| The 39 Steps | |
|---|---|
 British theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
|
| Cinematography | Bernard Knowles |
| Editing by | Derek N. Twist |
| Studio | Gaumont-British Picture Corporation |
| Distributed by | Gaumont British Distributors |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The 39 Steps is a 1935 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. Loosely based on the 1915 adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, the film is about a man in London who tries to help a counter-espionage agent prevent an organisation of spies called The 39 Steps from stealing top secret information. When the agent is killed and he stands accused of the murder, he goes on the run with an attractive woman in order to save himself and stop the spy ring.
Of the four major film versions of the novel, Hitchcock's film has been the most acclaimed. In 1999, the film came in fourth in a BFI poll of British films.[1] In 2004, Total Film named it the 21st greatest British movie of all time.
Contents |
Plot [edit]
At a London music hall theatre, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is watching a demonstration of the superlative powers of recall of "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson)—a man with a photographic memory—when shots are fired.[2] In the ensuing panic, he finds himself holding a seemingly-frightened Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim), who talks him into taking her back to his apartment. There, she tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins, and that she has uncovered a plot to steal vital British military secrets, masterminded by a man with the top joint missing from one of his fingers. She mentions the "39 steps", but does not explain its meaning.
Later that night, Smith bursts into Hannay's bedroom, fatally stabbed in the back, and warns him to escape. He finds a map of Scotland clutched in her hand, with a town circled. He sneaks out of the watched apartment disguised as a milkman and boards a train to Scotland. He sees the police searching the train and learns from a newspaper that he is the target of a nationwide manhunt for Smith's murderer. Quickly, he enters a compartment and kisses the sole occupant, the attractive Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), in a desperate attempt to escape detection. She frees herself from his unwanted embrace and alerts the policemen. Hannay jumps from the train onto the Forth Bridge and escapes.
He walks toward the town circled on the map, and stays the night with a poor crofter (John Laurie) and his much younger wife (Peggy Ashcroft). The next morning, Hannay flees from the police, wearing the farmer's Sunday coat given to him by the young woman. Hannay presumes that the only new resident in the town must be Annabella's contact, whom she was trying to meet and tell of the "39 steps". With the police still in pursuit, he arrives at the man's house, and tells his story to the seemingly respectable Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle), who then shows that he is missing part of a finger. Hannay realizes his mistake, but Jordan shoots him and leaves him for dead. Luckily, the bullet is stopped by the farmer's hymnbook, left in his coat pocket.
Hannay goes to the local police, but they refuse to believe his story, since the inspector knows Jordan well. Hannay jumps through a window and escapes into the crowd. He tries to hide himself at a political meeting, but is mistaken for the introductory speaker. He gives a rousing impromptu speech—without knowing a thing about the candidate he is introducing—but is recognised by Pamela, who gives him up once more. He is handcuffed and taken away by "policemen" who ask Pamela to accompany them. Hannay realises they are agents of the conspiracy when they bypass the nearest police station. Hannay is handcuffed to Pamela while the men try to disperse a flock of sheep blocking the road, but he still manages to escape, dragging the unwilling Pamela along.
They make their way across the countryside and stay the night at an inn. While he sleeps, Pamela manages to slip out of the handcuffs, but then overhears one of the fake policemen on the telephone; the conversation confirms Hannay's assertions. She returns to the room and sleeps on a sofa. The next morning, she tells him what she heard. He sends her to London to warn the police. No secret documents have been reported missing, however, so they do not believe her. Instead, they follow her to get to Hannay.
Pamela leads them to Mr. Memory's show at the London Palladium. When the performer is introduced, Hannay recognises his theme music—the annoyingly catchy tune he hasn't been able to forget for days. Hannay puts two and two together and realises that the spies are using Mr. Memory to smuggle the secrets out. As the police take him into custody, he shouts out the question, "What are the 39 Steps?" Mr. Memory compulsively begins to answer, "The 39 Steps is an organisation of spies, collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of ..." Just then, Jordan shoots him and tries to flee, but is apprehended. The dying Mr. Memory recites the information stored in his brain—a design for a silent aircraft engine.
Cast [edit]
- Robert Donat as Richard Hannay
- Madeleine Carroll as Pamela
- Lucie Mannheim as Annabella Smith
- Godfrey Tearle as Professor Jordan
- Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret, the crofter's wife
- John Laurie as John, the crofter
- Helen Haye as Mrs. Louisa Jordan, the professor's wife
- Frank Cellier as Sheriff Watson
- Wylie Watson as Mr. Memory
- Gus McNaughton as Commercial Traveller
- Jerry Verno as Commercial Traveller
- Peggy Simpson as Maid
- Matthew Boulton as Fake Policeman
Adaptation [edit]
The film's plot departs substantially from John Buchan's novel, with scenes such as in the music hall and on the Forth Bridge absent from the book. Hitchcock also introduced the two major female characters, Annabella the spy and Pamela, reluctant companion. In this film, The 39 Steps refers to the clandestine organisation, whereas in the book and the other film versions it refers to physical steps.[3] By having Annabella tell Hannay she is travelling to meet a man in Scotland (and produce a map with the town circled) Hitchcock avoids the plot hole in Buchan's book where Hannay, with the whole country in which to hide, chances to walk into the one house where the spy ringleader lives.
Production [edit]
The 39 Steps was a major British film of its time. The production company, Gaumont-British, was eager to establish its films in international markets, and especially in the United States, and The 39 Steps was conceived as a prime vehicle towards this end. Where Hitchcock's previous film, The Man Who Knew Too Much, had costs of £40,000, The 39 Steps cost nearly £60,000. Much of the extra money went to the star salaries for Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. Both had already made films in Hollywood and were therefore known to American audiences. At a time when British cinema had few international stars, this was considered vital to the film's success.[4]:p. 29 Hitchcock heard Scottish industrialist and aircraft pioneer James G. Weir commuted to work daily in an autogyro, and worked the aircraft into the film.[5]
Reception [edit]
The 39 Steps currently holds a maximum 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It was voted the best British film of 1935.[6]
Hitchcockian elements [edit]
The 39 Steps is the second film (after the silent film The Lodger) in a line of Hitchcock films based upon an innocent man being forced on the run, including Saboteur (1942) and North by Northwest (1959).
Alfred Hitchcock cameo: A signature occurrence in most of Hitchcock's films. Towards the beginning of the film, both Hitchcock and the screenwriter Charles Bennett can be seen walking past a bus that Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim board outside the music hall. The bus is on London Transport's number 25 route, which runs from Oxford Street through the East End and on to Leytonstone. As Glancy points out, this was familiar ground to Hitchcock, who lived in Leytonstone and then in Stepney (in the East End) as a youth. The director's appearance can thus be seen as an assertion of his connection with the area, but he was by no means romanticizing it. As the bus pulls up he litters by throwing a cigarette packet on the ground.[4]:p. 45
In the middle of the film, Hannay is shot in the chest with a revolver at close range, and a long fade out suggests that he has been killed. This jarringly unusual development - the main character is apparently killed while the story is still unfolding - anticipates Hitchock's later film, Psycho, and the murder of Marion Crane in the Bates Motel. Hannay, however, was not truly dead. In the next scene it is revealed that a hymn book in his coat pocket prevented the bullet from killing him.[4]:p. 63
Adaptations to other media [edit]
- Hitchcock's film version of The 39 Steps was adapted as a radio play on Lux Radio Theater on 13 December 1937, starring Robert Montgomery and Ida Lupino.[7][8]
- The 2007 West End and Broadway play The 39 Steps is adapted from both the Buchan novel and the Hitchcock film.[9]
- In the Sesame Street segment "Monsterpiece Theater" Alistair Cookie (Cookie Monster) introduces the audience to the thriller film, "The 39 Stairs" ("By a guy named Alfred..."). Grover in a film noir setting climbs a set of stairs counting each one as he ascends. Once he reaches the top he finds a brick wall. Instead of climbing back down, Grover slides down the banister.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
Notes
- ^ The BFI 100
- ^ St Pierre, Paul Matthew (2009). Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895–1960: On the Halls on the Screen. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-0-8386-4191-0.
- ^ Spoto, Donald (1999). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Da Capo. p. 145. ISBN 030680932X.
- ^ a b c Glancy, Mark. The 39 Steps: A British Film Guide.
- ^ "Travelling at the edge of space". University of Strathclyde. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- ^ "BEST FILM PERFORMANCE LAST YEAR.". Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954) (Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia). 9 July 1937. p. 8 Edition: LATE NEWS EDITION and DAILY. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ AudioClassics.com
- ^ OTR.NETwork
- ^ New York Magazine 13 January 2006
Bibliography
- Glancy, Mark (2003). The 39 Steps: A British Film Guide. London: Tauris, ISBN 1-86064-614-X
- Vermilye, Jerry (1978). The Great British Films. London: Citadel Press, ISBN 0-8065-0661-X
External links [edit]
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The 39 Steps (1935 film) |
- The 39 Steps is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The 39 Steps at the Internet Movie Database
- The 39 Steps at the TCM Movie Database
- The 39 Steps at Rotten Tomatoes
- The 39 Steps Eyegate Gallery
- The 39 Steps at AllRovi
Streaming audio
- The 39 Steps on Lux Radio Theater: December 13, 1937
- The 39 Steps on The Mercury Theatre on the Air: August 1, 1938
- The 39 Steps on Studio One: March 23, 1948
- The 39 Steps on Suspense: March 3, 1952
|
||||||||
A portion of the proceeds from advertising on Digplanet goes to supporting Wikipedia.
