The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

  • 88% of critics liked it
    (26 reviews)

  • 66% want to see it
    (5,476 ratings)

The first film version of The Man Who Knew too Much proved to be the international "breakthrough" film for British director Alfred Hitchcock, transforming him from merely a talented domestic filmmaker to a worldwide household name. While vacationing in Switzerland, Britons Leslie Banks and… More

Critic Reviews

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    Although the film is fast and consistently clever, it is more deeply flawed than any other Hitchcock film of the period, failing to find a thematic connection between its imaginative set pieces.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    An unusually fine dramatic story handled excellently from a production standpoint.

  • Andre Sennwald, New York Times

    Directed with a fascinating staccato violence by Alfred Hitchcock, it is the swiftest screen melodrama this column can recall.

  • Tom Milne, Time Out

    Vintage Hitchcock, with sheer wit and verve masking an implausible plot.

  • Sean Axmaker, Parallax View

    Hitchcock's tone is odd, with clever set pieces and tightly-constructed and edited sequences interspersed with awkward scenes of emotional restraint ("Steady, old girl, steady") and disconnected characters.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • Chris W


    This is basically the film that really saw Hitchcock's film career take off and become something grand. It has his real breakout hit, and even had the distinction of being remade (by Hitchh imself), in a version that a number of people say is far superior. I haven't seen… More

  • Carlos M


    Hitchcock was still learning his craft and improving his directing skills when he made this unimpressive, thematically flawed film that even he disliked. The humor eliminates most of the tension, while the weak script has villains whose motivations are never clear enough. No wonder… More

  • Daniel M


    Where some directors reach a creative peak from which further innovation becomes impossible, Alfred Hitchcock was constantly developing as a filmmaker, pushing the limits of what he could achieve on screen. But while this has given us some of the most superbly crafted films ever made,… More

  • AJ V


    Although the remake is more stylized and has more popular stars, the original movie is really pretty good.

  • Conner R


    I personally feel that this is the best of Hitchcockâ??s early works. It has an incredibly fun premise with a lot of great characters and twists. Peter Lorre is amazing and incredibly kooky with his blonde streaked hair and squeaky voice. What this film lacks in funding and production… More

Read all 13 featured audience ratings

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