The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

An American physician and his wife take matters into their own hands after assassins planning to execute a foreign Prime Minister kidnap their son.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Michael Hayes (screenplay), Charles Bennett (based on a story by)

Stars:

James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Stewart	...	Dr. Benjamin McKenna
Doris Day	...	Josephine Conway McKenna
Brenda de Banzie	...	Lucy Drayton
Bernard Miles	...	Edward Drayton
Ralph Truman	...	Inspector Buchanan, Special Branch
Daniel Gélin	...	Louis Bernard
Mogens Wieth	...	Ambassador
Alan Mowbray	...	Val Parnell
Hillary Brooke	...	Jan Peterson
Christopher Olsen	...	Hank McKenna
Reggie Nalder	...	French Marksman
Richard Wattis	...	Albert Hall Assistant Manager
Noel Willman	...	Woburn, Special Branch
Alix Talton	...	Helen Parnell
Yves Brainville	...	French Police Inspector

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

morocco | remake by original director | inter cultural | alfred hitchcock figure character | color remake of black and white film | 

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Taglines:

A little knowledge can be a deadly thing!

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic French

Release Date:

1 June 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Gardens, Brixton, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$10,250,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures,Filwite Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The airplane shown in this movie (G-AMOF) was a Viscount 701 owned by BEA. It was the thirteenth production Viscount made by Vickers-Armstrongs. It first flew on July 23, 1953. It was sold to the Brazilian airline VASP in August of 1962 for around one hundred ten thousand Great British Pounds. It was damaged beyond repair in a landing accident at Rio de Janeiro's airport on October 31, 1966, and scrapped.

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Goofs

Prior to Dr. McKenna and Jo entering Ambrose Chapel, there is a white stain on Dr. McKenna's left shoulder, apparently from the struggle at the taxidermist. As soon as Dr. McKenna enters the chapel, the stain disappears, then reappears after they take their place in the chapel.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Dr. Ben McKenna: Sorry we were gone so long, but we had to pick up Hank!

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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).

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Alternate Versions

The original film opened with the Paramount logo followed by their patented wide screen process, Vista Vision. In the 80's, Universal re-issued the film with their logo, and dropped the reference to Vista Vision. The Blu-Ray edition retains the Paramount/Vista Vision logos at the start, but carries the 80's Universal logo at the end.

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Connections

Referenced in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

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Soundtracks

Storm Cloud Cantata
(1934)
by Arthur Benjamin and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Bernard Herrmann
Orchestrated by Bernard Herrmann (uncredited)
Covent Garden Chorus and Barbara Howitt, soloist

User Reviews

Star Power Carries the Remake

Both versions of Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" have their strong points, and are well worth watching. This 1950's remake is carried mostly by its star power, with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day being convincing and very sympathetic as the parents of the kidnapped child. It also has more lavish settings and better (not just because it is color) photography than the earlier version. On the other hand, it lacks the wittiness of the British version, and moves more slowly.

The remake spends much more time setting up the story than the original did, with the family spending a lot of time on their vacation in Morocco before the crisis occurs. It makes possible some colorful scenery and settings, and allows you to get to know the family a bit more, although the quicker pace in the original established more tension and kept your attention throughout. The Albert Hall sequence works well in both films, with this one having the added bonus of allowing the audience to see Bernard Herrmann, who wrote so many great scores for Hitchcock's films, conducting the orchestra.

Despite having essentially the same story, the two versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" have a much different feel. Which one you prefer is largely a matter of taste - while neither is usually considered among Hitchcock's very best, they are both good movies with a lot of strong points. Take a look at both if you have the chance.