Review of The Man Who Knew Too Much

From a modern standpoint, it's quite hard to understand why so many people claim to prefer this 1934 thriller to its 1956 remake. It's technically primitive (as is immediately evident in the opening sequence) and often clumsy, with one of the weakest climaxes in a Hitchcock film ever (a totally suspenseless shootout). However, there are some brilliant Hitchcockian touches (the singing in the church, the famous Albert Hall sequence), and, above all, there is a delicious, way-ahead-of-its-time performance by Peter Lorre - the one area where the original clearly outshines the remake. Almost every scene featuring Lorre is a highlight of this movie. (**1/2)