30s Hitch: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The move to Gaumont British Picture Corporation (just “Gaumont” from here on) afforded Hitchcock a larger, more sophisticated canvas and the first movie was a righting of wrongs and a genuine “told you to so” to one producer specifically. More than that, though, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a template and manifesto of the films to come. In its brisk run-time, it seeds the screen with a number of themes that Hitchcock would explore in greater depth with increasing assurance over the coming decades. It’s a delicious little film that practically demands you watch it again. I use the word “economy” a fair amount. A 75 minute show can feel stuffed to the gills with wit and profundity and be over before you know it. Or it can drag on ridiculously to the point of taxed patience or sleep. A three hour epic can fly by, and so on. Here, Hitch has brought us an instruction manual of how you direct a fleet, witty, and even provocative film in under an hour and a half, handily. Edna Best and Lesli