The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

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:

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

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

Colour:

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:

Alfred Hitchcock was unaware that Peter Lorre, a Hungarian, had a very limited command of the English language at that time. Lorre learned much of his part phonetically.

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 "The Simpsons: The Boy Who Knew Too Much (#5.20)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Storm Clouds

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