The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)
| The Man Who Knew Too Much | |
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| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon (uncredited) |
| Written by |
Charles Bennett D. B. Wyndham-Lewis Edwin Greenwood (scenario) A.R. Rawlinson (scenario) |
| Starring |
Leslie Banks Edna Best Peter Lorre Nova Pilbeam Frank Vosper |
| Music by | Arthur Benjamin |
| Cinematography | Curt Courant |
| Distributed by | Gaumont-British Picture Corporation |
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Release date
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Running time
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75 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £40,000 (estimated) |
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British thriller 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 and Doris Day in 1956 for Paramount Pictures. The two films, however, are very different in tone, in setting, and in many plot details. In the book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (1967), in response to fellow filmmaker François Truffaut's assertion that aspects of the remake were by far superior, Hitchcock replied "Let's say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional."
The film has nothing except the title in common with G. K. Chesterton's 1922 book of detective stories of the same name. Hitchcock decided to use the title as he had the rights for some of the stories in the book.
Bob and Jill Lawrence (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) are a British couple on a trip to Switzerland, travelling with their daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam). Jill is participating in a clay pigeon shooting contest. She is the best shot but she loses first place to a male sharpshooter because, at the crucial moment, she was distracted by the noise of a chiming watch which belongs to Abbott (Peter Lorre).
Bob and Jill have befriended Frenchman Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay) who is staying in their hotel. One evening, Louis is fatally shot as Jill dances with him. Before he expires, Louis tells Bob where to find a note to be delivered to the British consul. Bob reads the note, which contains vital indications about a planned international crime.
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