The Man Who Knew Too Much (Criterion Collection) (1934)

I have loved this early Hitchcock film since I was a child. Thanks to home video we were able to view it in our homes instead of cruddy looking TV prints. The public domain versions on video didn't look much better, but we could watch it when we wanted to. Criterion started a trend back in the day with immaculate Laserdisc transfers (boy those were costly!) and then DVD and now blu ray. I am so thankful they have survived all these years so they could bring us great transfers like this one into the hi def age. Who would ever think a little film like this would get the respect and care that it has deserved after all these years. So many people know about the American remake Hitch did and know nothing about this great classic. Well its time for the newer generation to catch Hitchcock's earlier British films thanks to Criterion and these awesome restorations. The Lady Vanishes always will be the cleanest and detailed of their restorations, but The Man Who Knew Too Much comes close. I have never seen this old movie look and sound as good. We can finally follow what is going on in the final scene! Images aren't lost in the shadows. This is one striking picture when you come to realize its from 1934. There are still a few soft spots and blemishes, but they are far and few between. I am so amazed how good the video looks, that I haven't even went through the special features (will love to hear the commentary). The movie survives on its own and doesn't need all the bells and whistles that special editions have (it is nice to have them though).

Criterion just keeps proving to me why they are my favorite when it comes to classic films on blu ray. Cannot thank you enough for releasing this great classic on home video (finally).

Bravo!

One of a series of Hitchcock classics made after the Master escaped making junk like "Waltzes from Vienna", "The Man Who Knew Too Much" was, according to Hitch himself the work of a "talented amateur". I would disagree with that assessment. While this version of "Man" may not have been made while Hitch was at the height of his powers as a director (the 1950's through, arguably, 1963), it shows the same attention to detail, brilliantly thought out and staged sequences that we would see in "The 39 Steps". After failed attempts to remake "The Lodger", Hitchcock finally got the chance to remake his own early work with the 1956 version starring James Stewart and Doris Day.

Hitchcock dreamed up the scenerio for "Man" while on his honeymoon but pitched the idea to producer Michael Balcon as an attempt to adapt one of the Bulldog Drummond stories popular at the time.

SPOILERS:

While vacationing in Switzerland Bob (Leslie Banks), Jill (Edna Banks) and daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam)befriend Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay). During dinner the diplomat is murdered but not before giving Jill that will her to learn of an assassination planned in London. To keep Jill and Bob quiet their daughter is kidnapped.

END OF SPOILERS:

Featuring Peter Lorre in his first English speaking role, "Man" demonstrates that Hitchcock had already begun to develop his skills as a director of taunt thrillers.

In its own way, 1934 version of "Man" although less sophisticated and lighter in tone than the 1956 film, this more compact version of the same story displays wit and ingenuity.

Working in collaboration with the British Film Institute, Criterion has done a marvelous job of transferring this nicely done restoration. Most of the film looks exceptionally good with nice contrast, detail and many of the flaws evident in public domain versions of the film not a problem here.

There are, however, a couple of shots here and there that suffer from a soft image. Two shots of Banks in medium shot are extremely soft and I doubt that it was intentional. It's more than likely that these were the best available versions of those shots as the BFI painstakingly assembled the best version they could from the best surviving elements.

We get a thoughtful commentary track by Phillip Kemp as well as a featurette with film director (and author of an exceptional book on Hitchcock)Guillermo del Toro. The 1972 BBC documentary "The Illustrated Hitchcock" has been trimmed down to around fifty minutes for its presentation here giving a concise overview of Hitch's career. We also get an excerpt from Traffaut's early 60's interview with Hitchcock.

As with all of Criterion's releases, we get a booklet essay by Farran Smith Nehme.

This is a fine restoration by Criterion (at least to my eyes) and the extras are quite nice as well. Is the 1934 "Man" better than the 1956? I'd argue that they are very different films made for different audiences with each one of them having merit.

Buy The Man Who Knew Too Much (Criterion Collection) (1934) Now

Definitely the best this one has ever looked, or ever will....tense but brief, with Hitchcock's future self beginning to show like never before.... Criterion did a great job restoring this incredible film, elevating it miles above those lousy public domain prints we've all seen on tv.... Very different from the 1956 version with Jimmy Stewart--the shootout at the end was not in the later film, but it is welcome here, as it is very well done with a whole lot of lead flying through windows and doors and character actors.... Peter Lorre steals the show as he always seems to do, playing a maniacal bad guy who leads a group of boneheads who attempt to assassinate a political leader at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall during a performance of Storm Cloud cantata (used in the later film as well)....an almost perfect film that sometimes slips off-center from reality, to great effect.... Perfecto....

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Like most, I'm more familiar with the Jimmy Stewart-starring remake than the 1934 original. And by "more familiar with" I mean I didn't know the original existed until a few years ago. Smarter people than I can do a much better job comparing and contrasting the two versions. But I believe it stands up just fine on its own, even while I still prefer the latter version (though an included essay makes a strong argument for the original).

First, though, the restoration. It looks incredible. The film could be average and the restoration job would be worth five stars alone. Similarly, the sound is as clean and crisp as you could want. Criterion has knocked it out of the park again.

As to the film itself, it's immensely enjoyable. It lacks the nuance of the remake and the polish that Hitchcock developed as a director, but it's worth seeing for Peter Lorre's performance alone, his first in English. A performance he delivered, I might add, without knowing quite what he was saying, as he learned his lines phonetically on account of not actually speaking English at the time.

At the end of the day, it's classic Hitchcock presented by Criterion. What's not to like?

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The original version of Alfred Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (Gaumont-British, 1934), has often been overshadowed by the director's 1956 remake starring James Stewart and Doris Day. That version always struck me as an overlong movie built around its popular co-stars, whereas the original is all about the story, which gets told deftly in just 75 minutes. The pattern Hitchcock laid down in THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is revisited to varying degrees in films like THE 39 STEPS (Gaumont-British, 1935), THE LADY VANISHES (Gaumont-British, 1937), SABOTEUR (Universal, 1942), and NORTH BY NORTHWEST (MGM, 1959).

A husband and wife (Leslie Banks, Edna Best), vacationing in St. Moritz, come in possession of knowledge regarding an assassination plot, and have their young daughter (Nova Pilbeam) kidnapped in order to force them to co-operate with the assassins. One big advantage the original version has over the remake is the presence of the fascinating Peter Lorre as the arch villain. This was Lorre's first English speaking role, and he gives a performance that's expertly nuanced with oily menace and perverse humor. Lorre's character goes a long way in giving the film its distinctively dark atmosphere. Of course, the suspense is developed intriguingly, climaxing in the well edited Albert Hall sequence. But it doesn't end there; we then get an exciting shootout between the police and the criminals which reaches it's height literally as one of the kidnappers corners the little girl on the edge of a roof, by which time we're at the edge of our seats in pure, Hitchcockian style.

I'm a great admirerer of Hitchcock's British films, and it always frustrated me that THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH was only available in dupey, public domain copies on budget DVD sets. Happily, this is no longer the case. Criterion's fully restored Blu-ray release of this important Hitchcock work is beautiful, with a clarity to the image and audio that's never been available to us before. This commendable restoration, transferred from a 35mm nitrate fine-grain master print, is sure to renew interest in the original MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, and help put it in proper perspective as being superior to the remake.

The extra features will enthrall any Hitchcock fan: A commentary by film historian Philip Kemp, an interview with director Guillermo del Toro, "The Illustrated Hitchcock" interviews with the director conducted by journalist Pia Lindstrom and film historian William K. Everson, audio excerpts from Francois Truffaut's 1962 interview with Hitchcock, and a restoration comparison. There's also an in-depth booklet with an essay by Farran Smith Nehme.

Highly recommended.

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