An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is ki... Read allAn American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 3 wins & 4 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThroughout the filming, Doris Day became increasingly concerned that Sir Alfred Hitchcock paid more attention to camera set-ups, lighting, and technical matters than he did to her performance. Convinced that he was displeased with her work, she finally confronted him. His reply was, "My dear Miss Day, if you weren't giving me what I wanted, then I would have to direct you!"
- GoofsWhen Hank is being taken by his kidnappers from the chapel to the embassy, the group gets in a left-hand drive large 1953 Humber Mark IV Super Snipe on a Hollywood sound stage. The pretend driver enters on the right, but the supposed front seat passenger can be seen releasing the handbrake, and holding the steering wheel. The car's exhaust sound also does not match the Humber. In the second scene later, the same car enters the embassy rear gate, also on a Hollywood sound stage, and the car can be seen as having red seats. In the next cut, the car pulls up at the rear of the embassy, and Hank and the kidnappers exit. The car has now become a smaller and earlier 1951 Humber Mark IV Hawk, with tan seats, filmed on location in London, although both cars show the same registration number.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Dr. Ben McKenna: Sorry we were gone so long, but we had to pick up Hank!
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: A single crash of Cymbals and how it rocked the lives of an American family.
- Alternate versionsThe original film opened with the Paramount logo followed by their patented wide-screen process, Vista Vision. In the 1980s, Universal reissued the film with their logo, and dropped the reference to Vista Vision. The Blu-Ray edition retains the Paramount/Vista Vision logos at the start, but carries the '80s Universal logo at the end.
- ConnectionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Le contrôle de l'univers (1999)
- SoundtracksStorm Cloud Cantata
(1934)
by Arthur Benjamin and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Bernard Herrmann
Orchestrated by Bernard Herrmann (uncredited)
Covent Garden Chorus and Barbara Howitt, soloist
Featured review
As we learn early in the movie, Doris Day's character has left the stage for marriage and motherhood in a city far from the bright lights. Then her child is abducted and in order to find him she has to return first to the place where she was famous and the people who knew her, and finally to the songs she sang. It's strange, in a movie by Hitchcock, to find we are watching the story of a woman who sacrifices her identity to her husband's and then finds it again, but I find it hard to ignore the parallel between the child held hostage by killers and the singer's career held hostage by her husband. Heavy stuff for 1956.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much
- Filming locations
- St Saviour's Church Hall, St Saviour's Church, Lambert Road, Brixton, London, Greater London, England, UK(Ambrose Chapel, demolished)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $10,190
- Runtime2 hours
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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