Alfred Hitchcock – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Continuing with my pledge to watch more classic cinema and more Hitchcock films I watched the 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much (see my full list of challenges here). This marks my 7^th Hitchcock film in total. Here is what I thought about it:

Features: An incredibly weird and out of place scene in a taxidermist’s, the song Que Sera Sera, Jimmy Stewart being Jimmy Stewart, some cultural insensitivity in Morocco and a really tense scene in the Royal Albert Hall.

Plot Summary: The McKenna family are on holiday in Morocco when they unexpectedly become involved in an assassination plot.

Thoughts: This wasn’t actually a film I knew too much about before watching. I had heard of it and knew it starred Jimmy Stewart, but it doesn’t have the same amazing reputation of some of the other Hitchcock films out there. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by this film! I found it really enjoyable, and where others have found the first half hour to be somewhat slow, I thought it built up the tension really well as I knew something was about to go wrong but wasn’t sure of what.

I was actually pretty surprised when I looked up other reviews of the film on the likes of IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, once I had watched it, as people seemed to be slating it. I have to admit, I haven’t seen the original Hitchcock version from 1934, so I don’t feel outraged at the changes as some people seem to be. But even so, in my opinion, as a stand-alone film, if you haven’t seen the original/aren’t fiercely loyal to the original, this is a fun watch. Granted, not the best film I have ever seen, but not bad either. Probably a 7/10 I would say.

I know I mentioned it above but there is one scene I have to quickly point out. A scene in a taxidermy shop that had absolutely no relation to the rest of the plot! Jimmy Stewart walks in, gets in an argument and then has a fight with someone, crashing in to stuffed animals as he does so. I found it absolutely hilarious to look back on when the film finished and I realised it really did have no bearing on the rest of the plot.

Cameo: Hitchcock’s cameo here can be seen while the family watch some street performers in the market place. He has his back to the screen on the left side of the crowd and stands with his hands in his pockets. This is at about 25 minutes in if you’re looking to spot it. There he is on the left of this image!

Note: I had no idea that “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” by Doris Day was from this film until I watched it and looked it up afterwards. It actually won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1957. You learn something new every day – I think that’s a good bit of trivia!

I will continue to watch and review Hitchcock’s films when I watch them! The next Hitchcock film I review will be Rope so look out for that.

Beth x

PS. Apologies for the delay in posting this – I have been busy with work this week and struggled to find time to write this up! x

TBW - My 'To Be Watched' Challenge

When I finished University, I set myself a number of reading challenges (which you can see here) to encourage me to read more fiction after three years of sticking to reading lists. Before I went to University, not only did I used to read lots of fiction, but I also used to watch lots of films. I did watch the occasional film at University, but as they were usually with others, they had to be films everyone would enjoy (so lots of the time ended up being big Hollywood Blockbuster movies). So, I have set myself a number of challenges to force me to watch a wider variety of films, TV shows, and to go to the theatre.

1. Watch the entire IMDB Top 250
2. Watch at least 10 more films in a foreign language
3. Watch a silent film
4. Go to the National Theatre and watch a play
5. Watch a film I have never heard of
6. Go and see a musical
7. Watch 2 TV shows in a foreign language
8. Watch all the Studio Ghibli films
9. Watch some of the classic Disney films I didn’t watch as a child
10. Go to a midnight showing of a film
11. Go to a cinema with a bar in it to watch a film
12. Watch all Stanley Kubrick’s films
13. Watch all Alfred Hitchcock’s films
14. Watch at least 5 documentaries
15. Watch every Best Picture Oscar winning film.

My goal is to have made a serious dent in these by the end of the year, but I haven’t really set myself a deadline. Lots of these I have already made a start on – I have seen 166 of the IMDB top 250 already, been to the National Theatre before, seen a musical in a theatre and seen lots and lots of films in a foreign language for example, but I have put them on the list to encourage me to continue or repeat some of the things I enjoyed.

Anyway this became a much longer post than I intended it to be so I should probably stop here. One more thing is that if you’re curious as to how many of these goals you have already completed, this website is a pretty easy way to take a look.

I won’t blog about every single thing I watch but I will post about anything that I come across that is particularly interesting. Have you got any suggestions for my list? 

Beth x