The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) is the only film Hitchcock remade of his own. An American family on holiday in Morocco sees a man killed in the street, and before he dies he whispers something to the father, a doctor: an assassination is planned in London. Because they heard it, their son is taken. If they stay silent, the boy lives. Hitchcock had made the first version in Britain in 1934. He put the difference to Truffaut this way: the first was made by a talented amateur, the second by a professional. At the centre is the Albert Hall sequence. A concert is under way and the killing will happen on one particular cymbal crash. It runs close to twelve minutes and contains not one line of dialogue. All the tension comes from the orchestra advancing and the woman knowingly waiting. The song Doris Day sings won best song, and it is not decoration but part of the plot: she sings it so her child will hear her voice. Bernard Herrmann appears as himself, conducting the orchestra. James Stewart stars; it is one of four films he made with Hitchcock. It runs 120 minutes. Good for: Hitchcock, classic suspense, and a lesson in editing. Less good for: the first half is slow and some side scenes run long.