Canadian Richard Hannay (Donat) gets more than he bargained for on a trip to London. During an evening at a local pub, a fight breaks out and then someone fires a gun. While leaving he literally runs into a beautiful woman, Annabella Smith (Mannheim), who asks to go back to his apartment. During the course of the evening it is revealed that Annabella is a spy... and being followed because she knows that someone is trying to sneak important information out of the country.
Hannay does not entirely believe the story, but lets her stay overnight in his apartment. In the middle of the night she stumbles into his room with a knife sticking in her back. Knowing he will be blamed for the murder, he sets out for Scotland to clear his name and pass along Annabella's information. But travel is difficult when his picture appears in all the papers and he keeps running into the same woman, Pamela (Carroll), who continually calls the police.
Prior to seeing this film, I had only seen the films Hitchcock made in the USA: the big ones that everyone knows (by a quote or a clip or just the title). I have a few more of the "British" Hitchcock films on my list, and I am excited by the prospect.
I almost liked this film better than some of the later ones... I didn't know the plot or the MacGuffin... I wasn't focused on finding specific things, specific shots or the Hitch cameo, and could just enjoy the film. It kept me guessing and I didn't know the ending (which is one of the reasons I love Hitchcock films). The cast was great and truly embodied their characters. There is a little bit of everything: spy stuff, mistaken identities (a popular theme in subsequent films), romance, banter, smart dialogue, good camera angles... I love this director!
http://hitchcock.tv/mov/39_steps/steps.html
"Have you ever heard of the Thirty-Nine Steps?"
"No, what's that - a pub?"
"Never mind. But what you are laughing at just now is true. These men will stick at nothing. I am the only person who can stop them. If they are not stopped, it is only a matter of days, perhaps hours, before the secret is out of the country."
"No, what's that - a pub?"
"Never mind. But what you are laughing at just now is true. These men will stick at nothing. I am the only person who can stop them. If they are not stopped, it is only a matter of days, perhaps hours, before the secret is out of the country."
Hannay does not entirely believe the story, but lets her stay overnight in his apartment. In the middle of the night she stumbles into his room with a knife sticking in her back. Knowing he will be blamed for the murder, he sets out for Scotland to clear his name and pass along Annabella's information. But travel is difficult when his picture appears in all the papers and he keeps running into the same woman, Pamela (Carroll), who continually calls the police.
Prior to seeing this film, I had only seen the films Hitchcock made in the USA: the big ones that everyone knows (by a quote or a clip or just the title). I have a few more of the "British" Hitchcock films on my list, and I am excited by the prospect.
I almost liked this film better than some of the later ones... I didn't know the plot or the MacGuffin... I wasn't focused on finding specific things, specific shots or the Hitch cameo, and could just enjoy the film. It kept me guessing and I didn't know the ending (which is one of the reasons I love Hitchcock films). The cast was great and truly embodied their characters. There is a little bit of everything: spy stuff, mistaken identities (a popular theme in subsequent films), romance, banter, smart dialogue, good camera angles... I love this director!
http://hitchcock.tv/mov/39_steps/steps.html
The 39 Steps (1935) 86 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Robert Donat as Richard Hannay
Madeleine Carroll as Pamela
Lucie Mannheim as Annabella
Godfrey Tearle as Professor Jordan
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