THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956)

It seems to be generally agreed that this remake by Alfred Hitchcock of his own 1930's English thriller is inferior to the original. Unfortunately that has led some to dismiss the film as a failure and it is far from that. That it is suspenseful goes without saying and even the Doris Day hit song is playfully woven (if somewhat self consciously) into the plot which tells of an American couple whose son is kidnapped to stop them revealing knowledge of an assassination. Doris Day is a fine dramatic actress with a particular talent for portraying normality and Hitchcock uses this to great effect and James Stewart is quite superb at exploiting the hysteria that lurks just beneath the surface of his more obvious persona. For the film buffs there are some interesting faces in the cast. Look out for Noel Willman (who was the vampiric Dr.Ravna in KISS OF THE VAMPIRE) and Hollywood heavy Leo Gordon in the non-speaking role of a villainous chauffeur. Look quickly and you'll spot Carolyn Jones as one of Doris Day's London friends and veteran Alan Mowbray playing real-life entrepreneur Val Parnell and an uncredited Richard Wordsworth (the cactus clawed astronaut from QUATERMAS EXPERIMENT) as a nervous taxidermist. London locations look like they might actually be in the areas they are supposed to be and, of course, it was great to see the grand finale in the Royal Albert Hall where I've spent many a happy evening. Rating ***