FAQ

On a visit to Marrakesh, Morocco with his wife Jo (Doris Day) and their eight-year old son Hank (Christopher Olsen), American doctor Ben McKenna (James Stewart) provides medical aid when Frenchman Louis Bernard (Daniel Gélin) is murdered in the street. Before he dies, Bernard whispers to Ben that there will be an attempted assassination on a diplomat in London. Shortly thereafter, Hank is kidnapped by British couple Edward (Bernard Miles) and Lucy (Brenda de Banzie) Drayton in an attempt to keep Ben from divulging any information to him by Bernard.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a remake of an earlier 1934 film of the same name, also directed by Sir Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). The original script was written by British screenwriters Charles Bennett and D. B. Wyndham-Lewis. Their screenplay was adapted for the remake by American screenwriter John Michael Hayes.

Indianapolis, Indiana. However, Jo had been a singer in London and France.

While on the bus, Dr Ben McKenna tells Louis Bernard that they were attending a medical convention in Paris and he wanted to see Morocco again. During WWII, he was stationed in a field hospital near Casablanca.

When Jo left Ben at Ambrose Chapel, she tried to reach Inspector Buchanan (Ralph Truman) by telephone but was told that he was at the Albert Hall. When the police came and found Ambrose Chapel empty, Jo asked them to take her to the Hall. At that time, Ben was still locked inside the Chapel and escapes by climbing out the bell tower. He then makes his way to the Albert Hall just in time to see Jo's scream prevent the Prime Minister from being killed. When Jo and Ben are subsequently united with Buchanan, Ben says that Buchanan's assistant told both Jo and himself that Buchanan was at the Hall. The most logical conclusion is that, after escaping from the Chapel, Ben called Buchanan's office and spoke with the same "assistant" that Jo did, thus he got the same information...that Buchanan was at the Albert Hall.

Exterior shots of "Ambrose Chapel" were filmed at the church hall of St Saviour's Church in Clapham, Brixton. St Saviour's was made redundant by the Church of England in the 1970s and turned into a fundamentalist congregation called New Testament Church Of God. The church hall has since been torn down. The site now houses modern buildings. Interior shots of "Ambrose Chapel" were made on a sound stage. For more information about Ambrose Chapel, see here.

No. According to composer Ray Evans, he and Jay Livingston had written "Que Sera, Sera" shortly before being asked by Hitchcock to provide a song for the film. When Hitchcock described the song he wanted as one that a mother could sing to a child, and with a foreign element in it, they realized that "Que Sera, Sera" would be ideal. They waited two weeks before showing it to Hitchcock to make it seem as if they had written it just for him. Because the song's first public presentation was in the film, it became eligible for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, which it won in 1957.

Jo screams just before the spot in the music where the cymbals are going to crash, throwing off the aim of the assassin Rien (Reggie Nalder). The Prime Minister suffers only a flesh wound. Ben goes after Rien. Rien falls off the balcony. Then Jo and Ben go to the embassy to find their son, Hank. Hank is being watched over by Mrs Drayton, who is distraught that orders have been given to kill him. Jo distracts everyone by singing "Que Sera, Sera". At a key point in the song, Mrs Drayton tells Hank to whistle along as loudly as he can. Jo and Ben hear the whistle, confirming that Hank is there, so Ben goes looking for him. He finds Hank in the room with Mrs Drayton, but before they can get away, Edward Drayton comes into the room, gun in hand. Drayton orders them to go downstairs without making a scene, while Drayton continues to hold the gun pointed at Hank's head. When they are almost at the bottom of the stairs, Ben pushes Hank out of the way, then pushes Drayton, who falls and accidentally shoots himself. In the final scene, the McKennas return to their hotel room and apologize to their waiting friends for taking so long to pick up Hank.

Yes. About 25 minutes into the film, Hitchcock can be seen watching acrobats in the Moroccan marketplace with his back to the camera.