The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.
This month’s Genre has been chosen by Michael Eddy and it is Hitchcockian Films.
Hitchcock films by the master himself and the best “Hitchcock films” not directed by Hitchcock.
Please get me your submissions by the 25th of January by sending them to hitchcockianmike@movierob.net
Try to think out of the box! Great choice Mike!
Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Hitchcockian Films Movies.…
“Tell her they may soon be leaving us. Leaving us for a long, long journey. How is it that Shakespeare says? “From which no traveler returns.” Great poet. ” – Abbott
Number of Times Seen – 1 (2 Jan 2018)
Brief Synopsis – About learning about an assassination plot, a married couple must try and stop a gang of criminals who have also kidnapped their daughter to keep them quiet.
My Take on it – The 1956 remake of this film is one of my favorite Hitchcock films because they put characters in an impossible situation and finally realize that they must disobey in order to try and find their kidnapped son.
This film isn’t as good as it’s remake, yet still manages to give us a really thrilling story.
This is mainly due to the help the pacing and tone which help keep things moving near perfectly.
Peter Lorre is a great choice as the villain and works quiet well.
This is IMHO, one of Hitchcock’s best films from his early days and quite possibly was the film that put Alfred Hitchcock on the map.
One of the things that I really liked about this version is the idea that they give the mother character much more to do when it comes to the aspect of action because it wirks really well in this kind of situation.
Bottom Line – One of Hitchcock’s best films from his early days. Lorre is great as the lead baddie and the story is kept suspenseful the whole way through. Not as good as Hitchcock’s remake from 22 years later but still has the right pacing and tone to keep things thrilling. Liked the way that they managed to give the mother more to do here in the action aspect of the story which works really well. Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The crucial cantata for the Albert Hall sequence was composed specifically for the film by Arthur Benjamin, and the same piece was used again in the remake The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). When Alfred Hitchcock remade the movie, he offered composer Bernard Herrmann the opportunity to compose a new work for the scene, but Herrmann chose not to, citing an appreciation of Benjamin’s original cantata. (From IMDB)
Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Comes really close but this film just doesn’t get the story as right as Hitchcock’s own remake managed to do 22 years later. Still extremely entertaining tho.
Rating – Globe Worthy
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MovieRob 
Great bit of trivia on the cantata. The remake also had an Oscar winning song, “Que Sera Sera” which became a big hit for Doris Day. When you think of Hitchcock movies – you don’t often thing of them as spawning Best Song nominees – much less winners.
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Very true but that song….wow
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