Film: Montage Samples #6 & #7: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

The Art of Montage in
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

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    TWO SEQUENCES FROM  The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956) are models of montage, intercutting, sound, and music editing to build suspense.
     In the story, a couple's son has been kidnapped to prevent the couple from stopping an assassination of a diplomat in London's Albert Hall.
     The viewer knows at what part in the music the diplomat will be killed. The son's mother is torn between her son's life and the life of the diplomat.
    The scene is built on a sequence of intercutting showing a mother's moral choice, the concert as the music advances to the part where the gun will be fired, and the husband trying to warn the police.
    The sequence is worth careful study not only for its montage, but also for the blending of sound and editing, and the careful use of camera framing and movement, such as before the gun is fired and the tilt shot down to the diplomat's heart.
    To view this sequence, go here.
    The second montage sequence follows the aborted assassination. But the child is still a hostage.
    Luckily, in appreciation, the spared diplomat invites the mother to the residence where her son, unknown to the others, is hostage. The mother sings her son's favorite song hoping he will hear and shout for help.
    In a montage sequence of still shots, the distance between the mother and her son is shown, as the father tries to locate his child. Intercutting also shows invited guests enjoying the mother's performance at the piano.
    But the mother must sing unmusically loud way to make her voice heard by her son. This compromise with her talent and the subtle reactions of her audience add tension to the sequence.
    The film is a model of the artistic compromises involved in a Hollywood studio production, which, given a great director, work for the best.
    The director, Alfred Hitchcock, didn't want singing in the film. But since Doris Day, a popular singer, played the role of the mother, her star image required her to sing.
    (Years later, Doris Day co-starred with Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk and  Lover Come Back, films where she also sang.)
    Hitchcock caved in to studio pressure. Luckily the song, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be") became Doris Day's biggest hit and went on to win an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Song.
    To view this sequence, go here.

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