During the 30s, Alfred Hitchcock made a lot of wonderful films (such as THE 39 STEPS, THE LADY VANISHES and SABOTAGE). While this isn't nearly as good, it is still a watchable suspense film.

First, the bad: The plot of an international conspiracy to assassinate a head of state is fine but there were just way too many plot holes to make it believable. Once the couple's daughter was kidnapped, they refused to help the police or secret service. That's a little tough to believe, but that's not the problem. The problem was when the seemingly ordinary couple and their butler are able to so quickly infiltrate this mob and thwart their plans--yet not have the daughter killed as a result of their meddling! None of this made any sense at all, but I guess it was kind of fun to watch. Also, and perhaps I am being too picky, but in the first five minutes of the film, the child appeared to be quite a brat and I was actually rooting for the bad guys to kill her! Now, the good: The assassins were pretty scary people and the film was never slow or dull. The film had quite a bit of action and violence for a Hitchcock film and on this level alone the film was engaging.

If you compare this film with the later remake (also by Hitchcock),you will no doubt notice that the original is a much simpler and shorter film. It also lacks much of the polish of the remake, though, mercifully, does not have all the awful singing and whiny performance of Doris Day like the later version. I generally like Doris Day, but not in this film. So, in balance, despite the remake being a little bit better film, I prefer the original for this sole reason!

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

Perhaps a bit hard to watch for younger generations, but this is the superior version of the yuppie couple whose only child is kidnapped and held for ransom (remade under the same title in the 50s by the same director, Alfred Hitchcock).

The film doesn't live up to "The 39 Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes" as one of Hitch's early works, but it is a superb example of classic low-budget filmmaking at its best. Yes, the effects (like the opening ski slope run) are incredibly laughable, but hey--it was filmed on a virtually empty budget by a relatively unknown director at the time with a low-budget cast in Britain.

Superb.

5/5 stars.

• John Ulmer