The 39 Steps
Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
1935

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is a Canadian tourist in London, who gets involved in a deadly espionage plot when a spy (Lucie Mannheim) is murdered in his flat. With only the mysterious phrase "the 39 steps," Hannay embarks on a dangerous journey to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Review:

Tim: Alfred Hitchcock hit it big with this career-making film. This film is primarily responsible for launching him to stardom. This is a classic espionage thriller, but in my mind, it is not nearly as good as many people claim. Yes, this is a quick-moving, interesting spy thriller that entertains. However, I believe this is still a movie from a director early in his career- whose greatest masterpieces are still a few years away, and is still honing his craft. Still, this is a good movie.

My biggest problem with this movie (and it is an often-heard criticism) are a few lapses in logic. The plot is interesting, but it has some holes in it. I felt like these all-too-convenient events definitely progressed the story forward- at the expense of realism and believability. Also, the plot was labyrinthine and oftentimes difficult to follow. I occasionally felt myself a bit lost, and I wasn't overly invested in the plot. In addition, I don't love the idea of a "MacGuffin." The 39 Steps is a perfect example of this filmmaking technique. The MacGuffin here is the top secret plans- the impetus for all the action and the events of the entire film. Alfred Hitchcock popularized this statement, and it seems like he didn't particularly care what the MacGuffin was- it wasn't important to him. It only existed to spur our characters to action. I felt a bit cheated here. I wanted to know what the top secret plans were- I wanted them to be important. I wanted to know what "the 39 steps" were, and I wanted a more powerful revelation than the almost dismissive explanation at the end. I felt like this hurt the movie a bit.

I mostly enjoyed the cast. Robert Donat is good as Richard Hannay. He is strong as the protagonist, and was charming and effective. I didn't always love him, though, and at times, his behavior turned me off. However, mostly, he is strong in the role. Madeleine Carroll starts the film off weak, but gets better as the film went on. I wasn't loving her performance for the first twenty or so minutes of her screen time, but once she gets more time on screen, I started to warm up to her. She works fine with Donat, but I never felt like there was much of a connection or chemistry between these two. I wish there had been more.

The 39 Steps is definitely a good Hitchcock thriller, and it was incredibly influential for future Hitchcock movies and future thrillers in general. While I mostly enjoyed the film, I felt like there were a few flaws that prevented this from being a great movie. Still, it is a solid movie, and an undeniably important one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest, Rope, Vertigo, To Catch a Thief, Suspicion, Murder!