Retrospective 2016

The Man Who Knew too Much (1956)

Alfred Hitchcock
USA 1956
121 min
V'16

Hitchcock often repeated himself, but THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is his only direct remake. This later version has more charismatic stars in Doris Day and James Stewart, lavish locations, songs, color, and superior production values, and a case can be made for its progressive status in promoting feminist values during the Eisenhower years, through the reluctance of Day to embrace the role of wife and mother at the expense of her own talents. All of this makes the remake into a solid work of Hitchcock’s maturity, even if it sacrifices some of the freshness and energy of the prototype.

Credits
  • James Stewart - Dr. Ben McKenna
  • Doris Day - Jo McKenna
  • Brenda De Banzie - Lucy Drayton
  • Bernard Miles - Edward Drayton
  • John Michael Hayes
  • Robert Burks
  • Gene Garvin
  • Paul Franz
  • George Tomasini
  • Bernard Herrmann
  • Hal Pereira
  • Henry Bumstead
  • Edith Head
Paramount Pictures
35 mm
col
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