The Man Who Knew Too Much (The Remake)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Runtime: 120 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles, Ralph Truman

From: Paramount

Que Sera, Sera

My second review of the day (after revisiting the original Man) is finally seeing the 50’s remake for the first time. I have the film on physical media & it’s been too long since any Hitchcock’s been tackled by me. I don’t even have to ask—some will be dismayed that this is my first Doris Day movie. Shame on me-in the far-flung future, more of her work will be seen.

The general plot is the same as in the 1934 movie: the young child of a married couple is kidnapped in a foreign country, the villains want to keep them quiet so an assassination plot isn’t revealed, etc. This time, James Stewart, Day, and their young boy Hank is in Marrakech, Morocco. That provided scenery unique even by 2026 standards. The other 60 or so percent of the movie is in London as Ol’ Jimmy attempts to crack the case.

If I was the insufferable CinemaSins type, some aspects could be nitpicked. However, I am not a turd so I’ll state that those nitpicks didn’t ruin the film. This is not the best from Hitch-mainly because he’s an all-timer who directed at least 6 films I’d put in the “great” category. No shame in this “just” being a very good cinematic experience. The villains here aren’t as memorable as Peter Lorre in ’34—otherwise, this was a nice improvement on that. The direction, the score from Bernard Herrmann, the setting, the cinematography, the VistaVision, the climactic scene featuring the attempted assassination-that was all aces.

Sure, there’s no hysterical chair-throwing brouhaha like in ’34 but there is a great, long scene without dialogue that features an operatic tune. Of course, Timothee Chalamet wouldn’t appreciate that song-in contrast, I did!

I was delighted to see something else from Hitchcock, see Doris Day for the first time, see a new delightful Jimmy Stewart performance, and develop an even further appreciation for what an incredible run Sir Alfred had from 1954 through 1963.