The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

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.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Charles Bennett (by), D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (by) (as D.B. Wyndham Lewis)

Stars:

Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

While holidaying in Switzerland, Lawrence and his wife Jill are asked by a dying friend, Louis Bernard, to get information hidden in his room to the British Consulate. They get the information, but when they deny having it, their daughter Betty is kidnapped. It turns out that Louis was a Foreign Office spy and the information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary. Having managed to trace his daughter's kidnappers back to London, Lawrence learns that the assassination will take place during a concert at the Albert Hall. It is left to Jill, however, to stop the assassination.

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Plot Keywords:

key | foreign office | spy | dancing | dance | 

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Taglines:

Lord High Minister of Everything Sinister!

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German Italian French

Release Date:

15 April 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hombre que sabía demasiado

Filming Locations:

St. Moritz, Kanton Graubünden, Switzerland

Box Office

Budget:

£40,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full Range Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The script was originally written to be a Bulldog Drummond movie, titled "Bulldog Drummond's Baby", but Alfred Hitchcock wasn't able to get the rights to the "Bulldog Drummond" name.

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Goofs

The first time Mr. Lawrence smokes in the Tabernacle church, we never see him light his cigarette, yet it starts smoking.

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Quotes

Nurse Agnes: Relax. Keep your eyes fixed on this light. Keep them fixed. Before receiving the first degree of the seventh old ray, your mind must be white and blank. You are already feeling sleepy. Do you hear me?
Clive: Yes.
Nurse Agnes: Your mind is becoming quite blank. You feel that, don't you? Quite, quite blank.
Clive: Yes. Quite blank.

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Connections

Referenced in iZombie: Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat (2015)

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Soundtracks

Storm Clouds Cantata
(1934) (uncredited)
Music by Arthur Benjamin
Words by D.B. Wyndham-Lewis
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Under the direction of H. Wynn Reeves

User Reviews

Classic Early Hitchcock...

Perhaps a bit hard to watch for younger generations, but this is the superior version of the yuppie couple whose only child is kidnapped and held for ransom (remade under the same title in the 50s by the same director, Alfred Hitchcock).

The film doesn't live up to "The 39 Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes" as one of Hitch's early works, but it is a superb example of classic low-budget filmmaking at its best. Yes, the effects (like the opening ski slope run) are incredibly laughable, but hey--it was filmed on a virtually empty budget by a relatively unknown director at the time with a low-budget cast in Britain.

Superb.

5/5 stars.

• John Ulmer