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The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

 -  Thriller  -  1 June 1956 (USA)
7.5
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Ratings: 7.5/10 from 27,751 users  
Reviews: 168 user | 59 critic

A family vacationing in Morocco accidentally stumble on to an assassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering.

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(screenplay), (based on a story by), 2 more credits »
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Title: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) on IMDb 7.5/10

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Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Brenda de Banzie ...
Lucy Drayton
...
Edward Drayton
Ralph Truman ...
Inspector Buchanan
...
Louis Bernard (as Daniel Gelin)
Mogens Wieth ...
Ambassador
...
Val Parnell
Hillary Brooke ...
Jan Peterson
Christopher Olsen ...
Hank McKenna
Reggie Nalder ...
Rien
Richard Wattis ...
Assistant Manager
Noel Willman ...
Woburn
Alix Talton ...
Helen Parnell
Yves Brainville ...
Police Inspector
Edit

Storyline

While attending a medical conference in Paris, American physician Dr. Ben McKenna, his wife, retired musical theater actress and singer Jo McKenna née Conway, and their adolescent son Hank McKenna decide to take a side trip to among other places Marrekesh, French Morocco. With a knife plunged into his back, Frenchman Louis Bernard, who the family met earlier in their bus ride into Marrakesh and who is now masquerading as an Arab, approaches Ben, cryptically whispering into Ben's ears that there will be an attempted assassination in London of a statesman, this news whispered just before Bernard dies. Ben is reluctant to provide any information of this news to the authorities because concurrently Hank is kidnapped by British couple, Edward and Lucy Drayton, who also befriended the McKennas in Marrakesh and who probably have taken Hank out of the country back to England. Whoever the unknown people the Draytons are working for have threatened to kill Hank if Ben divulges any information ... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

A little knowledge can be a deadly thing! See more »

Genres:

Thriller

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

| |

Release Date:

1 June 1956 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much  »

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the Moroccan extras had been mistakenly informed that they would only be paid if they were actually visible in the film. This led to a lot of pushing and shoving to get close to the camera until the crew explained to them that they would be paid no matter what. See more »

Goofs

In Marrakech, when Dr. McKenna and Jo go to the police headquarters, he sits behind the desk and she sits at the corner of the desk. In the next shot they are sitting side by side. See more »

Quotes

[to Louis Bernard]
Hank McKenna: If you ever get hungry, our garden back home is full of snails. We tried everything to get rid of them. We never thought of a Frenchman!
See more »

Crazy Credits

Partly because the rights to this film were acquired from Paramount by Universal,the Paramount VistaVision fanfare is played over the opening Universal logo. This is the way it is currently (2005) shown on television. in the re-release version (1984). See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) See more »

Soundtracks

"Storm Cloud Cantata"
(1934)
By Arthur Benjamin and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (as D. B. Wyndham-Lewis)
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra (as London Symphony Orchestra)
Conducted by Bernard Herrmann
Covent Garden Chorus and Barbara Howitt, soloist
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
A Highly Entertaining Thriller
6 July 2000 | by (Kentucky, USA) – See all my reviews

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.


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