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The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

★★★ — The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

The Man Who Knew Too Much arrived at a pivotal moment for Hitchcock, coming off the success of The 39 Steps a year later and consolidating his reputation as Britain's foremost thriller director. Produced by Gaumont-British in the mid-1930s, when British cinema was making a serious commercial push to compete with Hollywood product, the film pairs Leslie Banks and Edna Best as the imperilled parents, with a young Peter Lorre (fresh from his breakthrough in Fritz Lang's M) providing the film's most memorable screen presence. Hitchcock remade the story himself in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day, in colour and at considerably greater expense, making this the leaner, scrappier original, running just 76 minutes.

"Shut up fathead" said Father to Daughter in the opening scenes It's like looking in a time machine. 89 years old at time of writing and a truly fascinating look back at what life was like back then. Solid scripting and acting as is typical for Hitchcock. Just a few scenes are a little camp and Hammy today. My girlfriend would have scored it a 4* she said.

Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1934 | Watched: 2025-05-04

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Where to watch (UK)

Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads · ITVX Premium
Rent: Amazon Video
Buy: Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon UK

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