The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film)

The Man Who Knew Too Much
Original film poster
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by	Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by	John Michael Hayes
Story by	Charles Bennett D.B. Wyndham-Lewis
Starring	James Stewart Doris Day Brenda De Banzie Bernard Miles Alan Mowbray Hillary Brooke Christopher Olsen
Music by	Score: Bernard Herrmann Arthur Benjamin Songs: Ray Evans Jay Livingston
Cinematography	Robert Burks
Editing by	George Tomasini
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (1956-1983) Universal Pictures (1984-present)
Release date(s)	June 1, 1956
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.2 million
Box office	$4,100,000 (US rentals)

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1956 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The film is a somewhat altered remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name.

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 won an Academy Award for Best Song for "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)", sung by Doris Day. It was also entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

An American family, Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart), his wife Jo (Doris Day) and their son Hank (Christopher Olsen) are vacationing in Morocco. Traveling from Casablanca to Marrakesh, they meet a Frenchman named Louis Bernard (Daniel Gelin), who seems friendly; however, Jo is suspicious of his many questions and evasive answers, and thinks he is hiding something. Bernard offers to take the McKennas out to dinner but cancels when a sinister-looking man knocks at the McKenna's hotel room claiming to be looking for another guest's room. Later, at a local restaurant, the McKennas meet an English couple, the Draytons, who strike up a conversation with the McKennas, who are surprised to see Bernard arrive and sit at another table apparently ignoring them.

The next day, exploring a busy outdoor market in Marrakesh with the Draytons, the McKennas see a man in Arab clothing being chased by police. After being stabbed in the back, the man approaches Ben, who discovers it is actually Bernard in disguise. The dying Bernard whispers that a foreign statesman will be murdered in London very soon, and that Ben must tell the authorities there about 'Ambrose Chappell'. Mrs. Drayton offers to return Hank to the hotel while Dr. and Mrs. McKenna are being questioned. An officer explains that Bernard was a French Intelligence agent on assignment in Morocco. While at the police station, Ben receives a phone call from a mysterious man who informs him that Hank has been kidnapped but will not be harmed if the McKennas say nothing to the police about Bernard's last words.

After arriving in London, the McKennas are told by Scotland Yard Inspector Buchanan that Bernard was trying to uncover an assassination plot, and that they should contact him if they hear from the kidnappers. Leaving friends in their hotel room, the McKennas attempt to question a man named 'Ambrose Chappell', but finally track the kidnappers to a church named 'Ambrose Chapel': the kidnappers' hideout, where Mr. Drayton, posing as a minister, is leading a service. While Jo calls police, Drayton ends the service early. Ben confronts him and is knocked out. The Draytons take Hank to a foreign embassy just before Jo arrives with the police at the now seemingly deserted chapel. Jo learns Buchanan has gone to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall and goes there to get his help. There she sees the sinister man who mistakenly came to her door in Morocco. When he threatens her son if she interferes, she realises he is the assassin sent to kill the foreign Prime Minister (Alexis Bobrinskoy) who is now also at the concert hall.

Ben escapes the locked chapel and follows Jo to the hall, where she points out the assassin. Ben frantically searches the balcony boxes for the killer, who is waiting for a cymbal crash to mask his gunshot. Jo sees the barrel of the assassin's gun and screams right before the cymbals crash. The assassin misses his mark and merely wound his target. Ben finds and struggles with the would-be-killer, who then falls to his death from the balcony. The grateful Prime Minister invites the McKennas to meet with him at his London embassy.

The McKennas learn that the Draytons are in the Prime Minister's embassy, where Hank is being held, and where the ambassador has led the plot to kill his own Prime Minister. Hatching a plan to find their son, Ben and Jo are welcomed as heroes for having saved the Prime Minister's life. Jo loudly sings a song Hank is familiar with so that he will hear his mother's voice and hopefully respond. Mrs. Drayton, who is guarding Hank but is unwilling to harm him, tells Hank to whistle along with the song, which draws Ben to the room where he is being held. Mr. Drayton catches them and tries to escape with them as hostages, but when he is struck by Ben, falls downstairs and is accidentally killed when his own gun fires.

The McKennas return to their now-sleeping friends in their hotel room, where Ben says, "I'm sorry we were gone so long, but we had to go over and pick up Hank."

Cast

• James Stewart – Dr. Benjamin 'Ben' McKenna
• Doris Day – Josephine Conway 'Jo' McKenna
• Brenda De Banzie – Lucy Drayton
• Bernard Miles – Edward Drayton
• Ralph Truman – Inspector Buchanan
• Daniel Gélin – Louis Bernard
• Mogens Wieth – Ambassador
• Alan Mowbray – Val Parnell
• Hillary Brooke – Jan Peterson
• Christopher Olsen – Henry 'Hank' McKenna
• Reggie Nalder – Rien
• Alexis Bobrinskoy – the Prime Minister
• Richard Wattis – Assistant Manager
• Noel Willman – Woburn
• Alix Talton – Helen Parnell
• Yves Brainville – Police Inspector
• Richard Wordsworth – Ambrose Chappell,Jr
• Carolyn Jones – Cindy Fontaine

Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is a signature occurrence in most of his films. In The Man Who Knew Too Much he can be seen 25:42 into the film watching acrobats in the Moroccan marketplace, with his back to the camera, just before the spy is killed.

Production

Alfred Hitchcock first considered an American remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1941, but only brought back the idea in 1956, to make a film that would fulfill a contractual demand from Paramount Pictures. The studio agreed it was a picture that could be well-adapted to the new decade. Screenwriter John Michael Hayes was hired on the condition that he would not watch the early version or read its script, with all the plot details coming from a briefing with Hitchcock. Only the opening scenes of the script were ready when filming begun, and Hayes had to send by airmail the subsequent script pages as he finished them.

Hitchcock again brought James Stewart to be his protagonist as he was considering the actor a creative partner, and Paramount wanted a sense of continuity between his works. The director requested blonde Doris Day for the main female role as he liked her performance in Storm Warning, though associate producer Herbert Coleman was reluctant on Day, whom he only knew as a singer. Coleman strongly suggested that the more serious blonde actresses like Lana Turner, Grace Kelly, or Kim Novak be cast in the role, or a suitable brunette, like Jane Russell, Gene Tierney, or Ava Gardner. However, Day was eventually cast in the female lead.

The film started its principal photography on location in Marrakesh, where the schedule had to be changed so the Marrakesh shoot did not coincide with Ramadan. Day was shocked by the health of the local animals, prompting her to only accept filming once the studio set up an animal-feeding station in Marrakesh. Afterwards, production moved to London, with external shots, and the interiors of both the taxidermist shop and the Royal Albert Hall. Once the external shoots were finished, the other interiors – which included a replica of most of the Albert Hall – were shot in the Paramount soundstages in Los Angeles. The Albert Hall sequence drew some inspiration from H. M. Bateman's comic "The One-Note Man", which followed the daily life of a musician who only plays one note in a symphony, similarly to the cymbal player in the film.

Music

The film's composer, Bernard Herrmann, wrote relatively little "background" music for the film; however, the performance of Arthur Benjamin's Storm Clouds Cantata, conducted by Herrmann, is the climax of the film. In addition, Doris Day's character is a well-known, now retired, professional singer. At two points in the film, she sings the Livingston & Evans song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" which won the 1956 Best Song Oscar under the alternate title "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)". The song reached number two on the U.S. pop charts and number one in the UK. The song was commissioned specially to use Day's singing abilities.

Herrmann was given the option of composing a new cantata to be performed during the film's climax. However, he found Arthur Benjamin's cantata Storm Clouds from the original 1934 film to be so well suited to the film that he declined, although he did expand the orchestration, and insert several repeats to make the sequence longer. Herrmann can be seen conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and singers during the Royal Albert Hall scenes. The sequence in Albert Hall runs for twelve minutes without any dialogue, from the beginning of Storm Clouds Cantata until the climax, when Doris Day's character screams.

Home video

The film has been released on home video by Universal Pictures, which acquired the distribution rights to all but one of Hitchcock's Paramount films, in both VHS and DVD formats. The 2000 DVD includes a special documentary on the making of the film, including interviews with Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia Hitchcock, and members of the production crew. The DVD retains the original VistaVision aspect ratio, capturing the full widescreen impact of the film, with digitally restored images.

See also

• Djemaa el Fna – Marrakesh marketplace
• "Mr. Yin Presents" – an episode of Psych based completely on Alfred Hitchcock films

References

• Whitburn, Joel (1987). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (3rd ed.). Billboard Publications. ISBN 0-8230-7520-6. 

External links

• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Man Who Knew Too Much at AllRovi
• The Man Who Knew Too Much at the TCM Movie Database
• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Movie stills
• Review at Radiotimes.com
• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Eyegate Gallery
• Alfred Hitchcock Wiki:The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
• Film locations