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:

Assassination | Morocco | American | Murder | Bus

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

Also Known As:

L'homme qui en savait trop (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Der Mann, der zuviel wußte (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
El hombre que sabía demasiado (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Mannen som visste för mycket (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
O Homem Que Sabia Demais (Brazil) (Portugal) (original subtitled version) [pt]
Covjek koji je previse znao (Croatia) (DVD title) [hr]
Czlowiek, który wiedzial za duzo (Poland) [pl]
De man die te veel wist (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
En manos del destino (Argentina) (alternative title) [es]
Ha-Ish sh'Yada Yoter Me'dye (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
L'uomo che sapeva troppo (Italy) [it]
Manden der vidste for meget (Denmark) [da]
Mannen som visste for meget (Norway) [no]
Mannen utanför lagen (Sweden) [sv]
Mies joka tiesi liikaa (Finland) [fi]
O anthropos pou gnorize polla (Greece) [el]

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:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

At first, Doris Day refused to record "Que Sera, Sera" as a popular song release, dismissing it as "a forgettable children's song." It not only went on to win an Academy Award, but also became the biggest hit of her recording career and her signature song.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the McKennas are riding to their hotel in the horse-drawn wagon after getting off the bus, the shadows are mismatched between the foreground and the back-projected scene. In the foreground, the shadows are on the left of the characters, as if the sun is on the right of the frame; in the back-projection, the shadows are on the right of the cars, as if the sun is on the left of the frame.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Dr. Ben McKenna: Sorry we were gone so long, but we had to pick up Hank!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

Soundtrack:

Storm Cloud Cantata

A Highly Entertaining Thriller

Many reviewers seem to prefer the original version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, which I have not had the opportunity to view. By itself, the '56 version is a very well done film. The run of mid-to-late fifties Hitchcock films (including "Rear Window", "Dial M For Murder", "Vertigo", and "To Catch A Thief", as well as this film) is one of my favorite periods in his career. In The Man Who Knew Too Much, Jimmy Stewart throws himself vigorously into his role as always. Doris Day is very believable in the role of an atypical Hitchcock blond. I thought there was nothing fake about her performance. 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. It's rare to see a good performance from a child actor in the 50s, though. Most of the rest of the supporting actors in this film were very competent, though- most notably the assassin (played by Reggie Nalder).

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. It moves so slowly and precisely that it must have been done mechanically (an effect Hitch used at the end of "Spellbound", also).

All in all, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a fun film to watch. It's not as deep or as heavily laden with symbolism as some of his films ("Vertigo", "Strangers on a Train"), but all the same it is one of my top five Hitchcock masterpieces.