While British couple Bob and Jill Lawrence and their daughter Betty are holidaying in Switzerland they become friends with Louis Bernard. He is then shot but before he dies he asks Bob to get a note that is hidden in his room and take it to the British Consulate. He retrieves the note but before he can do anything with it he is handed another note… this one warns him that Betty has been kidnapped and he will never see her again if he tells anybody about the content of the first note.The Lawrences return to London and are questioned by the authorities but don't say anything. A phone call then reminds them of the threat to their daughter. This is traced to Wapping where Bob ultimately finds the villains, led by Abbott who appeared friendly when they spoke to him in Switzerland. He and his associates are plotting to kill a foreign dignitary during a performance at the Albert Hall. It will require some quick thinking if Abbott's plans are to be thwarted and Betty saved.Given that this film is over eighty years old it isn't surprising that it feels a bit dated at times but not as much as one might expect. At only seventy five minutes it certainly doesn't drag but at the same time it doesn't feel rushed. The early scenes, in Switzerland, do a great job of setting up the story and introducing the key characters. Once Betty had been kidnapped the tension rose and presented a real dilemma for our protagonists; on the one hand the bad guys are threatening their daughter on the other they are told that if the assassination isn't stopped Europe could be plunged into another war. There is some good action; especially in the final shoot out. The cast is impressive with Leslie Banks and Edna Best doing a solid job as Bob and Jill Lawrence and young Nova Pilbeam doing well as Betty however it is Peter Lorre who dominates proceedings as Abbott… a surprisingly likable character given what he is doing; I'd never have guessed that he didn't actually speak English so had to deliver his lines phonetically. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of older films.

In honor of Alfred Hitchcock's birthday I decided to sit down and watch one of his earlier films, the original The Man Who Knew Too Much. it's nowhere near as polished as his later classics but there is still some entertainment to be had. The premise is very similar to what he tackled in later ventures. It deals with a man and his family who get caught up in a murder and end up 'knowing too much'.One of the problems early on in the film is that most of the leading men all look similar. That is, except for the brilliant Peter Lorre. His character is filled with mystery so I wont spoil anything but I think he was the main bright spot in the film. He stole every scene he was in and then some. Leslie Banks was very reminiscent of Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity with his vulnerability but also how slick he can be as well. The plot of the film ends up being a bit too convoluted for a Hitchcock film, but I was nonetheless impressed by some of the feats he was able to pull off in such an early time in his career. The main one being the end gun battle. Now, the actual scene itself is far bigger than the actual film, so it can seem out of place. But you have to commemorate Hitchcock on his ambition here.So I enjoyed my time watching the film although it's not constructed very well at all. I give Hitchcock a pass and just hope when I watch his own remake of the film it turns out better.+Impressive for a 1934 Hitchcock film +Lorre's performance -Slow at times &convoluted plot 6.7/10

Alfred Hitchcock made two versions of this film. This one and he remade it in 1956. Bob Lawrence (Leslie Banks) his wife Jill (Edna Best) and his daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam) are a British family on a vacation in Switzerland. They befriend a Frenchman named Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay) who is assassinated, but before he dies he tells Jill some vital information to be told to the British Government. The terrorists who killed Louis led by a man named Abbott (Peter Lorre) kidnap Betty so Bob won't tell the police and they go off to get their daughter back. The film works because your invested in what Bob and Jill are doing and you want to see them get their daughter back. Lorre does a good job as Abbott and when I watch the film I still think of him as Hans Beckert from M. I feel the suspense was good but could have been better. Overall I give it 8/10.

The remake needs to be re-watched by me, from memory it was more polished than this film with the better production values, had two great lead performances, a fun scene with the taxidermist and the plot is more fleshed out due to a longer length, but it also wasn't as witty or suspenseful as this, the child was an annoyance and the Que Sera Sera song was unnecessary. This said, the remake does need to be re-watched to see whether that's correct or not. This film is not perfect, and is not as good as The 39 Steps, Sabotage and especially The Lady Vanishes of the 30s British period Hitchcocks but is definitely worth seeing still. It did come across as too short, so the story had a tendency to be rushed and convoluted, and there are times where the action was on the stiff side. The Man Who Knew Too Much is well made still, the settings and locations are a wonder to behold and fit the story like a glove while the photography is atmospheric and professionally done. The music from Arthur Benjamin has a haunting sweeping quality, not among the all-time great Hitchcock film scores but very competent and fits the mood of the film well. The script has a fresh wit and the gallows humour that it's laced with is still humorous and holds up relatively well, the scripting for the more suspenseful scenes is good too and doesn't detract. The story is not perfect, but is mostly interesting and suspenseful, with some great scenes like the chair scene, the dentist scene and the climax. The cast are good generally, Peter Lorre is the definite standout managing to be creepy with a dose of humanity also. Leslie Banks carries the film well, a deliberately emotionally compressed performance but not a wooden one. Edna Best is moving and sympathetic in her role, while Hugh Wakefield is a hoot. Nora Pilbeam did come across as an annoying brat at first but as she grew more resourceful and somewhat feisty she does become less so. All in all, classic Hitchcock it isn't quite, but very good Hitchcock it is. 8/10 Bethany Cox