Rate It
|
||||||||||||||||
Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
All Flixster |
(7047) |
4183 |
11706 |
Female |
(2933) |
1741 |
4871 |
Male |
(4114) |
2442 |
6835 |
More Like This
If you liked this, then you'll also probably like...
Got another recommendation for someone who liked this movie? Add it to the list!
Got an opinion? Use the buttons to vote on all the suggestions people have added.
If lots of people vote, the best suggestions will rise to the top.
| Click (23%) |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Shooter (50%) |
|
|
| North by Northwest (100%) |
|
|
| Sabotage (100%) |
|
|
| The Man Who Knew Too Much (100%) |
|
|
Plot: A family vacationing in Morocco accidentally stumble on to an assassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering.
Meet Other Fans
ONLINE NOW
Recent Reviews
-
MCT:October 13, 2008Un des illustres "5 lost Hitcocks", ce suspense aux multiples rebondissements garde le spectateur cramponné à sa chaise presque du début à la fin, bien que j'aie trouvé les premières trente minutes un peu lentes. Mais une fois le récit embarqué sur ses véritables rails, plus moyen de décoller les yeux de l'écran.
Fidèle à lui-même, Hitchcock propose ici un film en zig-zag qui trompe le spectateur à multiples reprises et le force à remettre en question à peu près tout ce qu'il prenait pour acquis. Le duo James Stewart/Doris Day n'est pas aussi efficace que James Stewart/Grace Kelly, mais le charisme de ce dernier parvient à compenser pour le léger manque de chimie avec sa partenaire.
La fameuse scène du Albert Hall impressionne par l'ampleur de la tâche accomplie et le génie de composition de certains plans. Vous serez sans doute soûlé d'entendre Doris Day chanter "Que Sera, Sera", mais le film vaut amplement le détour, malgré ses maigres imperfections. -
MCT:August 25, 2008One of the better movies of Hitchcock, the suspence init is very good and the acting and story where amazing.
-
MCT:August 22, 2008
A lot like a book, The Man Who Knew Too Much starts out pretty slow at first, but it really picks up near the middle and the end. James and Doris are adorable in Hitchcock's best film.
-
MCT:August 11, 2008
A spectacle of suspense. Artful and at times very real. Doris Day is perfect in this role. And Jimmy Stewart is at his Jimmy Stewart-est, really, I think he's the only person who ever talked like that.
-
MCT:August 9, 2008The Man Who Knew too Much is Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of his own 1934 film. Despite being a remake, this film has quite a few differences. The film tells the story of a doctor (James Stewart) and his wife (Doris Day) vacationing in Morocco with their son (Christopher Olsen). While in Morocco they meet a few strange people and witness a murder. Just before the murdered man dies, he whispers a secret about an assassination plot to James Stewart who know is a man who knows too much. Their son is kidnapped and Stewart is told he must tell the secret to no one or his son will be in grave danger. While the film has its differences from the original (this starts in Morocco as opposed to Switzerland, the kidnapped child is a son this time, etc.), it's basically the same idea. While Hitchcock prefers the remake, I thought this film was a little long (it's 45 minutes longer) and confusing at times. The whole kidnapping and why Stewart was given this information is never really explained.
The acting in this film is pretty good. James Stewart and Doris Day are both superb. Other than that, nobody else is all that memorable. While Hitchcock films tend to have interesting characters in minor roles, nobody in here was all that great. The biggest weakness in this film was a good villain. The original The Man Who Knew Too Much had the great Peter Lorre playing the villain while this film's villain wasn't really focused on one person and none of them were all that memorable.
Also notable for this film is the music. Like the original film, this film has its climax at London's Albert Hall. There is a long sequence at Albert Hall that runs around 10 minutes where not a single word is spoken. This film is rather well-done. Also important is Doris Day's singing. In this film she sings, several times, the song "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" which won an Oscar for best original song.
While this film was pretty good at times, it wasn't quite as clear as the original and ran a little too long. The lack of a Peter Lorre type character was especially disappointing. Overall, this is just a decent film.
74.5/100
C
UP NEXT: From one great director to another, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. -
MCT:July 14, 2008
What makes this film better than the original? The chemistry between Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day and the one particular song used in the climax of the film.
-
MCT:June 22, 2008I always seem to come in somewhere in the middle with this film. It has a fantastic ending sequence though, so I wouldn't mind seeing the parts I haven't.
-
MCT:June 11, 2008
I am of the understanding that this is a remake of one of Hitchcock's own movies. This is a a well-made thriller with an entangled plot and expert directing and great performances (Stewart and Day in particular). It has a terric climax in the concert hall thanks to superb editing and a loud music score. It is well known that Hitch had a thing for blondes as his leading ladies. Day is cast as the lady this tme 'round and she has a similar dress code to Kim Novak in 'Vertigo'. To sum up this film is pretty much what you you'd expect from Hitch and Stewart.
-
MCT:June 7, 2008
Another accomplishment from 'Hitch', THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is an engaging thriller with great photography, direction and writing, that never lets you lose interest in it. James Stewart and Doris Day are very impressive as the "McKennas", and while the rest of the cast was good, there was no one extraordinary. The climax is one of the best I've ever seen and the ending is very clever and funny. Great song.
-
MCT:May 20, 2008
Good 'ol Hitch remade his own film. Yet, I enjoy this one much more; it's easier to understand and the cast is superb, with Stewart and Day leading the crew.
-
MCT:May 18, 2008
A rather simple story of mistaken identity but without the grandeur of North by Northwest.
Once again Stewart plays the -same simple deadpan character accompanied by an "idealistic wife" Day who get caught up in kidnapping, espionage and a plot to assassinate the prime minister whilst on holiday! -But Doris Day sings her famous "Que Sera Sera" and things resolve themselves. The end.
As always Hitchcock shows how powerful a director his is by running long dramatic scenes without any dialogue. Arthur Benjamin's cantata Storm Clouds carries the movie's final act and successfully builds tension to a great action climax.
On a seperate note Day gets to flex her more professional acting muscles as a distraught mother, a role which effectively broke her out of being continually typecast. And the chemistry between Stewart and Day proves to be effortless and impressive.
Sadly the direction of this movie lulled from the moment it started up unto the end. One of the movie's main problems was that from the beginning the audience knew what to expect and there was no development to unroll. Which puts a whole dead-end to the mystery element of the plot really early on. Overall it felt the story's action was being held back! On the other hand Hitchcock carries this movie pretty much till the end on a whole lot of nothing except empathy... which is just one of the reasons why he's a master.
Still one of Hitchcock's weakest... -
MCT:May 14, 2008
This would be a 5 star movie if Jimmy Stewart had gone crazy Anthony Mann style.
However the film we do have is a charming, sophisticated, funny, suspenseful film with Hitchcock operating at the height of his powers. -
MCT:April 4, 2008
Three of the greats, James Stewart, Doris Day and Alfred Hitchcock, this film was bound to be good.
James Stewert put in a fablous performance, with enough talant to pull of the tension breaking humour scenes with ease. Not the best, or most supsensful, Hitchcock film by far, but still well worth a watch. -
MCT:March 8, 2008
This is probably one of my least favorite Hitchcock movies, but he still manages to make it a good movie. It's great to see James Stewart in another Hitch movie. The Man Who Knew Too Much was a still good, but it isn't as suspenseful or entertaining as some of his others.
-
MCT:February 23, 2008This is not really the greatest Hitchcock film out there. Seemed really slow in certain parts. It should not have been this long of a movie. I excepted more for a movie with such an interesting title.
-
MCT:January 3, 2008
Hitchcock's remake of his 1934 thriller is perhaps one of his weaker '50s pictures, but it's still a lot of fun. The first half is particularly tense, while the Albert Hall assassination sequence is one of Hitchcock's greatest ever set-pieces. It's too long and the pace slackens in the middle, but the masterful direction and sympathetic performances from James Stewart and Doris Day as the frantic parents hunting for their kidnapped son keep it sufficently gripping.
-
MCT:December 27, 2007
A plot to assassinate someone with a bullet during a concert, fired the same time the cymbals clash. Daring! An Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece!
-
MCT:December 21, 2007
And Hitchcock again. Performances, cast, plot, suspense, direction and settings are all spectacular. Another great film by the master of suspense.
88/100 -
MCT:December 18, 2007
This second tier Hitchcock movie had it's moments, but didn't reach the standards set by some of his other movies. Lacking the grandeur of "North by Northwest", the character complexity of "Vertigo", and the scares of "Psycho", this movie falls somewhere scarcely in the middle. The premise is good, which revolves around a man inadvertently getting involved in an assassination plot, but the execution seemed somewhat mediocre at times until the very good ending. Probably worth a second viewing sometime.
-
MCT:December 2, 2007
Alfred Hitchcock's perfectly casted film with an always believable Jimmy Stewart as a father whose son has been kidnapped. Doris Day, a popular romantic comedy lead, is mesmorizing as the emotionally-wrecked mother. Highlight: Day's performance of "Que Sera Sera," which won an Academy Award for Best Song in 1956.
-
MCT:December 1, 2007This film plops Jimmy Stewart's Signature Everyman smack dab in the middle of a Hitchcockian nightmare and drags us along for the ride. And I have to give kudos to Doris Day in this. I've seen her in a few of the comedies, but she really did bring her A game to this angst-ridden mother character.
One of Hitchcock's best suspense films, in my opinion. -
MCT:October 24, 2007
Doris Day & Jimmy Stewart are tremenous in this. The origin of the song, "Ca Sara Sara". Hitch was the master at making little things into big things... and in this... it's a symbol that turns the tide of the film.
-
MCT:October 21, 2007
In my last review I stated that Frenzy (1972) was Alfred Hitchcock's first filming in Britain in almost twenty years, the previous movie being The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). This movie also took its stars James Stewart (Oscar winner for The Philadelphia Story 1940) and Doris Day (Oscar nominee for Pillow Talk 1959) to Marrakech, Morocco. It's the story of an American family whose good natured friendliness gets them into a world of trouble while abroad. This movie earned an Oscar for original song for Day's famous performance of "Que Sera, Sera." A song she originally called "a forgettable children's song." Along with Rear Window (1954), Rope (1948), The Trouble with Harry (1955) and Vertigo (1958), the rights to The Man Who Knew Too Much were bought back by Hitchcock and held from future viewing for thirty years. After his death his daughter re-released these gems in theaters in 1984. Hitchcock's trademark cameo is in the Marrakech marketplace.
-
MCT:September 12, 2007
Not one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, which is surprising since I really like Doris Day and James Stewart.
-
MCT:August 10, 2007
The original The Man Who Knew Too Much brought Alfred Hitchcock acclaim for the first time outside of the United Kingdom. Of course part of the reason for the acclaim was that folks marveled how Hitchcock on such a skimpy budget as compared to lavish Hollywood products was able to provide so much on the screen. The original film was shot inside a studio.
For whatever reason he chose this of all his films to remake, Hitchcock now with an international reputation and a big Hollywood studio behind him (Paramount)decided to see what The Man Who Knew Too Much would be like with a lavish budget. This is shot on location in Marrakesh and London and has two big international names for box office. This was James Stewart's third of four Hitchcock films and his only teaming with Doris Day and her only Hitchcock film.
I do wonder why Hitchcock never used Doris again. At first glance she would fit the profile of blond leading ladies that Hitchcock favored. Possibly because her wholesome screen image was at odds with the sophistication Hitchcock also wanted in his blondes.
Doris does some of her best acting ever in The Man Who Knew Too Much. Her best scene is when her doctor husband James Stewart gives her a sedative before telling her their son has been kidnapped by an English couple who befriended them in Morocco. Stewart and Day play off each other beautifully in that scene. But Doris especially as she registers about four different emotions at once.
Day and Stewart are on vacation with their son Christopher Olsen in Morocco and they make the acquaintance of Frenchman Daniel Gelin and the aforementioned English couple, Bernard Miles and Brenda DaBanzie. Gelin is stabbed in the back at a market place in Marrakesh and whispers some dying words to Stewart about an assassination to take place in Albert Hall in London. Their child is snatched in order to insure their silence.
For the only time I can think of a hit song came out of a Hitchcock film. Doris in fact plays a noted singer who retired from the stage to be wife and mother. The song was Que Sera Sera and I remember it well at the age of 9. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing it in 1956, it even competed with the fast rising Elvis Presley that year. Que Sera Sera won the Academy Award for Best Song beating out such titles as True Love from High Society and the title song from Around the World in 80 Days. It became Doris Day's theme song for the rest of her life and still is should she ever want to come back.
In fact the song is worked quite nicely into the plot as Doris sings it at an embassy party at the climax.
Instead of doing it with mirrors, Hitchcock shot the assassination scene at the real Albert Hall and like another reviewer said it's not directed, it's choreographed. You'll be hanging on your seats during that moment.
This was remake well worth doing.
My Friends Said...
The Man Who Knew Too Much Recent Reviews
Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !
Comments
This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "The Man Who Knew Too Much" !
