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From Amazon.co.uk
A high point of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood career, 1935's The Thirty-Nine Steps is the first and best of three film versions of John Buchann's rather stiff novel. Robert Donat plays the rancher embroiled in a plot to steal British military secrets. He finds himself on the run; falsely accused of murder, while also pursuing the dastardly web of spies alluded to in the title. With a plot whose twists and turns match the hilly Scottish terrain in which much of the film is set, The Thirty-Nine Steps combines a breezy suavity with a palpable psychological tension. Hitchcock was already a master at conveying such tension through his cinematic methods, rather than relying just on situation or dialogue. Sometimes his ways of bringing the best out of his actors brought the worst out in himself. If the scene in which Donat is handcuffed to co-star Madeline Carroll has a certain edge, for instance, that's perhaps because the director mischievously cuffed them together in a rehearsal, then left them attached for a whole afternoon, pretending to have lost the key. The movie also introduces Hitchcock's favoured plot device, the "McGuffin" (here, the military secret), the unexplained device or "non-point" on which the movie turns. --David Stubbs
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Hitchcock's first great romantic thriller is a prime example of the MacGuffin principle in action. Robert Donat is Richard Hannay, an affable Canadian tourist in London who becomes embroiled in a deadly conspiracy when a mysterious spy winds up murdered in Hannay's rented flat--and both the police and a secret organization wind up hot on his trail. With only a seemingly meaningless phrase ("the 39 steps"), a small Scottish town circled on a map, and a criminal mastermind identified by a missing finger as clues, quick-witted Hannay eludes police and spies alike as he works his way across the countryside to reveal the mystery and clear his name. At one point he finds himself making his escape manacled to blonde beauty Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), whose initial antagonism is smoothed by Hannay's charm and the sheer rush of her thrilling chase. It's classic Hitchcock all the way, a seemingly effortless balance of romance and adventure set against a picturesque landscape populated by eccentrics and social-register smoothies, none of whom is what he or she appears to be. Hitchcock would play similar games of innocents plunged into deadly conspiracies, most delightfully in North by Northwest, but in this breezy 1935 classic, Hitch proves that, as in any quest, the object of the search isn't nearly as satisfying as the journey. --Sean Axmaker
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
DISMAL TRANSFER OF A HITCHCOCK CLASSIC,
By
This review is from: 39 Steps [Criterion Collection] (DVD)
Alfred Hitchcock's British film making period hints at the brilliant foray of creative genius that was to follow during his Hollywood tenure. In "The 39 Steps" Hitch' perfectly captures the aura of swinging London and its music halls - except that this time they have become the scenes for murder, mayhem and, one of Hitchcock's classic touches, the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Robert Donat stars as that wrong man, playing out a series of parts as Richard Hannay, Mr. Hammond, Capt. Frazer and Henry Hopkins. A Canadian tourist, Hannay is forced to flee police across the countryside and Scottish moors after he is suspected as part of a deadly conspiracy that resulted in the murder of a mysterious spy in his London flat. Hannay is accompanied, for the most part, by the abstinent Pamela (Madeleine Carroll). Determined to prove his own innocence and find the criminal mastermind with the missing fingers, Hannay eventually winds up in a showdown and a race against time. Hitchcock populates his landscape with a series of eccentrics, villains and downright kooks in an effortless blend or romance and adventure. "The 39 Steps" is made available in a slew of bootlegged DVD transfers - none of which are satisfactory, including the legitimate and expensive Criterion Edition. Granted "The 39 Steps" was a film in genuinely bad shape, before Criterion came along. But this DVD is not "pristine" or "sparkling" as Criterion's packaging suggests. Contrast levels are still too low. There's an incredible amount of camera flicker in almost all of the scenes. Fine details are lost in darker scenes and only marginally visible during the brighter ones. There's also a limited amount of edge enhancement and shimmering of fine detail. This is not an outstanding restoration or even a mediocre one. When I think of "pristine" and "sparkling" Warner Brothers' "Mildred Pierce" comes to mind. "The 39 Steps" is no Millie!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The British classic that really put Hitchcock on the map,
By Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: 39 Steps [Special Edition] (DVD)
1935's The 39 Steps is the film that really put Alfred Hitchcock on the map as a world-class movie director. With its mixture of classic Hitchcockian wit, dark (and light) humor, and suspense, it brought to the fore the man's genius and set the stage for many a classic thriller to come. Robert Donat is excellent in the role of Richard Hannay, a young Canadian who finds himself in between a rock and a hard place after his encounter with a young female spy in London, while Madeleine Carroll brings beauty, grace, and a sense of romance to Hannay's increasingly harrowing quest to not only prove himself innocent of murder but to safeguard the defense of Great Britain from foreign agents. All he has to go on are a cryptic reference to something called "the 39 steps," a name of a town in Scotland, and a warning to stay away from any man missing the upper digit on his right pinkie finger.When the mysterious Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) invites herself home with him and tells him her fantastic story of intrigue and danger, Hannay doesn't quite believe her - until, that is, she turns up in the night with a knife in her back. Knowing that the killers are waiting for him outside (and also knowing how likely the police would be to find him guilty of the murder up in his flat), he quickly adopts the classic mantle of the innocent man on the run, desperate to ultimately prove his innocence. The journey he makes from London to a little town in Scotland is not an easy one, as Hannay finds himself running from the bad guys who want to kill him as well as the cops pursuing him for murder. Deceit and double-crossing as well as assistance from unexpected quarters keep things very interesting - particularly after he finds himself on the run yet again (after one of several narrow escapes), now handcuffed to the lovely and initially unsympathetic Pamela (Madeleine Carroll). The romantic element thus introduced into the film deviates from the original novel on which the screenplay was based, but it clearly strengthens the film, setting the stage for a most climactic conclusion. One of Hitchcock's best-known British films, The 39 Steps doesn't prove as gripping or dramatic as many of the master's later movies, but the exquisite dialogue and direction do make for some memorable moments (none more so than Hannay's improvised speech at a political meeting, which definitely qualifies as a classic in my book), and the twists and turns along the way continuously ratchet up the suspense, with everything working in concert toward a finish that does not disappoint.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nail Biter,
By
This review is from: 39 Steps [Criterion Collection] (DVD)
"39 Steps" is the last of Hitchcock's British nail biters. He took his style to Hollywood after this one. All the elements of a Hitchcock thriller are here. We have the mistaken man plot. Our hero has stumbled on a den of spies. He must prove his innocence and thwart the theft of military secrets and escape Scotland Yard from London Music halls to Scottish moors. The Hitchcock blonde is Madeline Carroll and her stocking scene must have been tough for American censors. Hitchcock learned his craft from the German expressionists and you can see the darkness of that genre in this gem. In the top twenty of best movies ever made, I recommend 39 Steps.
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