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THE 39 STEPS (1935) (****)

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I am in total awe of Alfred Hitchcock. His mastery of film is so amazing. He can take a simple story that’s not all that original and make it seem like its something you’ve never seen before. THE 39 STEPS is probably Hitchcock’s most famous film from his British period, because it was a hit in the States as well.

Canadian playboy Richard Hannay (Robert Donat, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS) takes a woman named Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim, THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY) back to his place after a riot breaks out in a theater where they were watching the performance of a man dubbed Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson, JAMAICA INN). She’s being followed and tells a tale of spies and a man with a missing finger, who is out to get secret plans. In the morning, she ends up with a knife in her back, thrusting Hannay to run for his life from the spies and the police who think that he murdered Annabella. In his travels, Hannay crosses paths with a woman on the train named Pamela (Madeleine Carroll, MY FAVORITE BLONDE). She resurfaces later and how she gets attached to Hannay is ingenious.

When a Hitchcock film is at its best, it puts an innocent man on the run, only giving him his wits and ingenuity to save him. This film is crammed with wonderful moments of quick thinking. I really liked the political rally scene.

Hitchcock also knows exactly how to weave in humor. The banter between Hannay and Pamela is wonderful. Because Pamela won’t believe Hannay's plea of innocence he tells her a sarcastic tale of how he started his life of crime, which is funny and charming. This is just another masterful thriller from Hitchcock that should not be missed.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks