The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Hitchcockian spy thriller starts here, with Peter Lorre’s villain tormenting a British family that becomes embroiled in the murky world of espionage.

  • Director

    Alfred Hitchcock

  • With

    Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Nova Pilbeam

  • UK 1934. 76min

  • 35mm nitrate

  • Certificate

    U

The film that launched Hitchcock’s peerless series of spy thrillers. A British family, holidaying in Switzerland, find themselves thrust into international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by a gang plotting an assassination at the Royal Albert Hall. Made at a time when few were fully alert to the dangers posed by the Nazis, there’s a palpable real-world tension lurking behind Hitchcock’s mix of fleet action and black humour. Peter Lorre is unforgettable in his first English-speaking role, dominating every scene as the slippery, scarred villain Abbott. The film screens from an original 1930s release print. Not to be missed.

James Bell