The Man Who Knew Too Much - Alfred Hitchcock

This is the only film that Alfred Hitchcock remade later in his career. The 1934 version is good and is a proper thriller in the Hitchcock style. It opens on a table filled with travel guides and brochures before focusing on one for Switzerland, which dissolves into a gorgeous view of the Swiss mountains. There is a competition going on - ski jumping. One of the people watching is a girl named Betty (Nova Pilbeam), holding her dog. The dog jumps down, but Betty doesn't notice as she is intent on watching the jumping. When she does notices, she goes out to the landing area to grab the dog, just as the skier lands. He crashes in order to miss her and ends up in a pile of people - including Bill Lawrence (Betty's dad played by Leslie Banks), and Abbott (played by Peter Lorre) who is helped up by Nurse Agnes (Cicely Oates). Luckily the skier happens to be a new friend of the family, Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay). 

Sidebar: Having purchased the Criterion Collections box set of 100 years of Olympic films (spine #900), I feel like the footage of the ski jump and crash is taken from the 1928 St. Mortiz Olympic film though I could be wrong. 

After the ski jump fiasco, they all head over to a skeet shooting competition in which Betty's mom Jill (Edna Best) is up for the final against Ramon Levine (Frank Vosper) whom Betty's does not like due to his looks. Jill gets distracted by the chiming of Abbott's pocket watch and loses the challenge. While this may not seem like anything to remember, Hitchcock focuses on the chime, and it comes into play later in the film...as does the shooting skill. No MacGuffin this...though this is the first film in which a MacGuffin appears. The evening party goes well. Betty and Bill are bored so Jill and Louis start dancing together. There is a strange flirting going on between Jill and Louis, and Bill seems to play right into it like it is all a game. To have fun, Bill takes a loose piece of yarn from a scarf Jill is knitting for Louis, and ties it around the button on the tail of Louis's tux...as Jill and Louis dance together. This unravels the scarf, causes some commotion and eventually stops the dance - at which point there is a gunshot. Louis looks at Jill in wonder, then realizes that he has been shot. He tells Jill that there is a secret message about an upcoming assassination hidden in a brush in his room, that she or Bill must take it and keep it safe, and then he dies. I find it really interesting how in these early films it only takes one gunshot to die, or one single knife stab - and not die slowly as the character bleeds out..no, no, no, but a single gunshot to anywhere in the torso leads to almost immediate death (unless there is vital information that needs to be shared...like in opera). Bill goes to Louis's room, finds the brush and the message, but also knows that he is being followed. As he leaves he is caught and brought down for questioning, along with Jill. As he is waiting to be questioned, he receives an urgent note that he reads, bursts into the interrogation room and shares with Jill the note that says Betty has been kidnapped and to not talk to anyone about what they know. The room literally starts spinning, Jill faints, and Bill throws the note in the fire. The next image is of a brooch of a skier, and the camera pans out to show Betty with her mouth covered by a hand, in a sleigh heading away into the woods. The camera shows the dark mountain scenery which slowly dissolves into an evening cityscape.

Starting with the yarn at the dance, there are bits of physical comedy scattered through out this film. There is witty banter at the start of it as well, though that tends to die down some as the plot continues. I had some trouble at the start of the film as both Bill, Louis, and Ramon all have similar builds, and slicked back dark hair - especially Bill and Ramon. I have to admit now that I am not a fan of Peter Lorre. He is a great actor, and his character work is probably why I don't like him. He plays villains in Hitchcock films, and really rubs me the wrong way - in a creepy way. So perfect for the film, but creeps me out some. Donald Spoto writes about how this film opens in the light, wide open mountains, bright hotel lobbies all in contrast to the ends which is small cramped dark alleyways, and sloping roofs instead of snowy hills. It is a great skill to use that contrast to build up tension and claustrophobia. This film is also a continuation of people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Two interesting aspects about the end of the film - a gunfight. First off, there is no underscoring. All you hear are the gunshots. Also, it was somewhat inspired by an actual shootout that took place in the East End of London in 1911. 

There are probably a few different ways to watch this film. Either buying any number of copies on DVD, or possibly even streaming it. Personally I watched the Criterion Collection edition (spine #643) which is available as Blu-ray or DVD. It includes a new digital restoration (which looks great but some of the audio at the start is difficult to pick up), commentary by Philip Kemp, and interview with Guillermo del Toro, restoration demonstration, audio interview with Hitchcock, and audio excerpts of a conversation between Hitchcock and Truffaut - one of his greatest supporters. There is a supposed cameo by Hitchcock, though it isn't a clear visual of him.