The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British film noir political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Leslie Banks and Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period.

The film is Hitchcock's first film using this title and was followed later with his own 1956 film using the same name featuring a significantly different plot and script with some modifications. The second film featured James Stewart and Doris Day, and was made for Paramount Pictures. The two films are very similar in tone. In the book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (1967), in response to filmmaker François Truffaut's assertion that aspects of the remake were by far superior, Hitchcock replied, "Let's say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional." However, it has been said this statement cannot be taken at face value.

The 1934 film has nothing except the title in common with G. K. Chesterton's 1922 book of the same name. Hitchcock decided to use the title because he held the film rights for some of the stories in the book.



Plot
Bob and Jill Lawrence, a British couple on a trip to Switzerland with their daughter Betty, befriend Frenchman Louis Bernard, who is staying at their hotel. Jill is participating in a clay pigeon shooting contest. She reaches the final but loses to a male sharpshooter, Ramon Levine, because at the crucial moment she is distracted by a chiming watch belonging to Abbott.

That evening, Louis is shot as Jill dances with him. Before he dies, he tells Jill where to find a note intended for the British consul; she in turn tells Bob. Bob reads the note, which warns of a planned international crime. The criminals involved in the shooting kidnap Betty, and threaten to kill her if her parents tell anyone what they know. Unable to seek help from the police, Bob and Jill return to England, where they discover that the group, led by Abbott, have hired Ramon to shoot a European head of state during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Jill attends the concert and throws Ramon's aim off by screaming at the crucial moment.

The criminals return to their lair behind the temple of a sun-worshipping cult. Bob had entered the temple searching for Betty, and both are being held prisoner in the adjoining house. The police surround the building and a gunfight ensues. The criminals hold out until their ammunition runs low and most of them have been killed.

Betty climbs up to the roof, fleeing from Ramon, who follows her. A police marksman dares not shoot at him because Betty is so close. Jill grabs the rifle and shoots Ramon, who falls off the roof. The police storm the building. Abbott, the criminal mastermind, is hiding inside but he is betrayed by the chiming of his watch. He shoots himself (as shown by the gunshot smoke) and dies. Betty is reunited with her parents.