The Man Who Knew Too Much
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. U.K., 1934, 74 minutes, 16mm A young British couple holidaying in Switzerland stumble upon a plot to assassinate an ambassador in London. To ensure their silence, the assassins kidnap the couple's daughter. Will they foil the assassination attempt? Will they rescue the child? One of the Master of Suspense's early British thrillers. In 1956, after he moved to Hollywood, the director remade the film and Hitchcock fans have been arguing ever since over which is the best. A highlight is the scene of the attempted assassination. Early in the film, we learn that it is to take place in a concert hall, and that the shooting is timed to coincide with the clashing of cymbals so as to disguise the noise of the shot. Hitchcock wrings suspense from the scene as we await, with rising tension, the moment of the cymbals clashing. Aside from its East End setting, the earlier version scores two great points over its remake. One, of course, is Peter Lorre's brilliant, wheedling turn as the oleaginous Mr Abbott. The other is its climax, recreating the Sydney Street siege of 1911 in a terse and well orchestrated shoot-out which is vastly preferable to Ms Day and her interminable crooning - Jonathan Coe, Sight and Sound (Sept. 1999) Internet Movie Database listing
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