The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Charles Bennett (by) and
D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (by) ...

Release Date:

15 April 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Public Enemy No. 1 of all the world...

Plot:

A man and his wife receive a clue to an imminent assassination attempt, only to learn that their daughter has been kidnapped to keep them quiet.

Plot Keywords:

Dancing | Spy | Assassination Attempt | Foreign Office | Shot To Death

Cast

Leslie Banks	...	Bob Lawrence
Edna Best	...	Jill Lawrence
Peter Lorre	...	Abbott
Frank Vosper	...	Ramon
Hugh Wakefield	...	Clive
Nova Pilbeam	...	Betty Lawrence
Pierre Fresnay	...	Louis Bernard
Cicely Oates	...	Nurse Agnes
D.A. Clarke-Smith	...	Police Inspector Binstead (as D.A.Clarke Smith)
George Curzon	...	Gibson

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full Range Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1935) | Finland:K-16 (1995) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #620) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1998)

Filming Locations:

Lime Grove Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Trivia:

Apart from the opening and end credits, there is only source music in this film, i.e. music that can be heard by the characters, such as dance music in Switzerland and Wapping, and the Benjamin cantata (with the rest of the concert on the radio). There is no underscoring music at all.

Goofs:

Continuity: (At 04:21) When Bob Lawrence and his daughter exit the chalet porch to watch the trap shoot, Bob pushes the left door outwards. When the camera cuts to an outside view of their leaving the building, it's the other door that is swinging shut, and it is closing from the inside.

Quotes:

Abbott: Tell her they may soon be leaving us. Leaving us for a long, long journey. How is it that Shakespeare says? "From which no traveler returns." Great poet.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Road Rovers: The Dog Who Knew Too Much (#1.7)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Storm Clouds

Vastly underrated

One of Hitchcock's best films, and entirely undervalued. I love most of Hitch's films. His bigger productions of the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s are probably best loved, but I really like his grittier, more reality-based films as well. During that period, The Wrong Man is almost entirely overlooked, despite being one of his greatest achievements. This kind of film was most common during his British career, where he had less money to work with. I myself am least familiar with the first chunk of the man's career, but I have seen enough of them. My favorite so far is definitely Sabotage (1936), which is another criminally underrated film. The first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is a close second favorite. A terrorist group (led by Peter Lorre) kills a secret agent in Switzerland. Bob and Jill Lawrence discover that the group is planning to assassinate a foreign diplomat in London in the upcoming days, so the group kidnaps their daughter to keep them quiet. They're unwilling to tell the police about the kidnapping, and eventually take it upon themselves to find her. They have to do it quickly, for, if the diplomat is killed because they withheld information from the police, a second World War could rest upon their shoulders. The story isn't particularly complex, but Hitchcock's cinema is as spectacular as it ever was, while aiming for a low key. There are a dozen memorable scenes in the film, most notably the concert with the slowly revolving camera as Jill Lawrence scans the room for the assassin. And I love the realistic standoff near the end of the film, as the police slowly move citizens to safety as the terrorists shoot from the dark. The acting is also very good, with Edna Best (as Jill Lawrence) and especially Peter Lorre (how can you not love this guy?) standing above the rest. 10/10.