Review of The 39 Steps (1935) by Paul Z — 15 Nov 2010

Great sense of humor. This has a lot of similarities to North by Northwest although it is one of Hitchcock's earlier movies and so is still set in and around England. The English countryside and people that Donat as Richard Hannay encounters as he runs from a couple mysterious men while trying to clear his name are what really give the picture a nice flavor and make it worthwhile. Is there anyone Hannay can trust? The clues and ability that Hannay has at giving his pursuers the slip seems quite unbelievable. The ending is abrupt without really explaining the implications or purpose of the crime. Carroll is a classic Hitchcock blond beauty who interestingly gets mixed up in the mystery and provides some great verbal quarreling with the hero.

I enjoyed this movie on second viewing even more after having worked on the comedy stage play. The play is inspired by this Hitchcock movie rather than the book or any other version of the story with this title. The humor of British comedy troupes from the 60's, like Monty Python, is combined with this rather dark thriller plot for the stage. I'd say 80% of the dialog is the same, which surprised me. And the same jokes are really present in this movie, except Hitchcock kept them more subdued.