The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

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 | 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

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:

Filwite Productions

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Alfred Hitchcock] [stairs]Big scene on the stairs at the end.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Although the assassin and the ambassador are seated in the same tier of boxes, the assassin's view of his target through the opera glasses is from below and not across.

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 "Empty Nest: The Dog Who Knew Too Much (#3.17)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Whatever Will Be

Great Hitchcock suspense

I put this second version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" to my Top 10 Hitchcock movies. Together with "Frenzy", it's probably the most argued film among the fans of Hitchcock. I consider it far better than, say, "Rebecca", which has gained unreasonably much appreciation.

The film contains many ingenious scenes (most of them have been mentioned in other reviews), but that's something to be expected from Hitchcock. It takes almost half an hour until things really start to happen, but that time is used for preparing the following happenings, which are full of intriguing suspense.

If you can ignore the clumsy rear projections, the only weakness of this film is the main villain, played by Bernard Miles, who is a rather flat and undeveloped character. Luckily, there is a creepy assassin in the form of Reggie Nalder. And Hank, the little boy, isn't as irritating as most kids in old movies.