flick. Maybe just a hair short of a full five stars. Say, five minus, but not enough to drop it down to four plus.

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HEART RENDERING HIRCHCOCK
1956'S THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is Hitchcock's effective remake of his own 1934 version. An American couple (James Stewart and Doris Day) visiting Morocco have their young son kidnapped as part of an international murder plot which they can not help but be drawn into. Doris Day's performance is brilliant as the mother whose son has been taken from her. Her initial reaction to the news is almost unbearable to watch. This film is very suspenseful and disturbing, as the odds against the family regaining their boy seem insurmountable as the film progresses. This is reinforced by Bernard Herrmann's almost minimal score, which adds an undercurrent of discomfort to the psyche of the viewer. There are some very memorable scenes such as when James Stewart is followed by echoing footsteps in the empty London streets on his way to finding Ambrose Chappell. The suspenseful Albert Hall assassination scenes are brilliantly filmed and edited. The face of Reggie Nalder as Rien the Assassin is unforgettable. Brenda de Banzie turns in a complex performance as Mrs. Drayton. Bernard Miles as Mr. Drayton also gives an effective performance through the various identities he goes through. And that is one of the strengths of this film: people and places are not exactly as they seem. Characters constantly evolve. Some grow in strength while others are mere shadows of virtue.

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Que Sera Sera

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Format: Color
Studio: Universal Studios
Video Release Date: August 3, 1999

Cast:

James Stewart ... Dr. Ben McKenna
Doris Day ... Jo McKenna
Brenda De Banzie ... Lucy Drayton
Bernard Miles ... Edward Drayton
Ralph Truman ... Buchanan
Daniel Gélin ... Louis Bernard
Mogens Wieth ... Ambassador
Alan Mowbray ... Val Parnell
Hillary Brooke ... Jan Peterson
Christopher Olsen ... Hank McKenna
Reggie Nalder ... The assassin
Richard Wattis ... Assistant manager
Noel Willman ... Woburn
Alix Talton ... Helen Parnell
Yves Brainville ... Police inspector
Carolyn Jones ... Cindy Fontaine
Harry Fine ... Edington
Alex Frazer ... Man
Wolf Frees ... Aide to the foreign Prime Minister
Milton Frome ... Guard
Leo Gordon ... Chauffer
Walter Gotell ... Guard
Frank Atkinson ... Taxidermist
Bernard Herrmann ... Himself (conductor)
Alfred Hitchcock ... Man in Morocco marketplace
George Howe ... Ambrose Chappell Sr

Harold Kasket ... Butler
Barry Keegan ... Patterson
Lou Krugman ... Arab
Lloyd Lamble ... General manager of Albert Hall
Donald Lawton ... Desk clerk
Mayne Lynton ... Taxidermist
John Barrard ... Taxidermist
Edward Manouk ... French waiter
Richard Marner ... Aide to the foreign Prime Minister
John Marshall ... Butler
Lewis Martin ... Detective
Louis Mercier ... French policeman
Ralph Neff ... Henchman
Leslie Newport ... Inspector at Albert Hall
John O'Malley ... Uniformed attendant
Liddell Peddieson ... Taxidermist
Arthur Ridley ... Ticket collector
Patrick Aherne ... Handyman
Eric Snowden ... Special Branch officer
Alexi Bobrinskoy ... Foreign Prime Minister
Guy Verney ... Footman
Anthony Warde ... French policewoman
Patrick Whyte ... Special Branch officer
Peter Williams ... Police sergeant
Richard Wordsworth ... Ambrose Chappell Jr
Allen Zeidman ... Assistant manager
Clifford Buckton ... Sir Kenneth Clarke
Peter Camlin ... Headwaiter
Abdelhaq Chraibi ... Arab
Gladys Holland ... Bernard's girlfriend
Barbara Howitt ... Soloist in Albert Hall sequence
Enid Lindsey ... Lady Clarke
Janet Macfarlane ... Lady in audience
Betty Bascomb ... Edna
Elsa Palmer ... Cook
Mahin S. Shahrivar ... Arab woman
Alma Taylor ... Box office woman
Janet Bruce ... Box office woman
Naida Buckingham ... Lady in audience
Barbara Burke ... Assassin's girlfriend
Pauline Farr ... Ambassador's wife
Bess Flowers ... Woman in Hotel Lobby

On vacation in Marrakech, Morocco, Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart), his wife Jo (Doris Day) and their son Hank (Chrisopher Olson), meet a secret agent, Louis Bernard (Daniel Gélin) who is killed because he is in possession of a secret: a statesman is about to be assassinated in London. Before he dies, he confides in McKenna some of the details. To keep the doctor quiet, the
bad guys grab his son, Hank, and threaten his life.

This is the story as it unfolds. Hitchcock does his usual fine job of keeping up the tension, and of course Stewart and Day do their usual excellent job of acting. This is a superb thriller, and endlessly entertaining.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books