Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much

 

 

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A very poor transfer of a very good film.Laserlight have done nothing to restore the print.The picture is dark and washed out.The sound is also very poor.The story has some great scenes,such as the finale in the hall where the assassination attempt takes place,but you have to watch a muddy picture with crackling sound.Wait for another version to come out.

It is hard to overstate the importance of this film, for The Man Who Knew Too Much catapulted Alfred Hitchcock into the ranks of the directing elite and did much to define the very genre of the suspense thriller. The fact that Hitchcock remade this 1934 film twenty-two years later should in no way be interpreted to mean that this original version is an inferior film. Hitchcock may have looked upon the original as the work of a "talented amateur," but critics and fans hail the film as a great success that showed the master truly coming into his own - thanks in no small part to his being given almost complete control of the project.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a very British film, as personified by the suave, cool, and urbane hero who keeps a stiff upper lip throughout his ordeal. And quite an ordeal it is, as he finds himself hip-deep in a diplomatic brouhaha that could conceivably start another war. It all starts innocently enough, on a family vacation in Switzerland. Bob Lawrence (Leslie Banks), his wife Jill (Edna Best), and their daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam) are having a grand old time, even enjoying the company of a Frenchman, Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay). Then Bernard is killed (in a wonderfully subtle way), and his dying words charge Bob to find a hidden document in his room and take it to the British Consul. The bad guys, led by Abbott (Peter Lorre, in his first English-speaking role), are right behind him, though, and prevent him from delivering the important message by kidnapping his little girl. The Lawrences return to Britain without Betty; unable to tell the authorities the truth, Bob sets out to find and rescue his little girl on his own and stop the planned assassination of an important diplomat if he can - but his daughter's safety comes first. The film builds to a wonderfully suspenseful scene as the assassin takes his place, but the movie doesn't end there. The completely satisfying conclusion comes only after a protracted shootout between the cops and the bad guys.

It's a wonderfully made film featuring a tight plot, a number of budget-friendly camera tricks (quite impressive for 1934), and great performances all around. Leslie Banks is wonderful as Bob Lawrence, but Peter Lorre pretty much steals the show. It has been many years since I saw the 1956 remake starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, so I can't really compare the two versions of the film. Many Hitchcock fans have a special regard for the original, though, because this film provides us with a glimpse at the legend that is Hitchcock in the making. Even if you're not a Hitchcock fan (if that is even possible), watch it for Peter Lorre - he is nothing less than the icon of polite, soft-spoken villains.

Happy young English couple Bob and Jill Lawrence go on holiday to St Moritz with adorable daughter Betty. Nice Frenchman Louis makes friends with them. He dances with Jill of an evening. Suddenly a bullet comes through a window and Louis is dead. Dying, he directs Jill to the shaving brush in his bedroom. There is a message concealed there that must be delivered to the British Consul. Bob finds the message but before he can deliver it he gets another: We have your little girl. Keep your mouth shut or else. Back in Britain, the Foreign Office cotton on that the couple are sitting on some information and urge them to part with it. There is an assassination attempt afoot on some visiting foreign bigwig and Louis' note is essential to averting it. Bob and Jill keep mum but Bob heads down to the back streets of Wapping to follow a lead on where his daughter might be...

It's classic early Hitchcock. It's also classic rather later Hitchcock as it's the one movie of his own that Hitchcock remade, directing a much glossier version in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day. Hitchcock was a lot better at remaking Hitchcok than Gus van Sant will ever be but the original is a real joy. It's set in the glorious world of 1930s British Hitchcock movies, a world of plucky stuff-upper-lipped British people, sinister foreigners (here in particular the great Peter Lorre at his most magnificently malign), men from the foreign office with bowler hats, burly coppers, mysterious goings on, secret agents, dastardly shootings, dark, shadowy staircases, hidden messages and, of course, this being Hitchcock, grand set-pieces: here a brilliant scene at the Albert Hall where the assassination is planned for a climactic moment in a concert when the percussion will mask the sound of the gun. It's not a masterpiece like "the Thirty-Nine Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes" but it is palpably from the same stable and, from start to finish, an enormous pleasure to watch.

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5.0 out of 5 stars An Oldie but Goodie!
I just rented a movie of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much", the 1934 version with actor Peter Lorre. Read more

Published on Dec 14 2003 by Nancy Rushing

3.0 out of 5 stars A CULT FILM AMONG THE FANS OF THE GREAT ALFRED HITCHCOCK.
Alfred Hitchcock is one of the key figures in the universal cinematography, and movies like "Psycho", "The Birds", "Vertigo" and "North By... Read more

Published on Oct 26 2003 by Alejandro Cortes

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but I still like the remake more
I very much enjoyed this at times expressionistic Hitchcock picture, but I think the remake outdoes it. Read more

Published on Sep 23 2002 by John J. Fowler

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow to get started, but a very entertaining film
(The DVD version that I am reviewing is the Laserlight release, featuring the introduction by Tony Curtis. Read more

Published on Jun 25 2001 by Andrew McCaffrey

3.0 out of 5 stars Watch It Without Compareing It!
I understand why people would compare this and the brilliant remake- I DO TOO!!! But one should watch it every once in a while without compareing it. Read more

Published on Jun 15 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars The original - and best.
Don't even think about buying the James Stewart / Doris day version until you've seen this film. With all the padding (not to mention Doris Day's singing) missing from the... Read more

Published on Feb 14 2000 by Jesmat

3.0 out of 5 stars Immature Hitchcockism
This film is well-made, and rather interesting, but for one who has seen both versions of that film (the second from 1956 starring James Stewart and Dorris Day), this film... Read more

Published on April 7 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars The remake was better...
But this version still has its moments. You can easily see why Hitch loved this story enough to remake it, and once having seen both versions, will applaud his decision to do... Read more

Published on Feb 11 1999 by Just Another Old Music Fan

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