The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Movie
German title	The man who knew too much
Original title	The Man Who Knew Too Much
Country of production	Great Britain
original language	English
Publishing year	1934
length	75 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Alfred Hitchcock
script	Charles Bennett , Edwin Greenwood , DB Wyndham Lewis
production	Michael Balcon for Gaumont British Picture Corporation
music	Arthur Benjamin
camera	Curt Courant
cut	Hugh Stewart
occupation
Leslie Banks : Bob Lawrence Edna Best : Jill Lawrence Peter Lorre : Abbott Frank Vosper : Ramone Levine Nova Pilbeam : Betty Lawrence Hugh Wakefield : Clive Pierre Fresnay : Louis Bernard Cicely Oates : Sister Agnes George Curzon : Gibson, Foreign Office Henry Oscar : George Barbor, dentist

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on an original screenplay by Charles Bennett and DB Wyndham-Lewis. The remake of the same name, shot by Hitchcock himself in 1956 , is much better known today.

action

Bob and Jill Lawrence are on a skiing holiday in Switzerland with their daughter Betty. Jill takes part in a competition in clay pigeon shooting, which she just loses against the marksman Ramone Levine. The couple met the Frenchman Louis Bernard, who was shot through a window pane while dancing with Jill on a ball evening. In his last breath, he asks Jill to look for a hidden message in his room and forward it to the British secret service. Bob sneaks into the deceased's room, finds the note, but is soon discovered by the police and asked for questioning. There he receives a telegram in which he is warned to maintain secrecy: His daughter Betty has been kidnapped and she will be violated if he reveals the contents of the note. The couple are silent and go in search of their daughter in London on their own.

Following an address on the slip of paper, Bob and his friend Clive pay a visit to a dentist. In fact, there they come across the criminal Abott, who is instructing Ramone Levine to shoot a state guest. Bob and Clive follow them into a chapel. A sun worshiper sect is celebrating a dubious service and the uninvited guests are recognized. During a fight with Levine, Bob catches a glimpse into his jacket pocket and discovers a ticket for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall . Bob draws his conclusions. He calls after the fleeing Clive to phone Jill to Albert Hall. Then he gets overwhelmed.

While Bob is being held by Abott and his gang in the adjoining rooms of the chapel, Jill makes her way to the Albert Hall as she is told. Shortly before the fatal shot is to be carried out at the state guest, she screams and thus foils the murder. The killer flees into hiding, but is pursued by Scotland Yard .

The police are trying to storm the criminals with a crowd. However, the gang put up fierce resistance and a wild shooting ensues. Bob just manages to free his daughter - he can save her on the roof before he is shot by Levine. Levine follows the girl to the roof. Before he can do anything to her, however, Jill gets him off the roof with a safe rifle shot. At the same time, the police manage to storm the house and kill Abott. The Lawrence family is reunited.

background

The Man Who Knew Too Much has all the ingredients that Hitchcock's films later became known for. A couple from the upper class, picturesque locations, spies and sinister villains as well as time, which plays a decisive role: a recipe that worked even then. The film was Hitchcock's greatest English film hit. He was also extremely successful in America and paved the way for Hitchcock's subsequent move.

There was a real-life role model for the shootout. In 1911, a Baltic anarchist group holed up in a house in London. The police failed to raise the besieged and so the army had to be called in. The incident is known in English crime history as the " Siege of Sidney Street ".

The Australian composer Arthur Benjamin wrote the Storm Clouds Cantata especially for this film , which plays an important role in the film. It was used again in Hitchcock's 1956 remake , where it - visible in the opening credits - was conducted by Bernard Herrmann .

When asked about the differences between the 1934 and 1956 versions, Hitchcock said the first version was made by a talented amateur, the second by a professional.

The Austrian actor Peter Lorre ( M - A city seeks a murderer ) played his first English-language film role in this film. Hitchcock hired him for the film Secret Agent ( 1936) then one more time.

The Actress of the kidnapped daughter Betty, Nova Pilbeam, played three years later starred in Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (Young and Innocent) .

Cameo

Hitchcock also made one of his famous cameo appearances in The Man Who Knew Too Much : wearing a raincoat, he crossed the street after about half an hour of filming.

Reviews

“The equally eventful and precisely staged thriller based on a model by Charles Bennett advanced to Hitchcock's greatest commercial success to date and laid the foundation for his later world career. Many motifs emerge here that pervade and shape the director's later work. Peter Lorre shines as an assassin in his first English-language film. "

- Lexicon of International Films

“The plot of the film is a bit erratic in places; but the tension is perfectly calculated so that "suspense" and surprises complement each other in a sophisticated way. "

- Reclam's film guide

media

literature

• Robert A. Harris, Michael S. Lasky, eds. Joe Hembus : Alfred Hitchcock and his films (OT: The Films of Alfred Hitchcock) . Citadel film book from Goldmann, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-442-10201-4 .

DVD

• The man who knew too much , ELEA Media, has been dubbed German in stores since August 2013. So far, no TV broadcast, although there are older Hitchcock works that were on TV.

Web links

• The man who knew too much in theInternet Movie Database(English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Man Who Knew Too Much in the Lexicon of International Films.
2. ^ Dieter Krusche, Jürgen Labenski : Reclams film guide. 10th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 1996, p. 397.