- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
-
3 out of 5
Alfred Hitchcock once told François Truffaut that his 1934 version of this exciting thriller - about a family innocently involved in an assassination plot - was "the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional". There's no doubt that this colour remake is technically more accomplished, while the deft tinkering with the finale adds considerably to the suspense. But not all of the additional 45 minutes are as well spent. Que Sera, Sera might have won the Oscar for best song, but its inclusion was solely to mollify Doris Day fans and the storytelling is occasionally over-deliberate. Nevertheless, James Stewart is superb, and Bernard Miles and Brenda de Banzie make admirable adversaries.
Plot Summary
Thriller starring James Stewart and Doris Day. Dr and Mrs Ben McKenna's touring holiday of North Africa is rudely interrupted when a passing acquaintance dies in their arms - stabbed in the back. While the local police are questioning the couple, they learn that their son Hank has been kidnapped.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Dr Ben McKenna
- James Stewart
- Jo McKenna
- Doris Day
- Mr Drayton
- Bernard Miles
- Mrs Drayton
- Brenda de Banzie
- Buchanan
- Ralph Truman
- Louis Bernard
- Daniel Gélin
- Rien, the assassin
- Reggie Nalder
- Ambassador
- Mogens Wieth
- Val Parnell
- Alan Mowbray
- Jan Peterson
- Hillary Brooke
- Hank McKenna
- Christopher Olsen
- Police inspector
- Yves Brainville
- Assistant manager
- Richard Wattis
- Woburn
- Noel Willman
- Cindy Fontaine
- Carolyn Jones
- Chauffeur
- Leo Gordon
- Ambrose Chappell Jr
- Richard Wordsworth
Crew
- Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Share this episode
-