Hitchcock Week

The Paramount Summer Classic Film Series kicks off its annual tribute to cinema’s master of suspense with the lesser-seen 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, made before Hitch had decamped for Hollywood. It’s got a terrific Peter Lorre performance (his first English-language role) and a first draft of the climactic Royal Albert Hall assasination. Compare and contrast it with the 1956 version starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, which bookends Hitchcock Week; sandwiched in between are crowd pleasers Notorious, Dial M for Murder, and North by Northwest, plus single-take curio Rope. – Kimberley Jones