Writer: John Michael Hayes
Starring: James Stewart, Doris Day
Released: 1956
A remake of one of Hitchcock's own earlier British films, The Man Who Knew Too Much features an American family, the McKennas, who start the film on holiday in Morocco.
The family befriends a mysterious Frenchman, Louis Bernard, who later dies in Dr McKenna's (Stewart) arms, but not before whispering a message about a murder plot in London to him. The family are then plunged into a nightmare situation they don't really understand when a British couple staying at their hotel kidnaps the family's son, Hank.
With little help from the authorities, Dr and Mrs McKenna (Day) go to London to try and find their son themselves. There, they get caught up in a plot to kill a visiting Prime Minister by the people who took their son.
This film was made by Hitchcock as a contractual obligation, and it shows at times. The film seems unfocused and crawls along at a slow pace, and the standard of acting in the film (Stewart aside) is not the best. The plot is quite thin (especially for a film that lasts for 2 hours), and is not packed with the usual twists and thrills that you would expect from a Hitchcock film. The (pre-)finale involving the conclusion of the murder plot at the Royal Albert Hall (actually filmed in LA) is the highlight of the film, but is then spoiled by a mediocre second finale at an embassy where the McKennas go to get their son back.
Overall, this is one of Hitchcock's worst films. Despite the efforts of James Stewart, it is badly acted by almost everybody in the film, badly plotted (the whole film seems to involve an improbable series of good/bad coincidences, depending on how you look at them), and is actually quite boring. This is barely worth watching unless you're a Hitchcock or Stewart fanatic.
Rating: 2/5
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