The only remake by 'Master of Suspense' Alfred Hitcock. Although superior in almost every way (except the lack of Peter Lorre) Hitchcock himself preferred his original 1934 film. Compared to Hitchcock's other works 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' (both of the actually) are rather overlooked or even forgotten.James Stewart and Doris Day star as a wedded couple who are on vacation in Morocco with their son. After witnessing a murder of their acquaintance and kidnapping of their son, the lovely middle class family will be drawn into dangerous world of espionage. Pretty basic Hitchcock formula, but not disappointing by one bit. James Stewart give another brilliant performance and his chemistry with Doris Day really carries the film along. The film starts slowly and good part of the first quarter we see just nice family vacationing, but that gives us enough time to really get to know the main characters, and this adds even more thrills to the action sequences. The pace and tension winds up faster and faster until it finishes with (probably one of Hitch's finest scenes) amazing scene in Albert Hall - 12 minutes of pure tension without single word of dialogue.'The Man Who Knew Too Much' is kind off film that by the end is much better than you expected it to be when you were half way through it.

Not sure what Hitchcock film is worse than this monstrosity. Dorris Day is miscast and the boy is obnoxious.

This Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller has the unusual distinction, for this type of film, of including the song which won the Academy Award: "Que, Sera, Sera". It plays a small role in the screenplay. Doris Day(Jo McKenna) is asked to sing something at the London embassy reception for the Prime Minister(PM). She chooses "Que Sera, Sera" because she and her son , Hank,had sung it together recently. She was hoping Hank was upstairs and would recognize her voice. He did, and whistled in response. He was locked in a room with Lucy Drayton, who had kidnapped him while the McKennas were vacationing in Morocco. She and her husband Edward had taken the boy with them in their private plane, to England, to hopefully insure that Ben McKenna(Jimmy Stewart) wouldn't divulge what he had heard from the French intelligence agent Louis Bernard, as he lay dying from a knife in the back. What Ben remembered related to a plot to assassinate a foreign PM in London. Ben now knew too much for the comfort of the conspirators, but knew too little(was missing some pieces) to prevent the assassination. Throughout most of the film, the McKennas have the dual goals of getting Hank back safely, and trying to prevent the assassination by figuring out the missing pieces......When Hank is shown with the Draytons , he seems too calm, as if his situation wasn't anything to worry about. I fault the director for not making him seem upset and scared, screaming and fighting.....Also, we hear the conspirator leader(ambassador) tell the assassin to shoot the PM when the cymbals crash, during the symphony where the PM was taken. Jo(Doris) screams at full volume just before the cymbals crash, spooking the gunman, making him shoot slightly off target, hitting the PM's lower arm. I question how Jo learned about the cymbal signal. Would it have been better fpr her to scream well before the cymbal crash?......So, why did the Drayton's go to Morocco if the assassination was to be in London? Apparently, to pickup the assassin and fly him to London in their private plane. The assassin actually came to the McKenna's Morocco hotel room, thinking they were the Draytons. Jo saw him in the lobby of the symphony hall and they had a few words......This was actually the second film Hitchcock directed with the same title, though the screenplays apparently weren't that similar, and the first one was shot in B&W vs. the Technicolor of the present film. This was one of 4 films Stewart did for Hitchcock vs. the only such film for Doris, who did costar in the later Hitchcock-like thriller "Midnight Lace", which caused her mental anguish.

Alfred Hitchcock may have made better films than this (Psycho and Vertigo come to mind), but in terms of pure, solid filmmaking, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" will keep you entertained from beginning to end.For a basic plot summary, the film focuses on the McKenna family, who (while on a vacation to Morocco) find themselves caught up in a case of political espionage that threatens to tear the family apart.Basically, every portion of this film is solid:-Plot: Will keep you on the edge of your seat as the McKenna's race against time to put together the pieces and come out ahead.-Acting: The combination of Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day pretty much assure a strong "acting" grade, and that is exactly what this movie deserves. They both play great roles that help draw you into the overall context.-Music: Bernard Hermann conducts the soundtrack, so excellence is pretty much guaranteed.-Direction: Hitch includes enough suspenseful interludes and unique camera angles to keep you involved even at the points when the plot bogs down a bit.Overall, this is a solid Hitchcock film that, while perhaps not one of his very best, is easily up near the top of his filmography.