Review of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) by K M — 17 Aug 2011
What an excellent film! Alfred Hitchcock was at the peak of his career, recently making hits like "To Catch a Thief" and "Rear Window" with Grace Kelly. Here he switches off the blonde heroin to Doris Day, which actually turns out to be quite a good result.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is always a Hitch movie I had heard of, but I had not heard a lot of talk about it, next to "North By Northwest" or "Psycho". I think its underrated most likely because of when it was made, but had it been made in the mid-40s, this would be so much more recognized! This is suspense at its best, the premise revolving around a happy family trying to find their kidnapped son in the unfamiliar Morocco.
James Stewart and Doris Day's performances are so convincing that you actually can understand how they are feeling. Every second is wonderful, and Day is so good in the role that at the time, Hitch didnt even have so help her out-- she was doing OK on her own.
Hitch at this point had really stopped making black-and-white films, I don't know if it was force or not, but it has good results. He makes the most of it, having the most lavish sets possible to bring the colors out, and the cinematography is superb, especially during the orchestra scenes that make this movie all the more scary.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a great movie.
This review of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) was written by K M on 17 Aug 2011.
The Man Who Knew Too Much has generally received very positive reviews.
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