The Man Who Knew Too Much

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The Man Who Knew Too Much

Released Mar 22, 1935

1h 15m

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

88%

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34 Reviews

67%

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5,000+ Ratings

On a family vacation in Switzerland, Bob (Leslie Banks) and his wife, Jill (Edna Best), become friendly with a man staying in their hotel. When the stranger is assassinated in their presence, the vacation turns dangerous. Before dying, the stranger passes along a secret to Jill. Then, to keep the couple silent, a band of foreign assassins kidnaps their daughter. Offered no help by the police, Bob and Jill hunt for their daughter as they try to understand the information that they have.

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TIME Magazine

The story is told in sharp, abbreviated sequences gathering speed steadily toward their explosive climax, makes The Man Who Knew Too Much one of the neatest melodramas of the year.

Oct 25, 2017

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David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

This is a suberbly structured thriller whose excellence is aided and abetted by a spirited cast.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 27, 2009

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Although the film is fast and consistently clever, it is more deeply flawed than any other Hitchcock film of the period, failing to find a thematic connection between its imaginative set pieces.

Mar 27, 2009

Full Review

Forsyth Hardy

Cinema Quarterly

The acting is for the most part simple and straightforward, but there is real subtlety in the performance of Peter Lorre, the Dusseldorf murderer of M, as the anarchist leader.

Feb 4, 2021

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Meyer Levin (Patterson Murphy)

Esquire Magazine

A sort of British G-Men plot, proving that calmness in crisis is more terrific as a suspense medium than the constant rattle of machine guns.

Apr 17, 2020

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Ann Ross

Maclean's Magazine

Peter Lorre's performance as a sort of undercover Napoleon working blandly to stand Europe on its head, is one of the most brilliant screen achievements of the year.

Oct 2, 2019

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Autumn M

I really like Alfred Hitcock's earlier movies so much better than his movies that were filmed in the 1950's and the 1960's. The dialogue is often sharper, and the acting more subtle. That said, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a well-paced thriller. I did not care for the simplistic plot that much, and I did miss my favorite golden age stars that would come later, but yet it still kept my attention. Definitely worth a watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/28/25

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Lucas t

(BEWARE COINTAINS SPOILERS) Rushes through a lot of the important stuff in the start but after the assassination attempt I found myself really enjoying it. 7/10.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/25

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Audience Member

Early Hitchcock. 74 minutes long. Worth your time

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/25

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Russ G

Just awful. Starts out as a spy thriller, a complete muddle in the middle, and then jumps to a pointless, clumsy shoot-em-up. There's no exposition at all. I watched it because it's supposed to be "classic Hitchcock" but found it utterly ham-handed. The '56 remake must have been Sir Alfred's attempt at atonement.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/25

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Leaburn O

Not a good or sensible script for this Hitchcock film. Later remade but I prefer this earlier version, largely because you can;t beat Peter Lorre as a villain. One of my fave actors. Watched on Amazon Prime.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

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Alain E

Totally boring. Hard to understand what is going on. Not worth my time to stay till the end.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/29/24

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Leslie Banks

Bob Lawrence

Peter Lorre

Abbott

Edna Best

Jill Lawrence

Frank Vosper

Ramon

Hugh Wakefield

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Synopsis

On a family vacation in Switzerland, Bob (Leslie Banks) and his wife, Jill (Edna Best), become friendly with a man staying in their hotel. When the stranger is assassinated in their presence, the vacation turns dangerous. Before dying, the stranger passes along a secret to Jill. Then, to keep the couple silent, a band of foreign assassins kidnaps their daughter. Offered no help by the police, Bob and Jill hunt for their daughter as they try to understand the information that they have.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Michael Balcon
Production Co: Gaumont British Picture Corporation Ltd.
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 22, 1935, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 12, 2016
Runtime: 1h 15m

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