The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers:Charles Bennett and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis
Release Date: 15 April 1935 (USA) more
Genre: Mystery - Thriller
Length: 01:15:09



The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period.


Hitchcock remade the film with James Stewart in 1956 for Paramount Pictures; it's the only film he ever remade. The two films are, however, very different in tone, in setting, and in many plot details.



* Synopsis:

The plot concerns Bob and Jill Lawrence, (Leslie Banks and Edna Best), a British couple on vacation in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and their daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam). The couple befriend a foreigner, Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay), who is staying in their hotel. One evening, as Jill dances with Louis, she witnesses his assassination as a French spy. Before dying, the spy passes on to them some vital information to be delivered to the British consul.


In order to ensure their silence, the assassins, led by a charming and nefarious Abbott (Peter Lorre), kidnap their daughter. Unable to secure much meaningful help from the police, the couple return to England and, after following a series of leads, discover the group intends to assassinate a European ambassador during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Jill attends the concert and distracts the gunman with a scream. The assassins are killed by the police, Betty's sharpshooting mother dispatching the assassin who formerly beat her in a sharpshooting contest. A single assassin commits suicide rather than be captured. Betty is returned to her parents.