lobby card from The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Up until James Stewart first worked for Alfred Hitchcock in Rope (1948) and Anthony Mann in Winchester ‘73 (1950), his screen persona was relatively benign, reflecting an impeccable moral character and all-American, boy-next-door quality. There may have been an occasional suggestion that there was something troubling beneath the surface as in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life but it wasn’t until Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) and Mann’s The Naked Spur that we saw the dark side of James Stewart emerge. It was one that was obsessive, paranoid, calculating and controlling. And the scene in Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, where Stewart compells his wife (Doris Day) to take sedatives before he gives her some bad news is ultra creepy in the way it plays out. There is a perverse sense of power and self-absorption evident in his entire orchestration of the sequence.  

Reggie Nalder as the assassin in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Although it has some remarkable choreographed scenes of suspense – the marketplace stabbing,  the assassin preparing to strike during the Albert Hall concert – THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH has never been one of my favorite Hitchcocks and the repeated use of the Oscar-winning song “Que Sera Sera” quickly becomes annoying and actually works against the suspenseful mood. But I had forgotten how impressive Doris Day could be in dramatic scenes until I happened to catch THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH on TCM’s Summer Under the Stars salute to Day on Sunday, August 10^th.  The scene where the couple return to their hotel room after witnessing the murder of Louis Bernard (Daniel Gelin) and being questioned by the police is just as disturbing as that scene in George Sluizer’s original version of The Vanishing in which Rex (Gene Bervoets) agrees to take a sedative from Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) in order to learn what happened to his missing fiancee Saskia (Johanna ter Steege).  

Before the family vacation goes off the rails in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

There’s no easy way to deliver horrible news to anyone but the manner in which Stewart prepares to tell Day that their son has been kidnapped borders on the sadistic. First, he snaps at her when she prepares to make a phone call to check on their son, prompting her to ask, “Are we about to have our monthly fight?” And then he begins browbeating her into submission, pushing sedatives on her because she needs to relax and he’s a doctor, after all.

 Stewart: You know what happens when you get excited and nervous so here.

Day: Six months ago you said I took too many pills.

Stewart: Six months ago you weren’t a witness to a murder. Now you’ve been excited. You’ve been talking a blue streak. You’ve been walking around in circles.

Day: I haven’t.

Stewart: Jo, I make my living knowing when and how to adminster medicine. Now, why fight me on this?

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) promotional material

 Not only is Stewart practically maniacal in his manipulation but he’s also extremely patronizing to Day as if she’s an ignorant child. And then he offers the bait.

Stewart: Alright, I’ll make a deal with you….there’s something about this Louis Bernard and the police station and this whole spy business I haven’t told you yet.

Day: What?

Stewart: Here’s the price of curiosity.

He hands her the pills. She takes them, saying “Alright Dr. McKenna. I’m now relaxed and listening.” And he begins to pace the room, watching the drugs start to take effect, as he recounts the events that led up to their current situation. It’s when she begins to recline, woozy from the sedatives, that he drops the news that their son has been kidnapped. Through sheer will power Day struggles to her feet, hysterical yet defiant, as Stewart tries to restrain her. “Damn you, you gave me sedatives,” she screams at him as her panic reaches full blown porportions, bursting forth in waves of uncontrollable sobbing and recriminations. It’s a powerful primeval moment in the movie, one that strikes deep in the heart of any parent or viewer who can empathize.

Maybe Stewart’s behavior was understandable after witnessing Day’s overwrought reaction to the bad news but there is still something sinister about his handling of the entire situation that isn’t dispelled by his remorse at the end of the sequence when he begs her to forgive him as she drifts into unconsciousness. If only THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH could have consistently achieved the intensity of this scene….But it does offer positive proof that Stewart and Day were much more intriguing and dynamic when they broke away from their established screen personas and took chances in potentially risky roles such as this.  

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)