"man who knew too much": locations of scoring

[Thom Scheiner]

Hi,

I'm interested in a detail of "the man who knew too much" with Doris Day and
James Stewart. In this movie Stewart receives a secret message from a dying
agent ("Ambrose Chapel") in Casablanca, and soon after that the son of the
couple Day/Stewart is kidnapped and moved to London.

The couple searches for this "Ambrose Chapel", guessing it's a person.
Stewart finds an Ambrose Chapel who turns out to be a peltmonger - and not
the fitting target.
Day learns then that it's a chapel, drives there and becomes joined by
Stewart later on.


Now my question is/are:
Do you know where the related scenes were shot? Where are the places the
scenes with the chapel (and if it was not a studio shot: the scenes with the
peltmonger) were shot? I'd be interested in exact descriptions - e.g. if you
have access to notes from the set, provided by a DVD or a book. Just naming
the city would be nice (I don't know if the shootings really took place in
London), but not precise enough.


Thank you very much.

Thom Scheiner

[s***@webtv.net]

The taxidermy shop in Man Who was a real place business in Camden Town,
London. You can find the exact address in the 1953 or 1954 issue of
_Illustrated London News_ (a feature on taxidermy). It is incorrect or
indelicate to use "peltmonger" to mean a taxidermist. A peltmonger is
one who deals in, or sells, animal skins; it DOES NOT mean the
painstaking art of stuffing or mounting skins of dead animals.
According to the associate producer (Herbert Coleman), the shop used in
Man Who was one of the best taxidermy establishments in England.

Before dying, Louis Bernard whispers "Ambrose Chapel" to Dr. McKenna in
the streets of Marrakesh (not Casablanca). Some of the sequences were
shot in the streets of Marrakesh.

The interior of Ambrose Chapel was built by the production crew
(designed by Henry Bumstead, based on interior photos of a church) and
shot on a sound-stage; the outside shots (most of them) were of an
actual church, but the associate producer decided not to release the
address to the public since in the story the chapel is the hideout for
kidnappers and assassins.

Sligo

[Ken Mogg]

Post by Thom Scheiner
Where are the places the
scenes with the chapel (and if it was not a studio shot: the scenes with the
peltmonger) were shot? I'd be interested in exact descriptions - e.g. if you
have access to notes from the set, provided by a DVD or a book. Just naming
the city would be nice (I don't know if the shootings really took place in
London), but not precise enough.

The Ambrose Chapel scenes were not filmed in Bayswater, London, as the
film itself indicates, but in Brixton, London. A church hall was
used. Sadly, that hall has long gone, the site and surrounding area
replaced with a modern housing estate. The hall was given a steeple
and otherwise 'made over' to look more like what H wanted. (The
parent church of the hall - NOT where the filming took place, please
note - does still stand nearby, I'm told. BUT IT HAS NO DIRECT
CONNECTION WITH THE FILM - WHATEVER TOUR GUIDES MAY SAY!)

The taxidermist's was a real business, located in Camden Town, London.
For more information, you may like to join the Yahoo 'MacGuffin'
Group and consult its Files and Photos sections. Dr Nandor Bokor -
the world's keenest authority on H sites around the world (to which he
makes frequent pilgrimages) - has a long report in the Files section
which should interest you.

- Ken Mogg (author, 'The Alfred Hitchcock Story', the uncut and
non-'simplified' UK edition, described by author/critic Bill Krohn as
'the most beautiful book ever put together on this subject' -
available from Amazon.co.uk).

Hitchccock Scholars/'MacGuffin' website:
http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~muffin (the News & Comment page has a
link to the Yahoo 'MacGuffin' Group)

Personal email (for still more information!):
<***@labyrinth.net.au>

[m***@labyrinth.net.au]

I mentioned this matter to Gary Giblin, author of the (hopefully)
forthcoming 'Hitchcock's London', who commented: 'I think one of the
oddest things I have discovered about Hitchcock's locations is that he
chose to film the taxidermist's interiors inside the actual shop. Talk
about cramped. I know that Bill K [rohn] reported that in his book but I
could not believe it! So, I checked the production docs and asked Bummy
[set-designer Henry Bumstead] and, of course, both sources agreed.

To which, I responded: 'I assumed that some of the stuffed entities were
practically unique (e.g., Blake's 'Tiger, Tiger'!!) and not obtainable
by, or loanable to, a studio.'

Not that H was always averse to going on location. That's a myth
(perpetrated by his daughter, amongst others). He says exactly the
opposite - he LIKED going on location to get authentic detail - in one
of the interviews included in 'AH Interviews' (2003), edited by Sid
Gottlieb.

BTW, speaking of my (other!) friend Bill Krohn, did my plug for my book
here last time look cumbersome and pretentious? I hadn't tried quoting
Bill before, after one of my posts, and may not do so again!

:-) - Ken Mogg' (Ed., 'The MacGuffin').

[Ken Mogg]

I now see that someone else has (part-)answered this inquiry, under a
slightly different heading (TMWKTM). The two answers supplement, or
complement, each other, I feel!

- Ken Mogg.

[Ken Mogg]

The name of the real-life taxidermist's in Camden Town where exteriors
for the TMWKTM taxidermist's were shot was Gerrard's.

- Ken Mogg.