Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1956)

9/ifn *f htitincthH The Man Who Knew Too Much" Hitchcock At Best %«4iHe44 IZatiHf OOO Plus Hitchcock's best thriller in a long time. Colorful and exciting, good marquee, exploitation will help to sock returns. This is Hitchcock's best picture in years. A remake of his own 20-year old film, the director has turned, once again, to the kind of plot and suspense situations with which he is most successful: foreign intrigue, rapidly shifting backgrounds, tension that mounts as the characters try to unravel a secret. In all these respects the film resembles the director's early suspense classic, "The Thirty-Nine Steps". With all the natural excitement of the situation, with the sock marquee combination of James Stewart and Doris Day, and with an exquisite VistaVision-Technicolor print, its boxoffice performance figures : to be very strong in general situations. Subject matter is highly exploitable, and the Hitchcock credit has appeal approaching the irresistible. Adapted from a story by Charles Bennett and D. B. Wyndham-Lewis, the script by John Michael Hayes (Hichcock's usual scenarist) and Angus MacPhail sparkles with amusing and finely provocative dialogue and, more often than not, with appropriate economy. There are some loose ends in the yarn, and occasionally the plotting seems arbitrary, but these are relatively minor flaws, for they will disturb only the most discriminating segment of the viewing public. All in all, it's an engrossing screenplay. And it is all the more effective in the foreign locations employed to bring verisimilitude to the story. Extensive footage was shot in Marrakesh, French Morocco, and in Dying secret agent Daniel Gelin whispers to Stewart the fateful words that make him ''the man who knew loo much". Stewart s son is kidnapped to prevent the father from going to police with the information he has about an impending assassination. James Stewart, an American physician, has administered sedatives to his wife, Doris Day, and prepares to tell her their son has been kidnapped. London, and it is vividly authentic. Academy-Award winning photographer, Robert Burks ("To Catch a Thief"), has made the best of these advantages, for continuously exciting lensing work, possessing fine clarity and color. The Hitchcock "touch" is, of course, evident in every sequence. There are countless striking effects and details that lend interest to every scene. The action footage is brisk, tense, and high-pitched. And the film's big scene — a concert in Albert Hall at which an ambassador is to be assassinated — works up to almost unbearable suspense (the fatal shot is to be fired when the cymbals clash). The entire film is brilliantly paced, never dragging despite its 120-minute length. And from first to last, the director has supplied no end of fingernail-biting material. Stewart and Day head the largely European cast. Both give sock performances as husband and wife whose son (Christopher Olsen) is kidnapped and who are unwillingly involved in an international incident. The plot calls on Day to sing two songs — "Whatever Will be" and "We'll Love Again" — which she delivers in fine style. The supporting cast is strong without exception, with Brenda de Banzie outstanding. Associate producer Herbert Coleman has helped maintain the over-all neatness and effectiveness of the production. All technical phases are excellent. While vacationing in Marrakesh, Stewart and his wife, Miss Day, and their son, Chris Olsen, become friendly with Daniel Gelin, a disguised French secret agent. When he is murdered in their presence, the family is involved. De Banzie and her husband, Bernard Miles, kidnap young Olsen to prevent Stewart from telling the police that Bernard has put him on to the plans for an official's murder. Story concerns their attempts to get at the truth and to find their son. Day prevents the assassination, and she and Stewart recover their son. Paramount. 120 minutes. James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles, Ralph Truman, Daniel Gelin, Hillary Brooke, Christopher Olsen. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screenplay by John Michael Hayes and Angus MacPhail. Director of photography, Robert Burks. Edited by George Tomasini. Costumes, Edith Head. Assistant director, Howard Joslin. Music scored by Bernard Herrmann. Associate producer, Herbert Coleman. Film BULLETIN May 14, 1956 Page 7 [More REVIEWS on Page 10]