UK 86m Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Key Cast: Robert Donat
Alfred Hitchcock's portrayal of women is the issue that he is most criticised for. It's perhaps unexpected then that in his adaptation of John Buchan's novel The 39 Steps one of the biggest changes is the addition of some great female characters.
The film largely follows the events of the novel with a few notable changes. It's a female spy that Richard Hannoy (Robert Donat) is accused of killing. It's a great idea in itself but it also makes more sense in this scenario why Hannoy's name would have been widely reported in the national press and in everyday gossip in the 1930s.
Hitchcock then goes one further and introduces a whole new character, Pamela (Madeline Carroll). She's just an innocent bystander who meets Hannoy briefly on a train and then reveals his identity to the police when he is later on the run from them. For reasons never made entirely logical, the captured Hannoy is handcuffed to Pamela and so he is forced to drag her along when he escapes again. It's at this point she becomes interesting as Hannoy tries to convince her of the truth and failing that decides to go along with the story and threaten her with the fact he is a murderer. She does her best to escape but eventually learns the truth and is a useful ally.
There's a few other minor changes to the story which work well. The spy tells Hannoy that she is headed up to a house in Scotland to meet a man which means there's no unconvincing co-incidence that he conveniently stumbles into the one house where the ringleader lives. There's also some additional scenes like the bookending music hall and the fantastic moment Hannoy escapes from a train on the iconic Forth Rail Bridge. The book itself is great but this film adaptation manages to improve on it, fixing a few issues and adding some great scenes.
Perhaps the thing which surprised me the most is how funny this film is. The story itself is mostly serious with a very real threat of death- indeed Hannoy is shot at close range at one point midway through the film which is a superb, unexpected moment. But there's a sense of humour in the film I didn't expect from the film akin to the likes of Indiana Jones and James Bond. Hannoy never loses his sense of humour and always has a dry wit to his dialogue. One of the funniest moments is when he stumbles on stage at a political rally and is forced to give a speech despite not having a clue who is he pretending to me nor what they represent and succeeds in rousing the entire audience.
Screenwriter Robert Towne once said that "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps". I think he's right. If you look at any subsequent film with a similar theme there's something inspired by The 39 Steps- the balance of danger and humour, the romantic subplot, the use of famous real-world locations.
Hitchcock's Hollywood films are considered better films and there's certainly a higher intelligence to most of them. But I often think that escapist films are more enjoyable to watch and that's why I think The 39 Steps might just be my favourite Hitchcock film.
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