Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 34
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 1
Packed with twists and turns, this essential early Alfred Hitchcock feature hints at the dazzling heights he'd reach later in his career.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0
Packed with twists and turns, this essential early Alfred Hitchcock feature hints at the dazzling heights he'd reach later in his career.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 21,363
A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and he stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring trying to steal top secret information.
Aug 1, 1935 Wide
Jul 20, 1999
Scott Entertainment
All Critics (34) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (1) | DVD (15)
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.
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.
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.
If you can imagine Anatole France writing a detective story you will have some notion of the artistry that Hitchcock brings to this screen version of John Buchan's novel.
Far more substance than other thrillers.
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.
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.
Hitchcock at his very best.
This film couldn't be more entertaining, even if it had 40 steps.
Great fun.
Brilliant early Hitch
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.
Wonderful early sound, quite British Hitchcock thriller
A clumsy start to the directing dynasty Hitchcock would later build in America; The 39 Steps is unlike many of his other films in the way it's put together. Hitchcock would later make taut, sometimes action packed thrillers, all with ingenuity and a special zest that would saturate and identify his later films. This,
August 8, 2010Super Reviewer
One of the most timeless films I know. This was Hitchcock's first masterpiece. Though his films got much more elaborate later in his career, all of the things that I love about Hitchcock are here: suspense, comedy, beautiful cinematography and camera movement, etc. This is pure entertainment.
November 13, 2011Super Reviewer
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