THE 39 STEPS (1935 FILM)

'''The 39 Steps''' is a 1935 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the adventure novel ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.
There have been three major film versions of the book; Hitchcock's original has been the most acclaimed, and remains so today: In 1999 it came 4th in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 ''Total Film'' named it the 21st greatest British movie of all time.

Contents

Plot

Adaptation

Hitchcockian elements

Innovations

External links

Plot

Canadian Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is at a London theatre, attending a demonstration of the remarkable powers of "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson), a man with a photographic memory, when a fight breaks out and shots are fired. In the ensuing panic, he finds himself holding a frightened Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim), who talks him into taking her back to his flat. There, she tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins out to kill her. She claims to have uncovered a plot to steal vital British military secrets, implemented by a man with the top joint missing from one of his fingers, head of an espionage organisation called the "39 Steps".
That night, Smith, fatally stabbed with Hannay's bread knife, warns him to flee and then expires. He sneaks out of the flat disguised as a milkman and takes a train to Scotland, where she had told him she was going to find the man. On the train, he sees the police on his trail, and learns from the newspapers that he is the target of a nationwide manhunt. In desperation, he enters a compartment and kisses the sole occupant, the attractive Pamela (Carroll), in an attempt to escape detection. She however manages to free herself from his unwanted embrace and betrays him to the law. He jumps from the train onto the Forth Rail Bridge and escapes.
He stays the night with a poor older farmer (John Laurie) and his young wife (Peggy Ashcroft), who flirts with Hannay. The next morning, he leaves in the farmer's Sunday coat, and calls at the house the woman had told him of. There he finds the man with the missing finger-joint, the seemingly respectable Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle), who shoots him after a brief conversation and leaves him for dead. Luckily, the bullet fails to penetrate the farmer's prayer-book, left in a coat pocket, and Hannay flees once more.
He goes to the police, but they refuse to accept his story, since they know Jordan well. Hannay jumps through a window and escapes into the crowd. He tries to hide himself in a political meeting, but is mistaken for the keynote speaker; he gives a rousing impromptu speech (without knowing a thing about the candidate he is introducing), but is recognised by Pamela, who gives him up once more. They are handcuffed together and taken away by "policemen". Hannay eventually realizes they are agents of the conspiracy when they bypass the nearest police station. When the car is forced to stop, he escapes, dragging an unwilling Pamela along.

They travel cross country, and stay the night at an inn, the girl still not believing Hannay's story. While he sleeps, she slips out of the handcuffs, but then eavesdrops on one of the fake policemen on the telephone downstairs; the conversation confirms Hannay's assertions.
She returns to the room and sleeps on a sofa. Next morning, she tells him what she heard, and is sent to London to pass it on to the police. No secrets have been reported missing however, so they do nothing to help. Instead, they follow her to get to Hannay.
She leads them to Mr. Memory's show at the London Palladium, where the police close in on the fugitive. When the performer is introduced, Hannay recognizes his theme music - it's the annoyingly catchy tune he hasn't been able to forget for days. Hannay puts two and two together and realizes that Mr. Memory is how the spies are smuggling the secrets out: he has them memorized. As the police take him into custody, he shouts out a question- "What are the 39 steps?" When Mr. Memory compulsively begins to answer, Jordan shoots him and tries to flee, but is apprehended. The dying Mr. Memory recites the information stored in his brain, a design for silent aircraft, and Hannay and the girl stroll off, hand in hand.

Adaptation

The film departs substantially from Buchan's novel, introducing a love interest. In this film, 'The 39 Steps' refers to the clandestine organization itself, whereas in the book and in the other film versions, it refers to physical steps, albeit located in different places and with different significances to the plots.

Hitchcockian elements

★ ''The 39 Steps'' is the first in a line of Hitchcock films based upon the idea of an innocent man on the run, including ''Saboteur'' (1942) and ''North by Northwest'' (1959).

★ Alfred Hitchcock cameo: A signature occurrence in almost all of Hitchcock's films, he can be seen tossing some litter while Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim run from the theater at the beginning of the film.

Innovations

This features the first known movie footage of a helicopter-like device (possibly a Cierva C.30A Autogiro), predating the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 by a year.

External links

★

★ Criterion Collection essay by Marian Keane

★ The 39 Steps—Public Domain download at The Internet Archive

★ - John Buchan's original novel