The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Later Hitchcock remade the film after 20 years with James Stewart as the male lead. Both versions have been brilliant for different reasons. The plot of both films is roughly the same: holidaying overseas, the father of a young girl stumbles upon a secret of international importance. In order to keep him quiet, some foreign agents kidnap the child and ship her back to London, where the father and his long-suffering wife pick up the trail and try to find out their child. Edna Best and Leslie Banks star as Jill and Bob Lawrence, a couple on holiday in the Swiss Alps with their teenage daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam). When their friend Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay) is shot while dancing with Jill, he tells Bob of an assassination about to take place in London. Fearing that their plot will be revealed, the assassins, led by vicious Abbott (Peter Lorre), kidnap the daughter in order to keep her father quiet. From the very start, we notice that it’s Jill who is taking the more active hero role, by virtue of the fact that she’s participating in a sharpshooting competition. Bob, on the other hand, is left to spend time with his daughter. Most of Jill’s scenes are with other men, while Bob spends the majority of the film separated from her – on the hunt for his kid or in the custody of the villains.
The performances by the actors are of high quality, with Leslie Banks leading the cast with his charming presence and very British wit. His ability to mix drama with comedy makes his character a very real and likable person. Edna Best is spectacular as a tough and charming woman. But the real star of the film is the fantastic Peter Lorre as the leader of the conspirators. In his first work in English, Lorre shows off his enormous talent and steals every single scene he appears in the film. The Man Who Knew Too Much” is probably the first of his movies that truly can be considered as representative Hitchcock film, as his style is finally shaped in this film. Visually, the movie is a joy, as with the excellent work by cinematographer Curt Courant, Hitchcock shows the influence of German expressionism in his work and creates wonderful images of striking contrast between light and shadows. His mastery of suspense shines in many scenes of the film, particularly in an impressive sequence that serves as the climax of the film. The remake was equally brilliant with the great James Stewart as lead. I will write my next review about it.
debarshithecinemaniac 