Hitchcock had filmed two of Hist's Catch (aka The Man Who Knew Too Much). One was a black-and-white film he shot in England in 1934 and a color film he shot in the United States in 1956.
The story framework of the two films is roughly the same: a family of three is assassinated by a spy in a foreign country, and is accidentally involved in a conspiracy by a foreign assassination organization to assassinate a British high-level. Because the spy told the assassination information to the male owner's family before his death, the assassination organization kidnapped their children and threatened them. In order to save the child, the couple had to wrestle with the assassination organization.
Both films adopt the usual "wrong person" method of Xi Fat movies, that is, ordinary people are wrongly involved in an event at the wrong time and in the wrong place, and without effective help, ordinary people use wisdom and wisdom to solve the crisis, pass many tests, and finally win.
Although the content of the films is generally similar, many of the plots in the two films are not exactly similar. In addition to some details such as the child from a girl to a boy, the female protagonist from a shooter to a female singer, the identity of the male protagonist in the color version to become a field medic and other details have changed slightly, the biggest change in the content of the movie is the adventure process of the male protagonist to save the child, this process The content of the two versions is almost different.
After a gap of 12 years, the remake of "Catch the Murder" changed from a black-and-white film to a color film. With the rapid development of film technology and hollywood's strong financial strength, the color version of "Catch the Murder" is more than the black-and-white version of "The Catch" in terms of obedience, the scale of the movie, the variety of scenes, and even the film shooting skills of the movie.
However, time does not make a good movie diminish, and correspondingly, no matter how superior the external conditions of a movie are, it will not make a movie great.
Xi Fat added a lot of details to the color version of "Catch the Murder", filling some of the plot loopholes in the black and white version of the "Catch". But there are more illogical places in the color version.
For example, the colander behavior of the male protagonist in front of strangers really makes people unable to believe that he is an experienced field doctor. Similarly, a spy who mixes fairly well with the locals in a foreign country is even more astonishing that he cannot even make up a profession in the face of strangers. The spy's strange behavior easily made the heroine doubt his identity.
The storyline of the color version is somewhat mediocre, and the biggest highlight is the song "Que Sera, Sera" sung by the mother and son. When mother and son sing, the song is beautiful and mischievous. When the heroine looked for her son at the embassy to sing alone, the song was full of anxiety and sadness. The song echoes at the beginning and end, and also plays a role in promoting the development of the story.
There are a lot of plots in the black and white version that are impressive. For example, the male protagonist and daughter use wool to tease the man who dances with his wife. The male protagonist who is afraid that his wife loves his daughter can only secretly poke and poke when he is jealous, so that a small trick makes him angry and at the same time makes his daughter happy;
The daughter is kidnapped, and the male protagonist and his friends disguise themselves into the underground dentist's clinic should be the most brilliant place in the movie. This section is thrilling and full of joy;
The clip of the police and bandit battle at the end of the movie, according to the current vision, is naturally not tense and exciting. But the slow gunfight scene between the two sides unexpectedly makes people feel substitutionary. The comedic atmosphere of the gunfight scene is full of blood and cruelty. In the end, the heroine shot a dry shot, shot the kidnapper, both handsome and clean to end the movie, whether it is the performance of the heroine or the way the movie ends is very amazing.
In contrast, the color version is much inferior. The film strives to create a sense of comedy, but the atmosphere of comedy is not strong. The performances of the male and female protagonists, including the villains, do not have any humor. The plot setting in the movie is not only not joyful, but also makes people feel illogical, especially the passage where the couple is looking for the lair of the assassination organization.
The couple took turns to return to their own residence and friends to force a smile and act, the director's intention is obviously to create a tense and humorous atmosphere, unfortunately, this section is embarrassing and inexplicable.
There are not many outstanding characters in the color version. In addition to the performance of the female protagonist is still outstanding, the performance of the male protagonist and the villain are decent.
The black and white versions of the male and female protagonists are excellent. The male protagonist is a rake ear when facing the female protagonist, a loving father image who spoils the daughter in the face of the daughter, and he is resourceful and has a sense of humor in the face of the villain;
The heroine was clearly the new female figure of that era. She was gritty and brave, and used her professional standards at key moments to save her daughter's life.
The most impressive of the films is the villain leader played by german actor Peter Lowe. He is sinister and fierce with a bit of elegance, full of perversion, and humorous temperament. He is cunning and calm when confronting the male protagonist; he is calm and cruel in the gunfight with the police; in the face of the death of his comrades, he flashes a trace of warmth, showing that he is not an inhuman villain. It's a complex villain, and Peter Lowe's performance is layered and quite impressive.
I wonder if I heard it wrong? The leader of the villain once said "say a wave" to the male protagonist, is this not a common phrase used by Iranians when greeting? The movie does not explain which country the mysterious foreign organization is, is it possible that Xi Fat alludes to the assassination organization as...
In contrast, the villains in the color version are only face-facing villains.
In short, the quality of the film depends on the script and the acting skills of the actors, the plot of the script is not brilliant, the actors' performances are not hard, and the appearance of the film is still not a good work.
Remakes often can't surpass their predecessors, and even if they are their own films, Xi Fat can't recreate its former glory.
(Text/Qin Shi Xiaoge ended at 20:08 on June 29, 2021)
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