The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and screenplay by John Michael Hayes from a story by Charles Bennett and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis, The Man Who Knew Too Much is the story of a vacationing couple in Morocco whose son witnesses an assassination plot as he is kidnapped prompting the couple to get their son back. A remake of the 1934 film of the same name, the film is a suspense thriller that explores a couple who deals with what their son discovered as they also realize what is at stake in not just for their son but for so much more. Starring James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles, Christopher Olsen, Daniel Gelin, and Reggie Nalder. The Man Who Knew Too Much is a riveting and exhilarating film from Alfred Hitchcock.

The film revolves around a couple who go to Marrakesh during a vacation in Morocco as they meet a Frenchman whom they would later see killed in an assassination plot as their son is later kidnapped as they wonder what is going on. It’s a film that play into a doctor and his wife whose meeting with a Frenchman and then see him killed the next day who gives the doctor a message as he becomes unsure whether to tell the authorities after getting a call that his son had been kidnapped. John Michael Hayes’ screenplay, with un-credited contributions from Angus McPhall, opens the film with an orchestral performance that would be crucial to its climax in relation to what is at stake in this assassination plot. Dr. Benjamin McKenna (James Stewart) and his pop singer wife Josephine “Jo” Conway McKenna (Doris Day) were with their son Hank (Christopher Olsen) when they meet Louis Bernard (Daniel Gelin) on a bus as they would later have a dinner with him only to be cancelled as the McKennas later dine with a British couple in Edward and Lucy Drayton (Bernard Miles and Brenda de Banzie respectively).

The Draytons aren’t what they seem when they suddenly disappear as Hank was with Lucy shortly after the assassination plot they witnessed where Bernard told Dr. McKenna crucial information. The first act takes place in Marrakesh while its second act is in London where the McKennas arrive to find a person named Ambrose Chappell based on a note that Dr. McKenna wrote from what Bernard told him. Their arrival in London is met with fanfare for Jo as she still had some air of popularity during her time as a singer where some old friends of her come and visit her at the hotel she and her husband stay in. It is in London that leads to this climatic event at the Royal Albert Hall as well as who is the target of this major assassination plot as the script manages to maintain this slow build but keep investing in its approach to suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock’s direction does bear style as it just opens with this orchestral performance of Arthur Benjamin’s Storm Clouds Cantata as it would be a piece re-played for its climax. Shot in locations in Morocco and London, the film does play into a world where this couple and their young son are just pawns of as they would witness a man being killed and later be involved about a secret assassination plot. While there are some wide shots that Hitchcock would create, much of his direction is emphasized more on attention to detail in the close-ups and medium shots as it play into the drama but also certain clues that play into the mystery. Hitchcock would also infuse some stylish shots as it play into the suspense and drama as well as the air of misdirection where Hitchcock would take a character somewhere and then put that person in the wrong place.

Hitchcock’s direction also play into this world where one couldn’t trust anyone as Dr. McKenna’s believes that there are authorities who are corrupt following a meeting he and Jo had with an immigration official where Dr. McKenna gets a call that Hank had been kidnapped. One of the few figures that the McKennas do trust but never tell them what they know is Inspector Buchanan (Ralph Truman) who understands the severity of their situation but is aware of what is at stake for the McKennas. The film’s climax is set at the Royal Albert Hall during this performance as it is about where the target is at and where the assassin is at the importance of the music piece. Hitchcock’s usage of geography and timing is key to that event as it would be followed by an aftermath where music is once again key to the dramatic suspense but it is presented in a more intimate setting. Overall, Hitchcock crafts a thrilling and captivating film about a couple whose son is kidnapped after they had witnessed a murder that involves a major assassination plot.

Cinematographer Robert Burks does brilliant work with the film’s colorful cinematography as it captures the exquisite beauty of some of the locations in Morocco and in London in its daytime exteriors as well as the usage of low-key lights for some of the nighttime interior scenes. Editor George Tomasini does excellent work with the editing as it help play into the suspense and drama with some structural fade-outs and rhythmic cuts that include the film’s climax at the Royal Albert Hall. Art directors Henry Bumstead and Hal Pereira, with set decorators Sam Comer and Arthur Krams, do fantastic work with the look of the hotel rooms and dining room in Marrakesh as well as the hotel suite they stay at in London as well as the mysterious home of Ambrose Chappell.

Costume designer Edith Head does amazing work with the costumes from the dresses that Jo wears as well as the glamorous clothes that some of the attendees at the Royal Albert Hall wear. Sound recordists Paul Franz and Gene Garvin, with sound editor Bill Wistrom, do superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as in creating sound effects to help play into the suspense. The film’s music by Bernard Herrmann is incredible for its orchestral score with some lush string arrangements for the somber moments and some bombastic textures to play into the suspense while Herrmann appears in the film’s climax as the conductor for a performance of Arthur Benjamin’s Storm Clouds Cantata while the music soundtrack also features an original piece in Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be) that is written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans as it is a crucial song that is used for its final showdown.

The casting by William Cowitt, Gary Fifield, Bill Greenwald, Edward R. Morse, and Tony Regan is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from George Howe and Richard Wordsworth as two men named Ambrose Chappell, Alexis Bobrinskoy as Britain’s prime minister, Alan Mowbray and Hillary Brooke as a couple of Jo’s old friends visiting her in London, Reggie Nalder as a mysterious man that the McKennas meet early in the film, Mogens Weith as a foreign ambassador who might have some involvement with the assassination plot, and Christopher Olsen as the McKennas’ young son Hank. Daniel Gelin is terrific in his brief yet crucial performance as Louis Bernard as a French-Moroccan man whom the McKennas meet early in the film as he is an ambiguous figure yet would be killed because of some information he discovered that he would pass to Dr. McKenna.

Ralph Truman is superb as Inspector Buchanan as a police inspector in London who wants to help the McKennas but is aware of what is at stake as he stays close to them while attending to other matters that would relate to the film’s climax. Bernard Miles and Brenda de Banzie are fantastic in their respective roles as Edward and Lucy Drayton as a British couple the McKennas meet as they look at various sites in Marrakesh with the former knowing how to speak French but they’re also a couple who provide intrigue in the way they present themselves and the way they look at the McKennas the first time they’re shown. Finally, there’s the duo of James Stewart and Doris Day in incredible performances in their respective roles as Dr. Ben McKenna and Jo McKenna as this American couple who witness a murder and later deal with their son being kidnapped with Stewart being a rational man trying to understand what is going on and is aware that he can’t trust anyone while Jo is a woman that is just troubled as she would also embark on her own investigation as she makes a major discovery and play a key role in the film’s climax.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a spectacular film from Alfred Hitchcock that features sensational performances from James Stewart and Doris Day. Along with its supporting ensemble cast, usage of geography and location, riveting screenplay, and Bernard Herrmann’s sumptuous music score. It is a film that does a lot that is expected in the world of suspense and drama while it’s also one of Hitchcock’s quintessential film in terms of emphasis on attention to detail and maintaining an atmosphere to play up the suspense. In the end, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a tremendous film from Alfred Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock Films: (Number 13) - (The Pleasure Garden) - (The Blackguard) - (The Mountain Eagle) - (The Lodger) - (A Story of the London Fog) - (The Ring) - (Downhill) - (The Farmer’s Wife) - (Easy Virtue) - (Champagne) - (The Manxman) - (Blackmail) - (Juno and the Paycock) - (Murder!) - (The Skin Game) - (Mary) - (Lord Camber’s Ladies) - (Rich and Strange) - (Number Seventeen) - (Waltzes from Vienna) - (The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)) – The 39 Steps - (Secret Agent) - (Sabotage) - (Young and Innocent) – The Lady Vanishes - (Jamaica Inn) – Rebecca – (Foreign Correspondent) – (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) – Suspicion - (Saboteur) – (Shadow of a Doubt) – Lifeboat - Bon Voyage (1944 film) - (Spellbound) – (Notorious) – (The Paradine Cage) – Rope - (Under Capricorn) – (Stage Fright) – Strangers on a Train - I Confess - Dial M for Murder - Rear Window - To Catch a Thief - (The Trouble with Harry) – (The Wrong Man) – Vertigo - North by Northwest - Psycho - The Birds - Marnie - (Torn Curtain) – (Topaz) – (Frenzy) – (Family Plot)

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Hobson's Choice

Based on the play by Harold Brighouse, Hobson’s Choice is the story of a boot shop owner in Victorian England who copes with his eldest daughter’s decision to live her own life and marry his boot smith. Directed by David Lean and screenplay by Lean, Wynyard Browne, and Norman Spencer, the film is an exploration of a man coping with changes as he tries to maintain his own ideas while his daughters would rebel against the old rules. Starring Charles Laughton, Brenda De Banzie, Daphne Anderson, Prunella Scales, Richard Wattis, Derek Blomfield, and John Mills. Hobson’s Choice is a riveting and delightful film from David Lean.

Set in the late 1800s at Lancashire, the film revolves a boot shop owner whose life is about to change when his eldest daughter decides to marry his best boot smith and start her own business after hearing that she is considered too old to be married. It’s a film that play into this man who is quite pompous and often quite selfish as he pays more attention in going to a pub to drink rather than give his daughters the freedom to make something of themselves. Even as his best boot smith is feeling unappreciated for his work when a posh customer commends his work but still gets underpaid. The film’s screenplay doesn’t just explore the ideals of Henry Hobson (Charles Laughton) but also someone that wants to operate everything from his business to his life at home a certain way. Even as he wants his two youngest daughters to be married but with men of his choice rather than their own choice while his eldest daughter Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) is thirty-years-old as he think she’s too old to get married and would rather have her run the business and household which she’s good at.

When Maggie hears what her father has said about her to his friends at the local pub, she realizes that she has to do something for her own independence where she forces her father’s best boot smith in Willie Mossop (John Mills) to marry him and take part in a partnership where he would make the boots and she would sell them and run the business. It’s a move that shocks her father who tries to move on without her but both Alice (Daphne Anderson) and Vicky (Prunella Scales) have a hard time trying to run the household and the business. One of the unique aspects of the script is the developing relationship between Maggie and Willie where even though it’s the former that is doing all of the decision-making. It’s Willie who would become much smarter and more confident as he starts off as someone with little ambition but through Maggie’s patience in educating him and learning bits about the business.

Willie would come into his own while Maggie finds an equal in her life which would inspire Alice and Vicky to find men that they want to marry in their own terms. It’s something that Hobson would struggle with but also his own negligence towards his daughters and the fact that he’s an alcoholic. Hobson is a very unique character who is either oblivious in his selfishness or stubborn in his refusal to accept the changes around him. Especially at one point where he goes to the pub because the dinner Alice and Vicky made for him wasn’t satisfactory to his liking as it would play into the fact that times are changing and all of his bad vices and behaviors is catching up with him.

David Lean’s direction is definitely mesmerizing not just for its sense of theatricality since much of the film is shot in soundstages with some of it exteriors shot in old areas in Manchester where the film is partially set. While there are some wide shots to establish some of the locations, Lean would go for something that is more intimate in its visuals in the way he captures life at the shop as well as the raucous world of the pubs. The direction also has Lean create some moments that are quite surreal as it relates to Hobson’s alcoholic state late in the film such as a scene early in the second half where he sees the moon reflected on puddles and tries to stomp them out. The direction also has a theatricality in some of the wide shots such as the very first time one of Maggie’s sisters sees Maggie with Willie as well as the day of their wedding dinner where Maggie’s sisters are with the men they want to marry.

The direction also has Lean create moments that are quite humorous but in a very low-key way as it relates to Willie and the situation he’s forced into. Yet, even as he is developed into a more educated man with ideas of his own. There is still aspects of him that is quite simple where Lean would create a simple shot as it has something that is also very enjoyable. Notably the sequence of the wedding night where it’s about Willie trying to figure what to do while Maggie is in the other room. The film’s climax isn’t just about what Maggie and Willie had achieved but also a fall of sorts for Hobson who is forced to face reality about himself and the situation he’s in as it relates to his business. Overall, Lean crafts a witty yet whimsical film about a boot shop owner trying to deal with changing times and his own faults.

Cinematographer Jack Hildyard does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography from the gorgeous exterior shots in the park and in the day to some of the interior scenes at night including at the home/shop that Maggie and Willie live/work at. Editor Peter Taylor does superb work with editing as it is largely straightforward with a few rhythmic cuts for some of the film‘s surreal moments. Art director Wilfred Shingleton does brilliant work with the art direction from the look of Hobson’s boot shop and the basement where the boots are made to the pub where Hobson frequents at.

Costume designer John Armstrong does fantastic work with the period costumes as well as the design of the boots that are made and the ragged suit of Hobson. The sound work of John Cox is terrific for the simplicity of the sound as well as the raucous atmosphere of the pubs. The film’s music by Malcolm Arnold is wonderful for its low-key yet playful orchestral music while music director Muir Matheson provide a soundtrack filled with the traditional pub songs of the times.

The film’s incredible cast feature some notable small roles from John Laurie as Dr. MacFarlane, Dorothy Gordon as Willie’s original fiancée, Julien Mitchell as the pub owner, Gibb McLaughlin and Philip Stainton as a couple of pub regulars who are friends of Hobson, Jack Howarth as another boot maker at Hobson’s shop, and Helen Haye as the posh customer who appreciates Willie’s work as she would play an integral part in Willie and Maggie’s new business. Derek Blomfield and Richard Wattis are superb in their respective roles as the corn merchant Freddy Beenstock and the solicitor Albert Prosser as the two men whom Vicky and Alice, respectively, want to marry while they would also be involved with Maggie and Willie’s business.

Prunella Scales is excellent as the youngest daughter Vicky who often does the cleaning as she also tries to cook for her father while Daphne Anderson is fantastic as the middle daughter Alice who knows how to run and manage the business but is aware that it’s not enough for her father. John Mills is brilliant as Willie Mossop as a boot smith who is good at what he does while he finds himself being in a business venture with Maggie where he realizes that he has a lot more to offer. Brenda De Banzie is amazing as Maggie Hobson as a 30-year old woman who decides to go into business by herself with Willie as she is someone with a lot of brains while realizing there’s more to Willie as she falls for him. Finally, there’s Charles Laughton in a phenomenal performance as Henry Hobson as a boot shop owner who prides himself in being the best at what he does but is often very selfish and often drinks himself unaware that he’s done a lot to hurt his family as well as be a fool to himself.

Hobson’s Choice is a sensational film from David Lean that features tremendous performances from Charles Laughton, Brenda De Banzie, and John Mills. It’s a film that has a lot of wit but also a compelling story about changing times and a man’s selfish refusal to accept it. In the end, Hobson’s Choice is a spectacular film from David Lean.

David Lean Films: In Which We Serve - This Happy Breed - Blithe Spirit - Brief Encounter - Great Expectations (1946 film) - Oliver Twist (1948 film) - The Passionate Friends - Madeleine (1950 film) - The Sound Barrier - Summertime (1955 film) - The Bridge on the River Kwai - Lawrence of Arabia - Doctor Zhivago - Ryan's Daughter - (Lost and Found: The Story of Cook’s Anchor) - A Passage to India - (The Auteurs #74: David Lean)

© thevoid99 2017