The Girl Who Knew Too Much

I have found myself enjoying the films of Mario Bava recently; even where they aren't perfect, there's always his impressive visual style to fall back on. Also, I suspect that might have been John Saxon's own hair. The whole film is a bit silly, but likeably so, and it does have a few moments of stylishly-executed tension. Fans of giallo will probably like this Hitchcock-flavour inaugural effort.

As one might guess from the title, this is a Hitchcockian mystery, done with a fair bit of humor. Saxon is always fun to watch, and there are some wonderful moments in the photography. It holds together pretty well, but I didn't connect all that much with it as either as a comedy or a thriller. The voice-over provides one or two funny bits, but is otherwise unnecessary, and the climax isn't that satisfying. Overall however, it's a film that holds your attention and has a few rewarding aspects.

Besides the jaw-dropping black and white cinematography, this one stands out for those dashes of comedy, an unexpected spice amidst the usual trappings of the budding genre. Leticia Roman is endearing, pretty, and funny. The dub doesn't detract from the actors (except, ahem, Mr. Saxon who shall be seen but not heard) and when the villian is cornered at the end they deliver a show-stopping shrieking monologue to climax the film.

Bava was just as skilled at working in black and white and he was in color, and T.G.W.K.T.M is one of his best looking films. The sharp expressionist shadow work recalls the films of Lang and creates an atmosphere of dreamy menace that's borderline surreal. Typical of Bava, the story isn't great, and the 'twist' is kind of dumb, but there is (just) enough intrigue to sustain interest, and no matter how silly things get, Bava's steady hand keeps the plot firmly on course.

Chiaroscuro rooms and a lighting that always seems absurd, with shadows playing almost like an invisible, ghostly character. Hitchcock's mystery sounds dated -- American tourist goes to Rome, witnesses a murder that happened ten years ago, and this alphabet killer comes back after to continue, now with the letter D. Sometimes too silly, but oh that final marijuana joke -- she thinks she might have had these hallucinations after smoking them, throws the pack in the streets, a nun picks it up.

Fun and stylish mystery film - a little cutesy at times, and overall it's a little flimsy, but the story is pretty engaging and all the characters are very likeable.

Even though I prefer Argento gialli like 'Deep Red' and 'Bird with the Crystal Plumage', as well as Bava's own 'Blood and Black Lace', this protogiallo is very good and a must for any aficionado of the completely awesome subgenre.

Very strong style which is rooted in quite a rigid formalism that prevents a feeling of superficiality. Bava's direction is expertly controlled, and while the plot is standard genre fare, there's enough going on cinematically to reel a viewer in. The jaw-dropping coda clashes violently with everything that came before it, but is brief and flippant enough not to undermine the rest of the film. A very satisfying genre piece.

("The Girl Who Knew Too Much"-version Italian dub) With a title that's a direct hommage to Hitchcock and being credited as the origin of the giallo genre, this is a very interesting transition piece. What's more it's also a very enjoyable and engaging work.

Arguably the first giallo film as we know them, Bava's last foray in black and white is a feast for eyes. The shadows he creates deserve a round of applause even if the story is fairly typical.

Bland at first but it picks up halfway through and ends on a high note. However, it's one of the rare instances where I kind of wish a black and white film were in color. Bava's color films always have such wonderful lighting and it would have really spruced things up here.

I found the characters annoying and the plot uninteresting, sometimes downright goofy. I'm realizing that I like Bava for his style more than his plots (although Kidnapped might be a slight exception), and since Girl who Knew Too Much was missing the unique style of Bava's other movies, it just felt flat and bland to me.

I enjoyed this more on a re-watch. It's closer to a Hitchcockian thriller than proper Giallo, but a lot of the elements are already in place. Blu-ray made me appreciate it more visually; there are some suspenseful scenes - and also some quite humorous ones. Plus points for John Saxon.

Interesting to see perhaps the earliest film that could be called a giallo, though it's still quite a ways off from what that would come to mean. Mostly, though, I found it pretty solid but slightly lacking, especially in the acting department. It feels a bit disjointed at times as well, with scenes that don't seem to logically follow the previous scene.

This gets teased as the first giallo. Anybody remember what they refer to as the first North American slasher film? I believe that would be Black Christmas. And which film is universally accepted as the first attempt to combine comedy, family drama and lycanthropy? Of course it's 1989's My Mom's a Werewolf. John Saxon threefer (although the truth is Teen Wolf has family drama, lycanthropy and comedy, but two out of three ain't bad)!

The black and white photography is gorgeous, but I could have gone for more suspense and a more interesting mystery. I'm glad Bava helped create giallo as a genre, but I'm still looking for a film of his that can impress me as much others in the genre have.

It is overall suspenseful and has some nicely photographed scenes but is brought down by the slow pacing and general overacting.

Fell asleep halfway through, so not very suspenseful. But Letícia Román and John Saxon were great, as was the atmospheric cinematography.

Considering that this is labeled as the 'mother' film of the giallo genre, I was expecting more from it, but it's good to know that this type of films stemmed from here.

Genuinely suspenseful.

A garota que sabia demais estreava há 60 anos em Turim. demais esse, é o Bava mais divertido, sobretudo pela grande influência de Hitchcock que sabia mesclar humor e suspense como ninguém. É tudo perfeito nesse filme, desde a narração em off, o jogo de luz e sombra, o desenrolar da narrativa... Suspense de primeiríssimo nível com um senso de humor delicioso. Bava meio que renegava esse filme, mas acho um dos seus melhores numa carreira coroada de obras-primas. Box Versátil A Arte de Mario Bav

beautifully shot and quite suspenseful.......

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The touches of humor only make it all the more fun. You gotta love the (Panama) red herring right at the beginning...

Dario Argento sure learnt something with this one...

One of the more interesting Bava movies i've seen.

Sometimes credited as the first "giallo"...