The Man Who Knew Too Much

A conventional conspiracy thriller that sorely lacks all the trademarks of Hitchcock's later works, such as greater formal sophistication and plot coherence. In one of his first "big" films, Hitchcock is too straightforward. After a great opening in St. Moritz, the film soon becomes an uninteresting game of cat and mouse, desperately lacking any plot twist. In addition, the ending in Albert Hall or the final shootout just feels forced, which is not helped by the many unresolved themes. An additional twenty minutes would have done wonders for the film! (08/27/2006)

It’s a typical mess compiled by Hitchcock and Bennett with reference to Chesterton. From a formal point of view, I have to admit that the editing is strange and in some places dysfunctional, while the sound work is striking for 1934. In terms of the acting, it oscillates between the Englishmen, who are crudely just there in the film and move unnervingly according to the signs, and Peter Lorre, who is acting outside Germany for the first time and quite inorganically and downright as himself. Perhaps only with the child actress can we speak of a certain conscious civility. For a new treatment of this very material in the 1950s, and for Lorre's success in English-language films as a result, it's a powerhouse. Not to mention the consolidation of the collaboration between Bennett (originally a budding playwright) and Hitchcock since Blackmail... (01/11/2019)