L'homme qui en savait trop

...of a family that becomes entangled with a spy ring. Bob (Leslie Banks) and Jill Lawrence (Edna Best), along with teen daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam), vacations in the Swiss Alps where they learn of an assassination plot masterminded by the bizarre Abbott (Peter Lorre). The gang kidnaps Betty to ensure the silence of the Lawrences until the assassination, set to take place in London at the Royal Albert Hall, but Bob and Jill try to rescue their daughter first. Also featuring Hugh Wakefield, Frank Vosper, Cicely Oates, and Pierre Fresnay.

I like this more every time I see it. Peter Lorre, in his English-language debut, makes for one of Hitchcock's most entertaining villains. It's remarkable that Lorre delivered his lines phonetically, not yet being proficient in English. I also liked Cicely Oates as Lorre's coldly efficient "nurse". The film's finale, a protracted shoot-out between the gang and the police, is well done, shockingly violent for the time, and full of little visual gags.

There's also a harrowing trip to the dentist, the big Albert Hall concert scene, a quick turn by French star Pierre Fresnay as Lawrence family friend, and a dachshund. This film is inevitably compared to the 1956 remake, and I've always liked this original take more.

Both versions of Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" are well worth watching, and each one has its own strong points. While this British version cannot match the Hollywood remake in terms of star power and lavish production, it has several strengths of its own: it is fast-paced, filled with wit, and nicely atmospheric. Despite being 20 years older, it is also more 'modern' in its portrayal of the woman whose child is kidnapped.

Aside from Peter Lorre, always a big plus to any movie, the cast does not have too many names that would be familiar to today's audiences, but they all are good actors who fit in well with the style of Hitchcock's British films, exuding self-control and good-natured wit even in the most trying of circumstances. Edna Best as the heroine is noticeably different from Doris Day, lacking the glamour but giving a convincing performance as a more determined, resourceful mother.

There are some interesting settings in this version, too, with much of the action taking place in some interesting buildings in a less elegant neighborhood in London. A lot of it looks a bit murky in the old black-and-white print, but in a sense even that adds to the atmosphere.

Certainly there are those who have good reasons for preferring the remake, but every Hitchcock fan should watch the original, too. Hitchcock's British films had a pleasant style all their own, and while this one might not measure up to "The Lady Vanishes" or "The 39 Steps", it's still very entertaining.

Although Alfred Hitchcock made several better films than this, including the 1956 remake, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a milestone film for the rotund master of suspense. It was the first film that got him noticed outside the United Kingdom, it led to bigger budgets for Hithcock to work with in British film industry and eventually to his departure for America.

Leslie Banks and Edna Best, Mr.and Mrs. upper class British couple on holiday in Switzerland with their adolescent daughter Neva Pilbeam. A Frenchman they befriend, Pierre Fresnay, is killed right in front of them on a dance floor and he whispers something to Banks about a planned assassination in London to occur shortly. The spies suspect what the dying Fresnay has said to Banks and grab Pilbeam to insure the silence of her parents.

The rest of this short (75 minute) feature is Banks and Best trying to both foil the assassination and get their daughter back. At the climax Best's skill at skeet shooting becomes a critical factor in the final confrontation with the villains.

Peter Lorre made his English language debut in The Man Who Knew Too Much and was very effective with the limited dialog he had. I've often wondered why Hitchcock never used Lorre more in some of his later features.

Although the 1956 version has far better production values, this version still holds up quite well and is worth a look.

Hitccock's first major release in the USA and Peter Lorre's first English-speaking role are two firsts scored by this 1934 thriller. This is, of course, also Hitchcock's first attempt to to make this film. His second, released in the mid-50s was more successful and better funded. This very British and relatively pithy film retains most of the character of Hitchcock's earlier efforts, but is lean and economical, with less camera play and simpler cinematography and pacing.

The acting is generally very good. Of the main cast, Nova Pilbeam, who plays the kidnapped daughter of Leslie Banks and Edna Best, is the only survivor today, at the age of 87. Most of the action centers on Banks,and he is fine, but (and I tend to think this is Hitchcock's doing) very emotionally compressed throughout the film. Banks' Bob Lawrence has a loving, flirty, wife (Best) and a delightful young daughter (Pilbeam). They are away on holiday in the alps when a new friend of their is shot dead while dancing with Best. As he dies, he passes along some information which creates the family's predicament. Lorre and his people kidnap young Pilbeam in exchange for Banks' silence, and he must then decide what to do. It seems that no matter what he does, his daughter is likely to die.

It is remarkable that Lorre did not even know what he was saying throughout most of this performance. The legendary actor, as usual, dominates all of his scenes and gives the film a creepy, psychotic feeling that would have been difficult to achieve without him.

The plot is a bit light on logic, but brisk, satisfyingly convoluted and entertaining. The script is OK, but often maintains too stiff an upper lip. A few opportunities for elaboration were missed - probably a limitation inherent in the original Wyndham Lewis story. I think it would have been interesting (and more credible) if the authorities had followed up on their knowledge that Banks knew something and trailed him throughout the film. This could have added an extra layer of potential suspense, mystery and obfuscation, since Best's heightened paranoia might have lead him to suspect all sorts of things about anybody keeping tabs on him.

Hitchcock definitely knew he had a potential gem here, and it is a credit to him that he revitalized the film with Jimmy Stewart in the 1950s - after establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with.

Worth seeing for Hitchcock fans and those interested in early British film as well as fans of the 1950s version. O/w only very mildly recommended.

The tale deals with a marriage (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) and their daughter (Nova Pilbeam) on holiday in Saint Moritz , Switzerland . They are witnesses for the assassination of their friend Louis (Pierre Fresnay) , before giving them a message and then they become involved into a confuse and obscure international plot , concerning their abducting daughter .

The movie gets the seed in which later emerged many Hitchcock's suspense pictures . In fact , Alfred Hitchcock reverted back to the more familiar territory of a suspense/intrigue thriller after the lousy result in Walzes from Vienna (1934) . It has a typical theme of the suspense master : innocent people become caught up into a cobweb of intrigue . The film displays interesting issues and a good cast , as an excellent Peter Lorre in his first English role , he interprets a clever and uncanny villain . However , the plot isn't narrated in agility and it seems some forced . The film highlights are the following ones : the happenings at the Royal Albert Hall of London , the rescue of the kidnapped daughter in the Tabernacle of the Sun and the final showdown remembers the authentic events on riots in Sidney Street , year 1911 , where a lot of citizens died . At the time the general public loved it and obtained smash-hit . Hitchcock's remade in 1956 is considered much better and with more lavish setting and glimmer color , besides , being starred by James Stewart and Doris Day singing : Que sera , sera . Rated : Good but dated .