Alfred Hitchcock

The Man Who Knew Too Much Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock directs the first of his classic British spy thrillers. While holidaying in the Swiss Alps with their daughter Betty, English couple Bob (Leslie Banks) and Jill Lawrence (Edna Best) are befriended by Frenchman Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay). When he is shot by international spies, Louis warns Jill with his dying breath that his killers intend to assassinate a leading diplomat in Britain.

However, before Jill and Bob can inform the police, Betty is kidnapped by the spies who warn the couple that unless they maintain their silence they will never see their daughter again. Peter Lorre makes his English-speaking debut as the charming but psychotic kidnapper, Abbott. Hitchcock later decided to produce a big-budget, colour remake of the film with James Stewart and Doris Day.