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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tuesday's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Film: THE 39 STEPS (1935) Starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll


I know, I know, this is not REALLY a 'forgotten or overlooked' film, but it's one of my all time favorites and I've been meaning to write about it for awhile now and what the heck. Make believe you never heard of it. And it does, after all, fit my definition of 'romance' - I'm bound to the theme since Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

THE 39 STEPS is a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Charles Bennett who adapted it from the novel by John Buchan. In my opinion, it is one of those very rare instances when a film is better than the book source. (I think I read somewhere that Buchan thought so too.)


The low-key sexy charm of Robert Donat, his enticing screen presence, cannot be underscored enough. It is one of the main reasons for the success of the film - at least in my eyes. Here he plays Richard Hannay, an innocent man on the run from the authorities - sound familiar?

Hannay is a Canadian visitor staying in London. One evening - garbed very attractively in a fetching coat with upturned collar - he attends a 'variety' show where one of the acts is a certain Mr. Memory.  This is an odd little man who, apparently, has instant recall of thousands of facts with which he amazes the audience whom he invites to hurl questions at him. When a loud disturbance erupts among the rowdy audience, Hannay slips out and is accosted by a fellow theater-goer, a mysterious woman (played in just the right mysterious and slinky way by Lucie Mannheim) who tells him she is being followed. Hannay, intrigued by the idea and her attractiveness, gallantly agrees to escort her. She tells him her name is Smith. Uh-oh.

Hannay takes Miss Smith home to his flat for what, I'm sure he imagines, is some sort of romantic tryst even if she will keep talking about spies, deadly conspiracy and something called 'the 39 steps'. Surely she must be fantasizing.

He fries her a kipper.

She warns Hannay to look out for a man with a missing finger-tip.

However, Hannay does begin to believe her tale when out of his window, he spots two men lurking by a phone booth - men the mystery woman insists are following her. When the phone rings, she tells him not to pick it up. (I've always wondered how the two shadowy men knew his phone number.)

Later that same night, Miss Smith is stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife.

How will Hannay explain a murdered woman in his rooms?

In the morning, the resourceful Hannay disguises himself as the milkman and goes on the run - entrusted (by circumstance) with Miss Smith's assignment to help stop a spy ring from passing on top secret information to the enemy. To that end he must make his way to Scotland. He does so with the police hot on his trail.


The shadowy scenes of fight or flight that ensue are elegant and frenzied, somehow both at the same time. This is director Hitchcock honing his skills then and for later use - innocent man on the run seemingly being a favorite motif.

There are three pivotal women in this film, two I like, one I don't - at least not at first.


1) I liked Lucie Mannheim as the mysterious Miss Smith and I've always felt she was just too intriguing a character to have been killed off so immediately. But for plot purposes, she had to go. (The original spy in the book is a man, by the way. For the film, a woman just makes more visual sense.)


2) I liked the gutsy young crofter's wife (Peggy Ashcroft) Hannay meets in Scotland. Though she is trapped in a marriage to a brutal and suspicious older man (John Laurie), that doesn't stop her from helping Hannay to escape. I really wish that this was the woman Hannay had wound up with - somehow. Donat and Ashcroft's scenes together are quietly intense and very moving.


3) And now we come to Madeleine Carroll as Pamela, the requisite blond of the piece. She begins by antagonizing the audience and it goes downhill from there until it FINALLY dawns on her that she should be helping Hannay, not hindering his desperate progress. (They first meet on a train, for goodness' sake! What could be more intriguing? Has this woman no romance in her soul?) Can't help it, it always takes me a long time to warm up to this character (who doesn't exist in the book) as she goes from dither-head 'hostage' to willing help-mate. (They spend part of the film hand-cuffed together.) I just wish Hitchcock hadn't waited so long to make her see the light. Though Hannay is remarkably patient, at a certain point you just want to throw up your hands and give old Pamela the heave-ho.


Yes, yes, they wind up together in the end. I said this was a romance.

How the story unfolds is wonderfully rich in esoteric detail - remember the missing finger-tip? Love the scene where Hannay is mistaken for an expected public speaker and must give a speech to a women's garden club. Another favorite scene is one in which an afternoon tea party/family gathering embodies the 'banality of evil' ideal. And the ending comes full circle in satisfying way. Remember Mr. Memory?

It it's Tuesday, it's time to check in at Todd Mason's blog, Sweet Freedom, to see what other forgotten or overlooked films, television or other audio/visuals other bloggers are talking about today. 

Behind the scenes with Hitchcock on the set of The 39 Steps. 

16 comments:

  1. Last year my sister was filling out an application to volunteer at the Toronto Film Festival. One of the questions was "What is your favourite film?" She pondered and the whole family brainstormed. Finally it dawned on her, it's "The 39 Steps". For her online handle she uses "MissMcCrocodile" from Hannay's mispronunciation of the candidate's name at the rally. What other movie could she possible choose?

    Yes. I want to shake Pamela as well. Some gals just can't seem to appreciate their good fortune. Handcuffed to Robert Donat!

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  2. I mean, really, right? I'm glad you appreciate my frustration with la belle Pamela. :) I love your sister's 'online handle'. LOVE IT! I also love that you belong to a whole family of old movie lovers, C.W. - Hmm, well, you know what I mean. :)

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  3. A classic movie is always worth talking about Yvette! Mind you, I swore blind the other week that the crofter's wife was actually played by Glynis Johns, so clearly haven't watched it recently enough!

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    1. Thanks, kiddo. I think Glynis would have been much too young then. :) (I got a chance to actually see Glynis Johns in person on stage in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.)

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    2. I envy you the Sondheim though I did get to see Judi Dench in the revival at least. Actually, proving that I really am not paying attention, I meant to say that i thought, on that day, that it was celia Johnson - ao there you go, I clearly really, really need to watch it again!

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    3. Yes, you definitely do, Sergio. :) I envy you seeing Judy Dench in person.

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  4. The play is nearby. Would be curious to see it. Always liked this one a lot.

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    1. I'd love to see the play, Patti. If I were you, I'd head on over. :)

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  5. Yvette, THE 39 STEPS have been a favorite here at Team Bartilucci HQ for ages, not only because of Alfred Hitchcock, but also because my mom was a fan of Madeleine Carroll, as well as Ms. Carroll's then-husband Sterling Hayden! I'm also tickled that you know the movie blogger known as "Miss McCrocodile," who I've commented to online -- talk about a small world! I always sympathized with Lucie Mannheim and Peggy Ashcroft's characters, and especially Mr. Memory, forced to give himself away, poor guy! We saw the playful Broadway version of THE 39 STEPS a couple of years ago, and that was just delightful! Your post was great fun, as always!

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    1. Thanks, Dorian. I so agree about Mr. Memory. You lucky thing you, to have seen the Broadway version. I hear it was a delight. (I kind of knew you guys were fans of this.) ;)

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  6. Yvette, this is one of Hitchcock's films that I'm not quite familiar with although I know I have seen it way in the past. Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll don't ring even a tiny little bell in my head, so it's time to watch the film again, which would, of course, seem like the first time.

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    1. It is very much a good time to watch the film again, Prashant. Well, come to think of it, it's never a bad time to watch THE 39 STEPS.

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  7. One of my favourites, though full of far-fetchedness. Huge fun in the scene where Hannay is called upon to introduce Mr. McCrocodile at the political meeting.

    But I think everyone, including Hitchcock and Hannay, are giving Madeleine Carroll (I forget her screen name) a rough time. She didn't believe him because he WAS a fugitive from justice,as identified by the police. Any woman (in fiction or real life) who aids an escaped killer just because he's adorable is really just TSTL. And yet Hannay vilifies her, essentially saying, "You should have known the police are corrupt and working hand in glove with the real villain, and that I am completely innocent of the murder simply because I say so, and I am utterly charming."

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  8. Well, that sounds good enough for me, Susan. Hannay's claim to innocence I mean. HA! Her name was Pamela. It suited her just fine.
    In reality of course you're right. But this was not reality and look at him - he was obviously a gentleman. :)

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  9. Lovely review of my favorite "early" Hitchcock pics. The two leads make a delightful pair and the plot zips along. The one thing I liked better about the book was the thirty-nine steps...which were actually steps and not a spy organization. By the way, the recent British TV remake was pretty good.

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    1. It wasn't bad, Rick, but I thought it was a bit dull. I still say it works better if the spy at the beginning is a woman.

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