Dir.
Alfred Hitchcock, 1935 (Re-issue 2008), UK, 89 mins
Cast:
Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim
Review
by Joyce Dundas
From
the first moment you see Robert Donat in this film as he
enters a theatre, you know this is a mystery film. He is
seen from the back, a mid-shot from the side, then the
top of his head, then he asks a strange question of Mr
Memory, “How far from Winnipeg to Montreal?” The scene
is set for a wonderful adaptation of a great novel.
In
Htichcock's version of John Buchan's classic book we don't
have to wait long before Richard Hannay (Donat) is completely
enmeshed in the action. Annabella, the strange Eastern
European beauty, whom he picks up rather quickly by modern
standards, starts the ball rolling and only smartly-suited
men and a hand-cuffed female can sort it out afterwards.
No it's not that kind of film, this is a very well-directed
film from the master of the anti-climax, Alfred Hitchcock.
It
has wonderful black and white cinematography, clipped-English
dialogue, and some of the most interesting Scottish Highlanders
you would ever want to meet, or so they would have you
believe. Hannay and manners, it's all part of the story.
When
Richard Hannay takes the strange Eastern European back
to a flat in Portland Place – now, how much would that
flat cost in 2008 – the film shows how much it is of its
time.
However,
the story then becomes ripe and contemporary. The very
paranoia that the mysterious sexy Russian (Mannheim) brings
to the piece and the strange code that is the 39 steps
are very relevant today. The fact that Hannay has a North
American accent is not lost and he is the untrusted alien
as soon as he sets foot in Scotland. He will not be trusted
nor will he trust, he is just stuck with someone he has
no choice to be shackled to.
The
Hitchcockian moments are good: the whispering at the back
of the theatre, the image of feet running, lamps flickering,
and the wonderful moment where the innocent victims start
to think about surviving, may it be ever so mannerly.
If
nothing else just watch the “foreigner” Donat struggling
with a huge, herringbone tweed coat and the biggest collar
ever but still solving the biggest spy story of its time.
This film will make you want to shout out what are the 39
steps, if only to know how close you might get to the lottery
winners.
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