The 39 Steps

While I personally prefer Hitchcock's darker, more troubling movies, especially 'Vertigo' and 'Psycho', as far as his straightforward thrillers go 'The 39 Steps' is still one of his most entertaining. The man on the run because of false accusations or "knowing too much" motif may or may not have been invented here, but it certainly influenced dozens of subsequent thrillers, all the way up until contemporary movies like 'Enemy Of The State' and 'Minority Report'. Robert Donat makes a great hero, and Madeleine Carroll is charming and funny as his reluctant partner. The chemistry and repartee between the two is something that has been copied countless times since. Some people seem to regard 'The 39 Steps' as a practice run for Hitch's later 'North By Northwest', but I prefer the earlier movie. It may not be complex and deep, but it's great fun, and full of old fashioned movie magic. A classic thriller that is still wonderfully entertaining, and should prove to be enjoyable to almost everyone who watches it. Recommended.

If what you want from a thriller is in-yer-face mugging, special effects, noise, a booming soundtrack, gore, nudity and flashy editing, this one is not for you.

However if you are a more discerning moviegoer who values a great script, exquisite understated acting, wit, humour and intelligence, and you are willing to overlook the technically rough bits (come on, this was 1935, you cannot measure it by 2005 standards !!) - then enjoy, because you are in for a treat.

Robert Donat is one of the most charming heroes that ever graced the screen, and but for his frail health and loathing of the Hollywood pzazz (he later refused some great movie parts offered to him, which eventually went to the likes of Erroll Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr) he might have become one of the greatest. Watch the dinner scene with the crofters, in which he manages to convey his plight to the wife entirely without words. Great acting. Also the wickedly funny bravura piece at the political rally.

Madeleine Carroll must be among the coolest and feistiest of Hitchcock's favoured blondes, not as insipid or irrelevant as many of the others were. She is a veritable icicle and it takes a long time for her to thaw, but then watch the sparks fly.

I feel a little sad for the people who cannot be bothered to check out this movie because of the tinny sound or the b&w photography. Forget about those superficialities and concentrate on the real values - the script, the acting, the lighting, photography and camera work -, just allow yourself to get carried away with the fast paced action, and you'll love it.

...with Robert Donat as a Canadian ex-pat living in London who gets accused of murder. He goes on the run, avoiding the authorities in hopes of clearing his name, with the trail leading to the Scottish countryside. He eventually ends up involving a reluctant Madeleine Carroll. With Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Helen Haye, Wylie Watson, John Laurie, and Peggy Ashcroft.

Highlights for me: the Scottish Highlands, Madeleine Carroll removing her stockings while handcuffed to Donat, and Peggy Ashcroft's brief turn as the unhappy wife of a country farmer. Donat's easy charm and affable demeanor foretell the similar performances by Stewart and Grant in Hitchcock's later thrillers. There are some glaring plot-holes (why don't the villains deal with Donat when they off the woman in his apartment at the film's start?), but they can be ignored thanks to the pace of the proceedings.

The Criterion DVD bonus features include commentary by Hitchcock expert Marian Keane; a "visual essay" by Hitchcock expert (how many are there?) Leonard Leff; Hitchcock: The Early Years (2000), a short British documentary; excerpts from a 1966 British TV interview; more audio-only excerpts of Truffaut's Hitchcock interviews; a booklet/essay from critic David Cairns; and the complete Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, with Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery. Truly the best way to see it, and thus why I bring it up.

Alfred Hitchcock directed this film in 1935. It's one of his greatest successes. The film is based on a novel by John Buchan, also known as Lord Tweedsmuir. The story has a Canadian mining engineer, Richard Hannay, unwillingly drawn into a spy chase when a woman unknown to him latches onto him as he's leaving a London theatre. She tells him she's a spy and that she needs his help. He's skeptical of her story, but he goes back to his London flat with her. Hannay is brilliantly played by actor Robert Donat. He turns out to be quite an interesting character, and a resourceful one at that. When the woman he returned home with turns up dead in his flat, Hannay flees London for Scotland, hoping to find a man he believes can clear him. The newspapers accuse Hannay of murder, so he knows he's a wanted man. During a chase through Scotland, Hannay finds he's not only pursued by the police for the murder he didn't commit, but by members of the spy ring the woman warned him about. Watch how he manages to deal with police, spies and a beautiful young woman played by Madeleine Carroll.

For sheer entertainment, it would be hard to top "The 39 Steps". While Hitchcock made other movies with more psychological depth and more fascinating characters, there is as much fast-paced suspense here as you will find in any of his later films, along with a good dose of humor and a wide variety of creative settings.

This is one of several movies on Hitchcock's theme of the unjustly accused man. In a nicely-crafted sequence at the beginning, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), a Canadian visiting London, is caught up in a spy plot and suspected in a murder, and he spends the rest of the film trying to evade both the police and the actual killers. The settings include a London music hall, a train, the Scottish moors, a political meeting, and several others that add to the exciting story. For much of the action, Hannay is entangled with a skeptical blonde played by Madeleine Carroll, and the two have good chemistry in a running verbal battle. There are also several entertaining minor characters that add wit and interest, especially the music hall performer "Mr. Memory".

It all moves quickly and holds together well, resulting in great entertainment that will be enjoyed by anyone who likes classic thrillers.