The 39 Steps
1935 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis
Handcuffed to the girl who double-crossed him.
The 39 Steps is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpieces. A romantic thriller that revolves around a Canadian tourist visiting London who gets caught in the middle of a murder plot that has police and the secret service after him. A classic Hitchcock of romance mixed with adventure and picturesque scenes.
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Continuing my plough through all of Alfred Hitchcock's talkie era films with The 39 Steps. What a difference a couple of years make, eh Alfred?
From nondescript director of plodding melodramas to the most exciting director in British cinema in the course of three films. Having created a fair amount of buzz for the fun The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps saw Alfred Hitchcock create his first true masterpiece and a film that is still one of the most exciting and entertaining adventure thrillers that you could ever ask to see.
A wonderful Robert Donat finds himself on the run after a mysterious woman approaches him after a show and asks him to help her escape some…
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Some of the most fun I've ever had with a Hitchcock film. "The 39 Steps" shares a similar premise to its spiritual successor, "North by Northwest": a man, falsely accused of a crime he did not commit, must journey across his country of origin to prove his innocence, all the while unraveling a devious plot that threatens the free world at large. While both feature breathtaking sequences, "The 39 Steps" seems to revel in the absurdity of it all, containing a timeless sense of humor that stems not from pop culture nor current affairs, but from the characters themselves. Speaking of characters, "The 39 Steps" has some of the most fully formed secondary and tertiary characters I've had the privilege…
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The December Challenge: Film 37
Director - Alfred Hitchcock
Writers - John Buchan (Novel), Charles Bennett (Story adaptation) and Ian Hay (Screenplay)
Cast - Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle and Wylie WatsonBased on the novel by John Buchan, the 1935 version of The 39 Steps remains the best screen adaptation of this story in spite of the fact that many of the details have been changed. Undoubtedly one of Hitchcock’s best pre-war films, it follows the story of a man who is on the run from the police for a crime he didn’t commit who ends up having to convince a woman who doesn’t like him all that much of his innocence. With no other…
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"Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human. What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out."
Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock - Francois TruffautA wonderful quote I found at the end of the chapter in which The 39 Steps is discussed. Truffaut points out that the plot weaknesses are not acknowledged, and to do so would be pointless and take away from the film.
This was my first time watching The 39 Steps, and not even close to my last. I'm already planning on picking up the new Criterion Blu Ray. I absolutely…
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A benchmark for all modern crime thrillers. Hitch nailed it very early on.
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The earliest example of Hitchcock's pet themes and archetypes crystallizing perfectly in a delineation of pure pleasure. This is so deliciously ludicrous and effortlessly thrilling that I could watch it once a day every day for the rest of my life. Makes North By Northwest look like five hours of Chris Farley eating donuts.
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A benchmark for all modern crime thrillers. Hitch nailed it very early on.
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I really didn't like this one. Oddly disjointed, there was nothing much to remember about The 39 Steps. Quite disappointing.
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The 39 Steps is a great film and interesting in how it seems to be the influence from which a lot of later Hitchcock films would draw from. It is no doubt a hint at the greatness that Hitchcock would reach later on in his career.
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A Hitchcock British masterpiece, The 39 Steps shows the starts of the master of suspense with this gripping, exciting and entertaining comedy, romance, thriller being a clear inspiration for another masterpiece of his, North by Northwest. Whilst only on screen together for around 20-30 minutes, Donat and Carroll share some truly believable and likable on screen chemistry making this one of Hitchcock's best romantic stories he has made. Combined with the complete excitement and tension gained through the chase sequences and the theme of 'the wrong man' make this a perfect mixture of thrills and feels. The entertainment value is timeless in this with perfect pacing, narrative and performances detailing the starts of Hitchcock's finest work. Overall, of those I have seen, Hitchcock's best British film, a true classic showing the beginnings of the Master of Suspense.
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Hitch's British classic is an exercise in gloss and flow.
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this film offers more cinematic and historical perspective than entertainment value but that does not mean that it is boring.
on the contrary, HITCHCOCK's motifs and themes were always there so we get to see the usual innocent man running away from the people blaming him for something he had nothing to do with.
it is somehow entertaining and interesting, it is mildly exciting and intriguing.
it does have some scenes worth watching [from a director's perspective] and some sequences smart enough [from a writer's one].
this is the closer we can get to a great director's origin story. -
A triumph for its time, THE 39 STEPS is a wonderful foray into Hitchcock's personal brand of "wrong man" stories.
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classic
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a really magnificent little story, shot flawlessly. donat is effortlessly charming and funny, and full of vigour when appropriate. the whole film is a delight.
i'm not familiar with hitchcock, but the direction in this is so perfect that i'm finally compelled to delve into his work.