Today, Alfred Hitchcock’s "The Man Who Knew Too Much" will officially be available on Blu-ray via The Criterion Collection. To honor its release, Criterion has posted a video on YouTube of Guillermo del Toro ("Hellboy," "Pan’s Labyrinth") speaking very fondly of the film and of Hitchcock. Del Toro explains why he considers the 1934 film to be the earliest evidence of Hitchcock’s greatness.
The clip is part of a longer interview that Guillermo del Toro did for Criterion, and the rest can be found in the special features of the DVD/Blu-Ray disc. Also notable among those special features are audio excerpts between the Master Of Suspense and Francois Truffaut, from back when Truffaut had conducted a long series of interviews with Hitchcock in 1962. The biggest draw would of course be the new digital restoration of the film itself. Surely the Blu-ray will be the must-have item for any cinephile and Hitchcock fan.
Meanwhile, this just continues the healthy relationship that Guillermo del Toro has with The Criterion Collection. His debut film "Cronos" is in the collection, "The Devil’s Backbone" is widely thought to have been drawn up in one of their New Year’s Eve drawing hints of this year, and the director also stopped by the Criterion offices about two years ago to take home some free DVDs/Blu-rays.
Guillermo del Toro’s next film, "Pacific Rim," will be coming out on July 12th. Until then, make sure to pick up/order "The Man Who Knew Too Much" today.