The 39 Steps (1935)

Bada0Bing

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The 39 Steps is a 1935 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. It is very loosely based on the 1915 adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan.[3] It concerns an everyman civilian in London, Richard Hannay, who becomes caught up in preventing an organisation of spies called "The 39 Steps" from stealing British military secrets. After being mistakenly accused of the murder of a counter-espionage agent, Hannay goes on the run to Scotland and becomes tangled up with an attractive woman while hoping to stop the spy ring and clear his name.

Since its initial release, the film has been widely acknowledged as a classic. Filmmaker and actor Orson Welles referred to it as a "masterpiece". Screenwriter Robert Towne remarked, "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps."[4]



I had mistakenly watched the 1959 version a couple of years ago, so I eventually circled back to the original 1935 version. Glad I did. Excellent film.

It blew my mind to learn that this was Hitchcock's 22nd film. I thought it was one of his first.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026029/
 

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The 39 Steps is a 1935 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. It is very loosely based on the 1915 adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan.[3] It concerns an everyman civilian in London, Richard Hannay, who becomes caught up in preventing an organisation of spies called "The 39 Steps" from stealing British military secrets. After being mistakenly accused of the murder of a counter-espionage agent, Hannay goes on the run to Scotland and becomes tangled up with an attractive woman while hoping to stop the spy ring and clear his name.

Since its initial release, the film has been widely acknowledged as a classic. Filmmaker and actor Orson Welles referred to it as a "masterpiece". Screenwriter Robert Towne remarked, "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps."[4]



I had mistakenly watched the 1959 version a couple of years ago, so I eventually circled back to the original 1935 version. Glad I did. Excellent film.

It blew my mind to learn that this was Hitchcock's 22nd film. I thought it was one of his first.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026029/
His first films were very short and for the most part forgettable. There were a few gems though, like this film and Lady Vanishes from a few years later. The original Man Who Knew Too Much with Peter Lorre was good, IMO arguably better than his later version (but that is mainly because I'm not a fan of Doris Day in that film).
 
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Bada0Bing

Bada0Bing

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His first films were very short and for the most part forgettable. There were a few gems though, like this film and Lady Vanishes from a few years later. The original Man Who Knew Too Much with Peter Lorre was good, IMO arguably better than his later version (but that is mainly because I'm not a fan of Doris Day in that film).
Yeah, I looked into that further and saw that most of his early stuff is lost. I'll have to do a Hitchcock marathon one of these days. I've only seen 10 or so of his most notable films.
 
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