The 39 Steps (1935)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Buchan (novel)
Charles Bennett (adaptation)

Release Date:

1 August 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

His First Picture Since "Monte Cristo" ROBERT DONAT

Plot:

A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and he stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring trying to steal top secret information.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Spy | Music Hall | Murder | Foreign Agent

Cast

Robert Donat	...	Richard Hannay
Madeleine Carroll	...	Pamela
Lucie Mannheim	...	Annabella aka Miss Smith
Godfrey Tearle	...	Professor Jordan
Peggy Ashcroft	...	Margaret - Crofter's Wife
John Laurie	...	John - Crofter
Helen Haye	...	Mrs. Jordan
Frank Cellier	...	Sheriff Watson
Wylie Watson	...	Mr. Memory
Gus McNaughton	...	Commercial Traveller with Pipe (as Gus Mac Naughton)
Jerry Verno	...	Commercial Traveller
Peggy Simpson	...	Maid

Also Known As:

The Thirty-Nine Steps (UK) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full Range Recording System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 (2002) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Unrated | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Big Water of Fleet Viaduct, Dromore, Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, UK

Company:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Trivia:

Madeleine Carroll suffered at the hands of Alfred Hitchcock's quest for realism, right down to the real welts on her wrists from the long days of being handcuffed to Robert Donat.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Mr. Memory stops speaking and flinches before the shot is fired.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Music hall announcer: Ladies and Gentleman, with your kind attention, and permission, I have the honor of presenting to you one of the most remarkable men in the world.
Heckler in Audience: How remarkable? He's sweating!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Play for Today: Traitor (#2.1)" (1971)

Soundtrack:

Tinkle, Tinkle, Tinkle

The Quintessential Hitchcock

Trust and betrayal have been a recurrent theme in several of Alfred Hitchcock's works. The 39 Steps, made in 1935, has the all the classic elements of the master filmmaker that set the standard for later Hitchcock films. The 39 Steps has the classic Hitchcockian theme of an average, innocent man caught up in extraordinary events which are quite beyond his control. The sexually frustrating institution of marriage is another major motif present in the film. The strained and loveless relationship between the crofter and his wife, the placid relationship of the innkeeper and his wife, the (physical) bond between Hannay and Pamela can be examined in terms of degrees of trust between the couples. In fact, the short 'acquaintance' between Hannay and Smith and Hannay and the crofter's wife are also built completely upon trust. It is these couples, and the chemistry between them (or the lack thereof) that drive the entire film.

Over a span of four days, the smart and unflappable protagonist, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is involved in a circular journey to prove his innocence and expose the hive of intrigue. He is involved in chases and romantic interludes that take him from London to the Scottish Highlands and back again and he assumes numerous identities on the way - a milkman, an auto mechanic, a honeymooner, a political speaker among others.

The opening of the film, the first three shorts do not show him above his neck. With his back to the camera, he is followed down the aisle to his seat. He is then assumed to be lost in the crowd. This gives the audience the feeling that he could be anybody. Later when he takes in the identities of a milkman, a mechanic, a politician one realizes that he is Hitchcock's archetypal 'everyman' who unwittingly finds himself in incredible dilemmas.

In one of the brilliantly managed sequences on the train, Richard Hannay throws himself at a lone girl and forces a kiss just as a detective and two policemen pass by their compartment. It reveals his desperation to remain free until he can prove his innocence. In the scene after Annabella staggers into his room with a kitchen knife in her back, Hannay sees her ghostly image (which is superimposed) talking to him, `What you are laughing at right now is true. These men will stop at nothing.' The double exposure achieves a result which is a tad chilling and sad. The hallmark of Hitchcock's style is his ability to completely shock his audience by deliberately playing against how they would be thinking. In such episodes as the murder of the woman in Hannay's apartment or when the vicious professor with the missing finger casually shoots Hannay, the action progresses almost nonchalantly leaving the viewers stunned.

A great story, interesting and likeable characters, slyly incongruous wit, classic Hitchcockian motifs and a great MacGuffin are just a few things that make the The 39 Steps the quintessential Hitchcock.