The Man Who Knew Too Much [Blu-ray]

HITCHCOCK'S "MAN" A "MASTER"PIECE
The "Master of Suspense", Alfred Hitchcock, hits another bullseye with his 1956 production of "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Purists have been known to complain that they prefer Hitchcock's original 1934 version of the story to the lavish, widescreen, color version starring James Stewart and Doris Day, but if viewed side by side, both films stand on their own as classic Hitchcock.

The 1956 "Man" unfolds like a beautiful book, methodically, deliberately, and compellingly. Stewart plays an American doctor and Day is his wife, a retired singer. They are vacationing with their young son, Hank, in Morocco, when they become embroiled in an International incident involving a planned assasination. Their son is kidnapped and taken to London. Day and Stewart follow, where they attempt to get some answers and to locate their son, on their own, without the help offered by Scotland Yard. The film reaches it's exciting climax during a concert at Albert Hall in which...

Blu ray update of Hitchcock's remake of his own 1934 film
This remake of Hitchcock's unremarkable 1934 version is substantially better. As he said in his own words, "Let's say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional."

Naturally there are some events that may be commonplace in the mid 1950's that you would never do today with your child. Specifically, hand him off to a stranger you had just met. In this version the child is a boy of about 9, where the original featured a girl of about 13. I guess it doesn't matter, but I wonder why that character was changed.

This movie also features Doris Day in a rare dramatic role, although she plays a former professional singer and does get to exercise her voice in the movie. At least a plot point supports her doing so. The climatic scene at Albert Hall is retained very close to the original and is equally well done. The film is a good one, although it doesn't reach the heights of "Rear Window," "Psycho," "North by Northwest,"...

GREAT DAY!
Alfred Hitchcock's second version of one of his favorite stories is one of the best, most dramatic suspense films of all. It stars James Stewart and Doris Day as an American couple vacationing in Morocco whose young son is kidnapped to insure their silence when they discover an assassination plot. Moving his film from Africa to England, Hitchcock dazzles American eyes with beautiful and exotic locales while employing his trademark policy of allowing the viewers to know more than the characters know in order to keep suspense at its height. Boy, does that work! I have seen the film more than a dozen times and still can't stay off the edge of the seat. One of the greatest casting coups in Hitchcock history has Doris Day playing the anguished mother and wife of the man who knew too much, and although the story's title names the man, it is the wife's story all the way. She is the emotional center of the story; it is her intuitions, her suspicions, her deductions that propel the...

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