The Man Who Knew Too Much
Original film poster
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by	Uncredited: Alfred Hitchcock
Written by	Story: Charles Bennett D.B. Wyndham-Lewis Screenplay: John Michael Hayes
Starring	James Stewart Doris Day Brenda De Banzie Bernard Miles Alan Mowbray Hillary Brooke
Music by	Score: Bernard Herrmann Songs: Ray Evans Jay Livingston
Cinematography	Robert Burks
Editing by	George Tomasini
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 1, 1956
Running time	120 min.
Language	English
Budget	US$ 1,200,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1956 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. It is a remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name. In the newer version, one of the most financially successful films of its year of release, Brenda De Banzie and Bernard Miles play an apparently benign British married couple, Christopher Olsen plays the son of Day and Stewart and Reggie Nalder and Daniel Gelin are featured as assassins. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 403 × 600 pixels Full resolution (479 × 713 pixel, file size: 169 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was a highly influential British film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was a highly influential British film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Charles Bennett (December 28, 1870 – March 9, 1949) is a former British athlete, winner of the 1500 m at the 1900 Summer Olympics and the first British track and field athlete to become Olympic champion. ... (Dominic) Bevan Wyndham-Lewis FRSL (March 9, 1891–November 21, 1969) was a British writer best known for his humorous contributions to newspapers and for controversial biographies. ... John Michael Hayes (born May 11, 1919) an American playwright. ... James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an iconic, Academy Award-winning American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing screen persona. ... Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff (born April 3, 1924) is an American singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate known as Doris Day. ... Brenda De Banzie was born on July 28, 1915 in Manchester, England. ... Lord Miles of Blackfriars, born Bernard James Miles (27 September 1907 - 14 June 1991) was an English character actor. ... Alan Mowbray (August 18, 1896 - March 25, 1969), was a British stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. ... Hillary Brooke in Ministry of Fear Hillary Brooke (September 8, 1914-May 25, 1999), American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 - February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. ... Jay Livingston (March 28, 1915 - October 17, 2001) was a partner in the composing and songwriter duo with Ray Evans, best known for the songs they composed for films. ... George Tomasini (born April 20, 1909, died November 22, 1964) was the genius American film editor who often worked with very closely with film director Alfred Hitchcock. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... See also: 1955 in film 1956 1957 in film 1950s in film years in film film // Events November 15 - The film Love Me Tender starring Elvis Presley (his first film) opens. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was a highly influential British film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an iconic, Academy Award-winning American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing screen persona. ... Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff (born April 3, 1924) is an American singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate known as Doris Day. ... A VistaVision 35 mm horizontal camera film frame. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. ... Brenda De Banzie was born on July 28, 1915 in Manchester, England. ... Lord Miles of Blackfriars, born Bernard James Miles (27 September 1907 - 14 June 1991) was an English character actor. ... Reggie Nalder (September 4, 1911 – November 19, 1991) was a prolific film and television character actor from the late 1940s to the early 1990s. ... Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 - 29 November 2002) was a French actor, occasional director and screenwriter and one of the great stars of French cinema. ...

Hitchcock told fellow filmmaker François Truffaut that he considered his 1956 remake to be superior, saying that the 1934 version was the work of a talented amateur, the 1956 version the work of a professional.^{[citation needed]} François Roland Truffaut (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ...

The film won an Academy Award for Best Song for "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," sung by Doris Day at several points in the action. The Academy Award for Best Song is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are songwriters and composers. ... Whatever Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) (also transposed as Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)) is a popular song, with music by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. ...

Plot

While an American couple and their young son are traveling on vacation in Morocco, they witness in a marketplace the assassination of a spy. Before dying, the spy passes on to them some vital information. The son of Dr. and Mrs. McKenna (Stewart and Day) is kidnapped to prevent Dr. McKenna from telling the police a devastating secret he has learned. After following a series of leads, the couple discover that the group intends to assassinate a European head of state on the orders of that state's ambassador, during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, where the film's famous climax takes place. They manage to prevent the assassination and rescue their child. The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences is an arts venue dedicated to Queen Victorias husband and consort, Prince Albert. ...

Trivia

• Doris Day's character is a well-known, now retired, professional singer. Several times in the film, she sings the Livingston & Evans song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" which won the 1956 Best Song Oscar under the alternate title "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)." The song reached No. 1 on pop charts in the UK and the U.S. ^{[verification needed]}.
• The film's composer, Bernard Herrmann, was given the option of composing a new cantata to be performed during the film's climax. However, he found Arthur Benjamin's cantata Storm Clouds from the original 1934 film to be so well suited to the film that he declined. Herrmann can be seen conducting the orchestra during the Royal Albert Hall scenes.
• The sequence in Albert Hall runs 8 minutes without any dialogue, from the beginning of Storm Clouds until the climax, when the Doris Day character screams.
• Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is a signature occurrence in most of his films. In The Man Who Knew Too Much he can be seen (25 minutes into the film) watching acrobats in the Moroccan marketplace, with his back to the camera, just before the murder.

External links

• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version) at the Internet Movie Database
• Movie stills