(1955) Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller begins in Marrakech, Morocco, and concludes in London with a climatic scene in Royal Albert Hall with Bernard Hermann conducting his cantata, The Storm Clouds, with the London Symphony Orchestra.

While on vacation in Morocco, Dr Ben McKenna (Jimmy Stewart), his wife, the former musical actress Jo Conway (Doris Day), and their young son Hank accidentally meet Louis Benard on a bus. Initially he has mistaken them for another couple, the Draytons, a British pair, who make acquaintance in a restaurant with Dr and Mrs McKenna and invite them as company to the market the following day.

In the market a commotion erupts as police chase a man who stabs another man; the mortally wounded man, Louis Benard, collapses near Dr McKenna and whispers in the doctor's ear a message before expiring. The Draytons offer to take Hank back to the hotel while the McKennas go to the police station to answer questions about the incident. At the police station Dr McKenna receives a telephone call warning him not to divulge anything about the message if he wants to see his son again.

Back at the hotel the McKennas discover that the Draytons have checked out. Ben and Jo fly to London in search of Ambrose Chappell, which Ben has written down from what Benard told him. At the airport they are met by the British police and taken for an interview with the inspector of Scotland Yard; he informs the McKennas that Benard was a French spy. Ben and Jo refuse to cooperate for fear of what may happen to Hank if they reveal the message to the authorities.

Ben mistakes a taxidermist for a house of worship, escapes up a bell tower, and finds Jo at the concert hall as she stands helpless to prevent what she knows is about to happen. From here the story turns more implausible, especially while Jo sings "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" in a foreign embassy.

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Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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