The 39 Steps: Alfred Hitchcock Film Trailer - Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll (1935)

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The 39 Steps is the original 1935 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.

There have been four major film versions of the book. Hitchcock's original has been the most acclaimed, and remains so today: In 1999 it came 4th in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 Total Film named it the 21st greatest British movie of all time.

Canadian Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is watching a demonstration of the superlative powers of recall of "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson) (a man with a photographic memory) at a London music hall theatre when shots are fired. In the ensuing panic, he finds himself holding a seemingly-frightened Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim), who talks him into taking her back to his apartment. There, she tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins, and that she has uncovered a plot to steal vital British military secrets, masterminded by a man with the top joint missing from one of his fingers. She mentions the "39 steps", but does not explain its meaning.

Later that night, Smith bursts into Hannay's bedroom, fatally stabbed in the back, and warns him to escape. He finds a map of Scotland clutched in her hand, with a town circled. He sneaks out of the watched apartment disguised as a milkman and boards a train to Scotland. He sees the police searching the train and learns from a newspaper that he is the target of a nationwide manhunt for Smith's murderer. Quickly, he enters a compartment and kisses the sole occupant, the attractive Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), in a desperate attempt to escape detection. She however frees herself from his unwanted embrace and alerts the policemen. Hannay jumps from the train onto the Forth Rail Bridge and escapes.

He walks toward the town circled on the map, and stays the night with a poor crofter (farmer) (John Laurie) and his much younger wife (Peggy Ashcroft). The next morning, Hannay is chased by the police wearing the farmer's Sunday coat (given to him by the young woman). Hannay presumes that the only new resident in the town must be Annabella's contact, whom she was trying to meet and tell of 'the 39 Steps.' Police still in pursuit, he arrives to the man's house, and tells his story to the seemingly respectable Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle), who then shows that he is missing part of a finger. Hannay realizes his mistake, but Jordan shoots and leaves him for dead. Luckily, the bullet is stopped by the farmer's hymnbook, left in a coat pocket.

Cast * Robert Donat as Richard Hannay * Madeleine Carroll as Pamela * Lucie Mannheim as Annabella Smith * Godfrey Tearle as Professor Jordan * Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret, the crofter's wife * John Laurie as John, the crofter * Helen Haye as Mrs. Louisa Jordan, the professor's wife * Frank Cellier as Sheriff Watson * Wylie Watson as Mr. Memory

The 39 Steps is the second film (after the silent film The Lodger) in a line of Hitchcock films based upon the idea of an innocent man on the run, including Saboteur (1942) and North by Northwest (1959).

Alfred Hitchcock cameo: A signature occurrence in most of Hitchcock's film. Towards the beginning of the film, Hitchcock can be seen tossing some litter in front of a bus that Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim board which pulls up in front of the theatre.

Hitchcock's film version of The 39 Steps was adapted as a radio play on Lux Radio Theater on 13 December 1937, starring Robert Montgomery and Ida Lupino.

The 2007 West End and Broadway play The 39 Steps is adapted from both the Buchan novel and the Hitchcock film.

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[MrRenbeer]

truly wonderful film A+++++