The 39 Steps

Robert Donat - Richard Hannay
Madeleine Carroll - Pamela
Lucie Mannheim - Annabella Smith
Godfrey Tearle - Professor Jordan
Peggy Ashcroft - Margaret
John Laurie - John
Helen Haye - Mrs. Jordan
Frank Cellier - Sheriff
Wylie Watson - Mr. Memory

With the smashing financial and critical success of The Man Who Knew Too Much to his credit, Alfred Hitchcock was in a position to negotiate for control over his next production. The 39 Steps, based on the famous John Buchan novel of 1915, was freely adapted and changed by Hitchcock until very little of the original plot remained. Writer Buchan, who doubled as the British Governor General of Canada, was, at first, naturally upset that his book was used only as a foundation but later, after viewing the film, admitted that it was actually much better than his version.

Hitchcock rates The 39 Steps as one of his favourite films. He feels that its tempo is perfect. There is no dead footage, and the audience's absorption in the web of intrigue creates the impression of extremely fast pace. In an interview with Peter Bow Danovitch, Hitchcock once commented, "What I liked about The 39 Steps were the sudden switches and the jumping from one situation to another with such rapidity. Donat leaping out of the window of the police station with half of a handcuff on, and immediately walking into a Salvation Army band, darting down an alleyway into a room. 'Thank God you've come, Mr. so-and-so' they say and put him on to a platform. A girl comes along with two men, takes him into a car to the police station, but it's not really to the police station.... You know the rapidity of the switches, that's the great thing about it. If I did The 39 Steps again, I would stick to the formula, but it really takes a lot of work. You have to use one idea after another, and with such rapidity." The film is rich in details and that indescribable sense of the macabre.

Perhaps one of the reasons why The 39 Steps is one of the director's favourites is that it was his first to tackle his now-classic theme-the innocent man, framed by circumstantial evidence, who must run cross-country from police and spies alike in his frantic attempt to clear himself and find the real enemies of the people. Fortunate casting provided Hitchcock with the dashing Robert Donat who was promoted as a matinee idol. Paired with him was the beguiling Madeleine Carroll. The Charles Bennett script is literate and balanced with a fair share of romantic banter. Hitchcock said in interviews at the time of release that he makes his talkies as if they were silent with a minimum of dialogue and a maximum of action. The story revolves about Richard Hannay, who finds he must escape from his London flat after he discovers that the mysterious woman to whom he had given refuge the night before has been murdered. The killers are now after him, although he really isn't sure why, and he flees, following a single clue, to Scotland.

Eluding his pursuers by jumping from the train on Forth Bridge, Hannay makes his way to the home of Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle) who, unknown to him, is the mastermind behind the spy ring. Again he is almost trapped, but he manages to escape to the heather moors with the girl he met on the train, Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), to whom he is handcuffed by the spies masquerading as police. The couple make it to a theatre, where they find Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson), whom the spies use to transmit government secrets. Mr. Memory is shot and the spy's plans are foiled. Hannay is cleared of the murder and gets Pamela. The plot really doesn't matter much, although it is interesting, because it is what Hitchcock does with the situations he gets his hero into that create the excitement and suspense.

By combining the now-famous sound edit of the landlady's scream as she finds the body in Hannay's apartment linked with the shot of the train carrying Hannay toward his adventures, Hitchcock breached the "one-should-see-what-one-hears" barrier. The landlady's scream replaced the train whistle and connected the two scenes, adding shock value. The entire production was shot at the Lime Grove Studio of Gaumont-British, and again it was the director's technical expertise that gave The 39 Steps a polished tone. The scene on the Scottish moors created some problems, though: sixty-two sheep brought to the set for authenticity also brought havoc. The scene had to he shot before the sheep ate the sets.

Another fine point in the film is Donat's meeting with the insidious Professor Jordan, played with relish by Godfrey Tearle. Donat has learned that the leader of the spy ring is missing a finger on his right hand. He tells this to Tearle, who replies, "You mean this hand, don't you?" Other places where Hitchcock let his hero squirm include that of Donat's taking cover in a political rally to escape the police. Forced to give a double-talk speech with his handcuffs hidden, he is wildly applauded by the crowd. Unfortunately, Hannay knows nothing about the candidate about whom he speaks. The film was enthusiastically greeted in America and England.
Extract© Richard A. Harris, Michael S. Lasky: The Complete Films of Alfred Hitchcock.