Thursday, March 22, 2012

Day 337 - The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps (1935) directed by Alfred Hitchcock




The 39 Steps provides the template for many of Hitchcock's future films (most notably North by Northwest) where an innocent man must go on the run to prove his innocence all the while uncovering a larger conspiracy. The film opens with the protagonist Richard Hannay watching a show in a theatre when suddenly shots are fired. In the ensuring panic, he brings home a frightened woman who turns out to be a spy being pursued by assassins. Later that night Hannay wakes up when the woman comes stumbling into his room... with a knife in her back. She gives him a map and tells him to run and so he does. Naturally Hannay is accused of her murder and of course the only way to clear his name is to follow the clue that she left him. What follows is the familiar story of every day man turned spy complete with all the familiar thrills and spills and of course the obligatory love interest he meets along the way. Is there ever not a romance angle involved in these movies?

One thing I just realized other than how much Hitchock loved this forumla is how much he loved trains. It seems like just about every film he's done involved a train scene. He even has a movie called Strangers on a Train! In The 39 Steps, just like North by Northwest, the hero finds himself hiding out on a train where he meets the girl. I've ridden on the Amtrak a couple times; it didn't really seem like a place to pick up hot girls. Sigh. The reparte between the two leads is nice though not particularly outstanding. I did enjoy the scenes where he plays along with her fear and belief that he is a killer by falsely admitting to it, partly out of fun but also to get her to behave.

Overall the film provides a nice dosage of spy thriller and romantic comedy. I suppose you could call The 39 Steps a sort of North by Northwest lite. There aren't any particularly outstanding moments or even memorable scenes (though escaping the train was a nice touch) but was still pleasing throughout. The movie is also a brisk 85 minutes, a fraction of the running time of North by Northwest, though also a fraction of the fun as well. Nonetheless, this is a solid early entry into a familiar genre that Hitchock helped popularize.

Grade: B

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