Cinema Sunday: The Man Who Knew Too Much

"A" is for April.

And "A" is for Alfred.  

As in Alfred Hitchcock.

As April draws to a close, Cinema Sunday's Alfred Hitchcock month ends with a classic from 1956 starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, the suspense thriller known as The Man Who Knew Too Much.

The place:  French Morocco

The people:  an American family on vacation: Dr. Benjamin "Ben" McKenna (Jimmy Stewart), his wife, popular singer Josephine “Jo” Conway McKenna (Doris Day), and their son Henry "Hank" McKenna

Traveling from Casablanca to Marrakesh, they meet Frenchman Louis Bernard. He seems friendly, but Jo is suspicious of his many questions and evasive answers.

Louis does seem to be up to some shit. The next day, Ben and Jo encounter their French friend in a Moroccan marketplace where Louis has been stabbed in the back. He collapses into Ben's arms, whispers something in the doctor's ear and dies.

That message: a foreign statesman will be assassinated in London and that Ben must tell the authorities about "Ambrose Chappell".

Ben's an affable guy and he's willing to tell anybody anything they want to know. Until he gets the phone call. 

Son Hank has been kidnapped and no harm will come to him if Ben keeps his yap shut. 

Well...  fuck! 

Despite pressure from various authorities, Ben and Jo ain't saying nothing to nobody no how until Hank is returned safely. 

What ensues is a harried rush against time to save their son and also prevent whoever is the target of the assassination from being killed.   

Long story made short: justice prevails, killers are stopped and Hank returns to his parents safe and sound. 

But getting there is a twisted plot of betrayals, red herrings and thrilling suspense.  

When Doris Day was cast to play Jo, the character was changed to be a former singing star which gives Jo a reason to break out into song, including the introduction of would become Doris Day's signature tune "Que Sera, Sera".   

Jimmy Stewart's Ben is prototypical Jimmy Stewart, kind, gentle and friendly. Until you fuck with his family's safety and Stewart ratchets up the intensity a lot. 

The Man Who Knew Too Much is quintessential Hitchcock although the motivation is bit more human and personal than we might be used to in a Hitchcock film, a mother and father driven to secure the safe return of their child.

By the way, the 1956 film was the 2nd time Alfred Hitchcock directed a movie called The Man Who Knew Too Much. He filmed another version in 1934 with a different plot and script.  

The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", sung by Doris Day. 

The Man Who Knew Too Much premiered at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival on April 29,  68 years ago tomorrow.  

Next week's Cinema Sunday marks another milestone: the 90th anniversary of the first short featuring The Three Stooges.