Tomorrow’s episode of The Clone Wars is called “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much,” with the title quite blatantly homaging Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
I’m not sure how much tomorrow’s episode is going to borrow from either Hitchcock film of the same name, but it’s as good a reason as any to revisit the films in advance of the episodes. Last week, I did the same thing with Alfred Hitchcock’s Sabotage. This evening, I rewatched the more-recent Jimmy Stewart/Doris Day version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
The film centers around a family of three touring French Morocco after a medical conference. Very quickly they befriend a Frenchman, who is promptly murdered and revealed as a spy. With his final breaths he reveals an assassination plot to Jimmy Stewart, and then the bad guys abduct his child in a bid to keep him quiet until the assassination wears off.
There’s a lot to love about this film and a lot to wonder about being incorporated into The Clone Wars. But the central theme in most of Hitchcock’s films is about someone uninvolved in a particular plot being dragged in against their will. James Stewart is drawn into the assassination plot and has no where to turn. The police can’t help him because his son is as good as dead if he talks. He’s left to piece together the clues on his own and save his son.
My guess is that this next episode of The Clone Wars is going to throw Ahsoka in that same direction. She’s going to find a knife in someone’s back and get blackmailed into playing a part she has no desire to play. Then, she’ll chase down every clue to save the day and clear her own name.
But it won’t be that easy.
We’ll see how things play out tomorrow.
My favorite thing about the crew from The Clone Wars is that they released the titles of these episodes. Then astute film-lovers like myself can use it as an excuse to watch these films with my son. He watched “The Man Who Knew Too Much” with me, and was engrossed by every second of it. He seemed to identify with the son of Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. And I can’t tell you how proud it makes me of my boy, watching him put together pieces of cinema and comprehend them. Then, he’ll get excited and make predictions and proclamations about who’s doing what and why, or what might happen next.
The Clone Wars is helping me expand his film horizons and it’s been fantastic.
In fact, after watching this film, he had his own prediction about tomorrow’s episode of The Clone Wars. “I know where this is going. The Separatists are going to hold Ahsoka hostage and Anakin and Obi-wan will be like Jimmy Stewart (that’s his name, right?) and his wife. You think they’ll have to sing?”
We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss what they really used, but I like his idea the best so far.