Review of The 39 Steps (1935) by Danijel J — 12 Apr 2012

The 39 Steps is, according to many scholars, Alfred Hitchcock's first great picture. I don't know if that's true, but of one thing I am certain - it is a fabulous entertainment anouncing even more fun yet to come and containing many of the elments that will permeate his later clasics. This picture, together with The Lady Vanishes from 1938, was the one that fully drew attention of the American studios on him, speeding up the process of his transfer across the Atlantic.

The picture involves a murder you are likely to forget soon after the execution, a secret of national importance you will remember only when emphasized (a classic example of a MacGuffin) and a man whose wit and adroitness it's all about. In Hitchcock's work, the terms hero and a gentleman are never separated. This time he is played by Robert Donnat, one of the first actors to fill the shoes of that famous innocent man who finds himself on the run without the fault of his own. That concept is not to be taken literally though, not in this case. Unlike Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest for example, Richard Hanney consciosly invites trouble to his house, and is than forced to face the consequences.

Since this is a Hitchcock film, the trouble unsurprisingly comes in the face of a woman. This one says she is a spy and, after the shooting at a gathering of some kind, she politely asks Hanney to take her home. For a cavalier like him, that kind of offer is impossible to refuse. After they fall asleep (in seperate beds, they agreed on that earlier), she somehow gets herself slightly killed, leaving the cavalgier to deal with the aftermath.

The pacing is faster than in some of his latter offerings with simillar subjects, a logical consequence of a much shorter running time. Being that way, it runns a risk of even seeming a little rushed in few occasions, showing us a director in the final stages of mastering his trade. Nothing much to worry in this respect, though. The picture moves from one inspired sequence to another, from London to the more rural areas of Britain, with the esspetialy bizzare and creepy part in Scootish highlands. The love interest is brieffly introduced in the beginning, while fully joining the show in the second part.

Hitchcock is known for controling every aspect of the performances from his actors, so I will feel free to say he wanted Donnat to seem like nothing much is going on. He plas Richard like he's been preparing for this mess for a long time. The director gives him stage, and he is more than capable to shine on it.

People usualy get around to films from this stage of Hitchcock's carrier when they've alread seen some of his best known titles from the forties and fifties. Pictures from British period are not so widely viewed by audiences, much due to the fact they lack the star caliber of James Stewart or Ingrid Bergman for example. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling on some kind of injustice. There are perfectly jutified reasons for that. But this film has so much of Hitchcock the author in its core that it is maybe the best place to start understanding how his cinematic mind works.