
While attending a medical conference in Paris, American physician Dr. Ben McKenna, his wife, retired musical theater actress and singer Jo McKenna née Conway, and their adolescent son Hank McKenna decide to take a side trip to among other places Marrekesh, French Morocco. With a knife plunged into his back, Frenchman Louis Bernard, who the family met earlier in their bus ride into Marrakesh and who is now masquerading as an Arab, approaches Ben, cryptically whispering into B... (Full plot summary below)
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While attending a medical conference in Paris, American physician Dr. Ben McKenna, his wife, retired musical theater actress and singer Jo McKenna née Conway, and their adolescent son Hank McKenna decide to take a side trip to among other places Marrekesh, French Morocco. With a knife plunged into his back, Frenchman Louis Bernard, who the family met earlier in their bus ride into Marrakesh and who is now masquerading as an Arab, approaches Ben, cryptically whispering into Ben's ears that there will be an attempted assassination in London of a statesman, this news whispered just before Bernard dies. Ben is reluctant to provide any information of this news to the authorities because concurrently Hank is kidnapped by British couple, Edward and Lucy Drayton, who also befriended the McKennas in Marrakesh and who probably have taken Hank out of the country back to England. Whoever the unknown people the Draytons are working for have threatened to kill Hank if Ben divulges any information told to him by Bernard. With what little information they have on hand, Ben and Jo head to London to try and thwart the assassination attempt and more importantly find an alive and safe Hank. Scotland Yard is aware of some pieces to the puzzle, including the fact that Bernard was a French secret service agent and that there will be an assassination attempt on someone. They and the McKennas will have to work together as they hit a diplomatic roadblock, one that may be overcome with a special Jo Conway song.
Leave your thoughts about The Man Who Knew Too Much.
| Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)Ken HankeBloated remake of the superior original, but has its moments. |
| The New York TimesBosley CrowtherEven in mammoth VistaVision, the old Hitchcock thriller-stuff has punch. |
| The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe Man Who Knew Too Much finds the director firmly back in his wheelhouse, extracting all the wit and suspense he can from a pulpy exercise in abduction and conspiracy. |
| Chicago ReaderDave KehrThe film is uncharacteristically rigid and pious for Hitchcock; it feels more like a work of duty than conviction. |
| Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonHitch's remake of his own film results in an equally compelling action thriller with sterling performances from Stewart and Day. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesSusan KingThe second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, which Hitchcock made in 1956, is a curious film. Some of it doesn't really work. |
| Sky CinemaElliott NobleEven middling Hitchcock is a cut above most thrillers. |
| Empire MagazineKim NewmanHitch's remake of his own film results in an equally compelling action thriller with sterling performances from Stewart and Day. |
| Combustible CelluloidJeffrey M. AndersonEach version has certain elements superior to the other, but both films rank as minor Hitchcock works. |
| Filmcritic.comChristopher NullA road trip with James Stewart and Doris Day traipsing from Morocco to London, it's two hours of red herrings and intense scenes, one of the least apologetic adventures he ever made. |