Irish Film Institute -THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

U.K. • 1934 • BLACK AND WHITE • 35MM • 75 MIN


This film, so much tighter and wittier than the Hollywood remake, marks a decisive ‘relaunch’ for its director, who starts to become the Hitchcock we are all familiar with: the narrative now has not only a personal dimension but a political one, the two being artfully intertwined. It is no coincidence that this follows closely upon the rise to power of Hitler in Germany. International tension will remain a consistent context for his thrillers of the 1930s, then wartime, then, as in North by Northwest, the Cold War. In making this relaunch possible, two collaborators are crucial: producer Michael Balcon, his original patron who now welcomes him back, and Charles Bennett, his new screenwriter, who helps to shape a compelling story of espionage, kidnap, and rescue, moving between Europe and London, with a famous suspense sequence set in the Albert Hall.

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