... Casablanca, The Seventh Seal and The Lady Vanishes are adored, remastered and distributed widely today because they're great films with enough relevance, humour, class and genius to appeal to people still. I watched The Lady Vanishes (Hitchcock's last British film before he moved to America ... Read review
Alfred Hitchcock himself called this 1934 British edition of his famous kidnapping story ... more
"the work of a talented amateur", while his 1956 Hollywood remake was the consummate act of a professional director. Be that as it may, this earlier movie still ha...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
While holidaying in Switzerland with their daughter Betty, Jill Lawrence and her husband ... more
accidentally become involved in murder and intrigue when an undercover Secret Service agent, Louis, whispers the whereabouts of a vital message to Lawrence as he lies dying from a gunshot wound.
James Stewart and Doris Day, in a rare dramatic role, are superb in this brilliant ... more
suspense thriller from the undisputed master. Stewart and Day play Ben and Jo MacKenna, innocent Americans vacationing in Morocco with their son, Hank. After a French spy dies in Ben's arms in the Marrakech market, the couple discovers their son has been kidnapped and taken to England. Not knowing who they can trust, the McKennas are caught up in a nightmare of international espionage, assassinations and terror. Soon, all of their lives hang in the balance as they draw closer to the truth and a chilling climactic moment in London's famous Royal Albert Hall.
James Stewart and Doris Day, in a rare dramatic role, are superb in this brilliant ... more
suspense thriller from the undisputed master. Stewart and Day play Ben and Jo McKenna, innocent Americans vacationing in Morocco with their son, Hank. After a French spy dies in Ben's arms in the Marrakech market, the couple discovers their son has been kidnapped and taken to England. Not knowing who they can trust, the McKennas are caught up in a nightmare of international espionage, assassinations and terror. Soon, all of their lives hang in the balance as they draw closer to the truth and a chilling climatic moment in London's famous Royal Albert Hall.
James Stewart and Doris Day star in this exciting Hitchcock suspense yarn complete with ... more
murder assassination plots kidnapping and a hair raising climax. Dr Ben Mackenna (Stewart) and his wife Jo (Day) take their ten year old son on holiday to Morocco and get caught up in a web of intrigue when he is kidnapped. They are forced to travel to London to find him which results in a memorable murder sequence at the Royal Albert Hall. 'Que Sera Sera' sung by Doris Day won an Oscar (Best Song 1955).
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Very entertaining in those days I'm sure... Disadvantages: but we're in the 21st century now
...films deemed too irrelevant for the common movie-goer. Alas I just can't seem to give this DVD the thumbs up.
You see, the thing is -if a black and white film, handicapped with the inevitable restrictions of movie-making in yesteryears, is to be an enjoyable experience for an audience today, it must have certain qualities of timelessness to it. Casablanca, The Seventh Seal and The Lady Vanishes are adored, remastered and distributed ... ...to people still. I watched The Lady Vanishes (Hitchcock's last British film before he moved to America to make such international blockbusters like Vertigo and Psycho) prior to this DVD and found that to be suspenseful enough despite it being made around the same time with this film. However I must say that The Man Who Knew Too Much proved just too boring and sketchy for me despite having such a promising plot and such a decent cast. Vintage Hitchcock ... more
First let me say that I'm a big fan of Hitchcock, a big fan of old cinema, a big fan of black and white films and a big fan of films deemed too irrelevant for the common movie-goer. Alas I just can't seem to give this DVD the thumbs up.
You see, the thing is -if a black and white film, handicapped with the inevitable restrictions of movie-making in yesteryears, is to be an enjoyable experience for an audience today, it must have certain qualities of timelessness to it. Casablanca, The Seventh Seal and The Lady Vanishes are adored, remastered and distributed widely today because they're great films with enough relevance, humour, class and genius to appeal to people still. I watched The Lady Vanishes (Hitchcock's last British film before he moved to America to make such international blockbusters like Vertigo and Psycho) prior to this DVD and found that to be suspenseful enough despite it being made around the same time with this film. However I must say that The Man Who Knew Too Much proved just too boring and sketchy for me despite having such a promising plot and such a decent cast. Vintage Hitchcock doesn't quite cut it here. I've a great deal of patience for films with no apparent urgency or cutting edge to it but the greatest stumbling block here is that it's a thriller above all, and plainly not exciting enough for me.
SYNOPSIS: The Lawrence family is on a holiday in Switzerland and meets a spy who is then assasinated in front of them. The spy managed to whisper a political secret regarding an assasination to them just before dying but their daughter is kidnapped to buy their silence. Following that, they return to London to locate the kidnappers while at the same time trying to prevent the impending assassination amidst the pressures from the powers that be to reveal the secret and ultimately sacrifice their child.
CAST: Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre do quite a good job here (especially Best as the anxious wife) but their star appeal is compromised by the sheer outdated texture of this film which tends to bore more than entertain.
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: There were quite a few good banters but I've forgotten them now because the entire package just made me lose all interest in the story.
BEST SCENE: When the wife was flirting with the spy in front of the husband and daughter. Very clever and classy dialogue. Very English even, if I might add.
IMDB RATING: 7/10
MY RATING: 5/10
VERDICT: For those who are inclined to think that anything Hitchcock is Psycho-esque, this film will prove you wrong. I think if you bought this DVD today and sat through all 78 minutes of it, then you and I would make just about the only two people in the world who did it in the last 30 years. I'd very much hope the 1956 remake of this with James Stewart and Doris Day is going to be more exciting when I watch it next week. Someone who watched that should renew my jaded faith by leaving me a positive comment on the remake. Please tell me it's better than this!
Advantages: Clever dialogue, decent plot, classic Hitchcock Disadvantages: Simply too dated for 99% of people
DVD and found that to be suspenseful enough despite it being made around the same time with this film. However I must say that The ManWhoKnewTooMuch proved just too boring and sketchy for me despite having such a promising plot and such a decent cast. Vintage Hitchcock doesn't quite cut it here. I've a great deal of patience for films with no apparent urgency or cutting edge to it but the greatest stumbling block here is that it's a thriller above all, and plainly not exciting enough for me.
SYNOPSIS: The Lawrence family is on a holiday in Switzerland and meets a spy who is then assasinated in front of them. The spy managed to whisper a political secret regarding an assasination to them just before dying but their daughter is kidnapped to buy their silence. Following that, they return to London to locate the kidnappers while ...
Advantages: Doris Day Disadvantages: Out of date social ideas
Hitchcock had a rather annoying habit of re-filming his earlier black and white successes. This occasionally worked: this one does, principally because of his inspired casting of Doris Day as his regular 'cool blonde'. She is anything but cool??..principally because her new husband is an officious and domineering misogynist. How can anyone justify drugging their spouse into unconsciousness (when her son has been kidnapped)? This is the scene where Day is at her best, a best I never knew she had in her????It could have been so easy to overplay the panic, but she never puts a moan wrong. Occasionally the acting is a little over the top in later scenes, but never to the detriment of the overall story.
The story? A country surgeon-doctor from rural USA (James Stewart) and his recently married wife (Doris Day), a former singer, are ...
Advantages: Excellent acting, powerful story! Disadvantages: Need to concentrate
amazing to see the barriers that can be placed between us and the truth and I would suggest every man and woman watch this film. The acting alone will make it worth your while but the story itself is excellent.
The Cast
=
Al Pacino - Lowell Bergman
Russell Crowe - Jeffrey Wigand
Christopher Plummer - Mike Wallace
Diane Venora - Liane Wigand
Philip Baker Hall - Don Hewitt
The cast is longer but I didn't think you wanted everybody. If you did???. hard luck **LOL**
Directed by - Michael Mann (The Last of the Mohicans)
From a book by Marie Brenner - The ManWhoKnewtooMuch
Released - November 5 1999
Running time - 157 minutes
Cost
DVD - £14.99 ($27.99)
VHS - £12.99($9.99)
VHS Widescreen Addition -$14.99
Prices taken from Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
wayn10ch ...
Man Who Knew Too Much ( 1955 United States of America ), Man Who Knew Too Much ( 1955 United States of America ), Man Who Knew Too Much ( 1955 United States of America )
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
ITV DVD; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
31/01/2000
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
37115 00333
Barcode
5037115003331
Production Designer
Alfred Junge
Music Director
Louis Levy
Screenwriter
Charles Bennett
Editor
Hugh Stewart
Cinematographer
Curt Courant
Author
Charles Bennett, A. R. Rawlinson, D. B. Wyndham-Lewis, Edwin Greenwood
Hitchcock's first and arguably superior production of the same story he retold in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day, and critics continue to argue the film's merits versus its successor. An English couple on holiday in Switzerland find themselves embroiled in an international plot to assassinate a foreign dignitary when the husband overhears the secret and their daughter is kidnapped. This taut, suspenseful thriller is aided by the director's wry wit and tight pacing.
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