In Hitchcock's hands, however, this well-known espionage adventure provided the basis for a new sort of thriller and a new sort of comedy.
The 39 Steps (1935)
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Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 30
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Consensus: Packed with twists and turns, this essential early Alfred Hitchcock feature hints at the dazzling heights he'd reach later in his career.
Runtime: 89 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is a Canadian rancher on vacation in London who sees a vaudeville act at the Palladium in which Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson) draws on his photographic memory to answer... Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is a Canadian rancher on vacation in London who sees a vaudeville act at the Palladium in which Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson) draws on his photographic memory to answer questions posed by the audience. When a shot rings out in the theater a frightened young woman approaches Hannay and asks for his help. The woman claims that foreign spies who plan to smuggle valuable military secrets out of the country are after her, and when she herself is later killed, Hannay finds himself both framed as the man responsible for her death as well as the next potential victim of the spy ring. Traversing through rural Scotland, on the run from both the police and the spies, Hannay finds himself attached to a cool but reluctant blonde, and together they have to figure out the meaning of the woman's last words and bring down the spy ring before the precious military secrets are smuggled abroad. THE THIRTY NINE STEPS is the film that established Hitchcock as the master of the mystery spy-thriller. [More]
Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Peggy Ashcroft
Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Peggy Ashcroft, Godfrey Tearle, John Laurie, Wylie Watson, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Composer: Hubert Bath
Producer: Ivor Montagu
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Reviews for The 39 Steps
At 35, with more than a dozen features already under his belt, the director triumphed with this dazzling mixture of spycraft, banter, expository nonsense and manic chases along the Scottish Highlands.
It's melodrama and at times far-fetched and improbable, but the story twists and spins artfully from one high-powered sequence to another while the entertainment holds like steel cable from start to finish.
With its great turns by Donat, Carroll (the original Hitchcock blonde) and all the cast, and immaculate direction of a cracking script, this is timelessly enjoyable. A true classic.
All the fun of North By Northwest in a little over half the time, The 39 Steps is – even for the umpteenth viewing – absolutely unmissable.
As an artist, Alfred Hitchcock surpassed this early achievement many times in his career, but for sheer entertainment value it still stands in the forefront of his work.
O excesso de coincidências leva o roteiro a soar maniqueísta (bem como a “tensão sexual” entre Donat e Carroll), mas a direção de Hitchcock, como sempre, salva o filme.
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