Richard Hannay is on the run from the police, who suspect him of murdering the woman found stabbed to death in his London flat. This story, including his photograph, are in many of the newspapers throughout Great Britain. In reality, the woman picked Hannay up at the Mr. Memory show at which they both attended, she telling him that there were two men there who were trying to kill her in an effort to obtain information which would breach national security. Hannay is not only on the run from police but is also trying to find out the nature of the potential national security breach in an effort to clear his name. All he knows from the dead woman is that it has something to do with a man in a small town in Scotland, another man who has part of his pinky finger missing and something called the 39 steps. As Hannay is on his journey of discovery all the while trying to elude both the police and the real murderers, he is forced out of circumstances outside of his control to take along a feisty young woman named Pamela whose continued belligerence toward him is despite her precarious situation. Written by Huggo
Running Time: 86 Min. MPAA Ratings: PG
EDITORIAL REVIEW:
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.
USER REVIEWS
Richard Hannay is a Canadian visitor to London. At the end of "Mr Memory"'s show in a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith who is running away from secret agents. He accepts to hide her in his flat, but in the night she is murdered. Fearing he could be accused on the girl's murder, Hannay goes on the run to break the spy ring. Written by Claudio Sandrini {pulp99@geocities.com} Richard Hannay is a Canadian visitor to 1930's London. After a disturbance at a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith who is on the run from foreign agents. He takes her back to his apartment, but they are followed and later that night Annabella is murdered. Hannay goes on the run to break the spy ring and thus prove his innocence. Written by Col Needham {col@imdb.com}
CAST & CREW
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock Writers: John Buchan Charles Bennett Starring: Robert Donat Madeleine Carroll Lucie Mannheim Godfrey Tearle Peggy Ashcroft John Laurie Helen Haye Frank Cellier Wylie Watson Gus McNaughton Jerry Verno Peggy Simpson
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