Hitchcock remade one of his own films in the 50s. And that film was The Man Who Knew Too Much which was first made in 1934. I've already written about the remake here and the original is not significantly different. Although the story of both films is not a favourite of mine, I prefer the remake especially because of James Stewart and because of the fact that some things are shown with greater detail. The original is after all a very old film that has been shot in very old-fashioned way. The truth is, though, that for many viewers the original is considered a better film.
The story is well-known. While vacationing in Switzerland Lawrence (Leslie Banks) and his wife Jill (Edna Best) are asked by a dying friend to get some information that he has hidden in his room and give it to the British Consulate.
They manage to find the information but then, their daughter is kidnapped.
The information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary. Lawrence traces his daughter's whereabouts and also finds out that the assassination will take place at Albert Hall during a concert.
There aren't many differences between the original and the remake. However, it seems that Hitchcock wanted to remake this film in order to give to the story the grander scale it deserved.
In the original, the child is a girl while in the remake it is a boy. In the first film the protagonists are found in Switzerland and the role of the husband is more profound while in the remake they first are in Morocco and the wife is a famous singer who plays a big part in the search of their child. In the second film there is also the beautiful song Que Sera Sera that became a big box office success.
What stays profoundly the same is the scene at the Albert Hall. Even the cantata that is played during that scene is the same in both films. This cantata was composed by Arthur Benjamin.
The only music that can be heard throughout the film is music that both the audience and the characters of the story can hear. There is no background score.
The film's producer hated the film and wanted to release it only as the bottom half of a double bill. It was a huge success despite his personal dislike.
There is no cameo of the director in this film. Could this be the reason Hitchcock remade the movie?
Memorable Quotes:
"- Why should we care if some foreign statesman we've never even heard of were assassinated?- Tell me, in June 1914, had you ever heard of a place called Sarajevo? Of course you hadn't. I doubt if you'd even heard of the archduke Ferdinand. But in a month's time, because a man you'd never heard of killed another man you'd never heard of in a place you'd never heard of, this country was at war."
Lawrence and a Police Inspector
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