THE 39 STEPS [1935 / 2012] [The Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray] [USA Release]
Alfred Hitchcock is the Master of Suspense and Most Entertaining Film!
A heart-racing spy story by Alfred Hitchcock, and ‘THE 39 STEPS’ follows Richard Hannay [Robert Donat] as he stumbles upon a conspiracy that thrusts him into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors — a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued — as well as into an unexpected romance with the cool Pamela [Madeline Carroll]. Adapted from a novel by John Buchan, this classic wrong-man thriller from the Master of Suspense anticipates the director’s most famous works (especially ‘North by Northwest’), and remains one of his cleverest and most entertaining films.
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FILM FACT: The script was originally written by Charles Bennett, who prepared the initial treatment in close collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock; and Ian Hay then wrote some dialogue. The film's plot departs significantly from John Buchan's novel, with scenes such as in the music hall and on the Forth Bridge is absent from the book. Alfred Hitchcock also introduced the two major female characters, Annabella Smith the spy and Pamela, the reluctant companion. In this film, ‘THE 39 STEPS’ refers to the clandestine organisation, whereas in the book and the other film versions it refers to physical steps, with the German spies being called “The Black Stone.” By having Annabella Smith tells Richard Hannay she is travelling to meet a man in Scotland and produces a map with Alt-na-Shellach house circled and Alfred Hitchcock avoids the coincidence in John Buchan's novel where Richard Hannay, with the whole country in which to hide, chances to walk into the one house where the spy ringleader lives. Alfred Hitchcock had worked with Jessie Matthews on the film ‘Waltzes from Vienna’ and reportedly did not like her very much. However, as well as the fade-out music in ‘THE 39 STEPS.’ the song “Tinkle, Tinkle, Tinkle,” which he also used as an orchestrated version of her song “May I Have The Next Romance With You” in the ballroom sequence of his 1937 film ‘Young and Innocent.’
Cast: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier, Wylie Watson, Gus McNaughton, Jerry Verno, Peggy Simpson, Ivor Barnard (uncredited), Charles Bennett (uncredited), Noel Birkin (uncredited), (uncredited), (uncredited), (uncredited), (uncredited), Ex-Det. Sergeant. Bishop (uncredited), Wallace Bosco (uncredited), Matthew Boulton (uncredited), Pat Hagate (uncredited), Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited), Carleton Hobbs (uncredited), Vida Hope (uncredited), Elizabeth Inglis (uncredited), James Knight (uncredited), Miles Malleson (uncredited), Quinton McPherson (uncredited), Frederick Piper (uncredited), John Rae (uncredited), Charles Hubert Renard (uncredited), Hilda Trevelyan (uncredited), John Turnbull (uncredited) and S.J. Warmington (uncredited)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producers: Ivor Montagu (uncredited) and Michael Balcon (uncredited)
Screenplay: John Buchan (adapted from the novel), Charles Bennett (adaptation) and Ian Hay (dialogue)
Composers: Jack Beaver (uncredited) and Louis Levy (uncredited)
Costume Design: Joe Strassner
Wardrobe: Marianne
Cinematography: Bernard Knowles (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 86 minutes
Region: Region A/1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: JANUS FILMS / ITV Studios Global Entertainment / Gaumont-British Picture Corporation / The Criterion Collection
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE 39 STEPS’ [1935] to me is the quintessential Alfred Hitchcock film. Other films may have weightier themes or a more complex subtext, but ‘THE 39 STEPS’ is a Alfred Hitchcock thriller down to its essential elements – a shocking murder, an innocent man on the run, and a beautiful blonde who is naively involved.
Alongside ‘The Lady Vanishes’ [1938], the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ was released by Gaumont-British in 1935, and is best known and most perennially successful of Alfred Hitchcock's British films, and is still among the most critically regarded. A free adaptation of John Buchan's popular novel, its central theme is one of Alfred Hitchcock's favourites, where an apparently ordinary man embroiled by chance in a sinister conspiracy and charged with a murder he did not commit; Richard Hannay must unravel the plot to prove his innocence.
In outlining the film, it therefore closely resembles the film ‘Young and Innocent’ [1937] and the later ‘Saboteur’ [1942] and ‘North by Northwest’ [1959], and shares with the first two a couple who are chained together by circumstance, beginning as antagonists, then becoming allies and finally lovers.
The sequence in which Richard Hannay [Robert Donat] and Pamela [Madelaine Carroll] a character who doesn't appear in the novel who again are handcuffed together is typically “Hitchcockian,” and the director Alfred Hitchcock fully exploits the dramatic potential of their enforced bond, not neglecting the sexual implications.
From there it's a seemingly endless series of scrapes, close calls, betrayals and unlikely escapes. The film moves at a rapid clip, skating over the details of the female spy's murder and Richard Hannay's escape from a police station, in order to keep the narrative continually moving forward. The film draws breath briefly for one vignette, when Richard Hannay seeks shelter in a small village. There he is offered lodgings by a dour John, the crofter [John Laurie] and his much younger Margaret, the crofter's wife [Peggy Ashcroft].
Margaret, the crofter's wife has forsaken the excitements of the city for a life of boredom and drudgery and, while she wants to help Richard Hannay, her husband is more interested in betraying him for a reward. In just a couple of scenes Peggy Ashcroft gives the audience a vivid portrait of a young woman locked into a joyless marriage with a grim old dour miser.
‘THE 39 STEPS; film is a little risqué for its time, most famously in the scenes where Richard Hannay and Pamela have to share a bed while handcuffed together, as well as a humorous scene on the train with two ladies underwear salesmen. One scene carried over from the book has Richard Hannay switching clothes with a milkman in order to leave his apartment undetected by enemy agents. In the novel, this is suggested to the milkman as being part of a bet. In the film, when the milkman doesn't believe Richard Hannay's story about spies, Richard Hannay tells him instead that he's having an illicit affair with a married woman, and the two men outside are her husband and brother..
While it's tempting to view ‘THE 39 STEPS’ film principally as the template for so much that followed in Alfred Hitchcock's career, it's also a piece of storytelling that emerges directly from the political undercurrents of pre-WWII Britain. The sense of imminent danger, that the everyday world is threatened by spies, turncoats and “some foreign power,” and that someone needs to shake the authorities out of their complacency, pervades the whole film.
‘THE 39 STEPS’ film greatly benefits from Robert Donat's charismatic performance as Richard Hannay. Robert Donat was an unusually fluid, natural actor, both dashing and sophisticated, and he can be seen as a forerunner of the actor who was to become the Alfred Hitchcock's favourite leading man: Cary Grant.
Madelaine Carroll, who returned in Alfred Hitchcock's next film that was ‘Secret Agent’ [1936], was already a transatlantic star before ‘THE 39 STEPS.’ Madelaine Carroll brought to the film an effortless glamour and a cool sex-appeal which anticipated later Alfred Hitchcock heroines like Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren.
‘THE 39 STEPS’ was a huge success on its release, and crowned Alfred Hitchcock as the undisputed king of British cinema. Campbell Dixon in The Daily Telegraph thought it "immensely cinematic", while the British Film Institute's usually reserved Monthly Film Bulletin described it as “first class entertainment.” Sydney W. Carroll in The Sunday Times pronounced the director “a genius.”
‘THE 39 STEPS’ is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most breathless and most entertaining films, and packs an enormous amount into its 87 minutes of screen time. The MacGuffin isn't really of great importance – in case you forgotand the whole thing was about the plans for a secret new aeroplane. But it's really the journey that's important here, much more than the final destination.
THE 39 STEPS MUSIC TRACK LIST
RUSSIAN DANCE (uncredited) (Arranged by Hubert Bath)
WE SHALL WIN (uncredited) (Arranged by Charles Williams) [Played by the Salvation Army band]
IN THE SWEET BY AND BY (uncredited) (Music by Joseph P. Webster) [Played by the Salvation Army band]
LOVE IS A SONG (uncredited) (Written by Ray Noble and Max Kester)
TINKLE, TINKLE, TINKLE (uncredited) (Written by Harry M. Woods) [Played by Music Hall pit orchestra and Danced by the chorus girls]
DANCING WITH MY SHADOW (uncredited) (Written by Harry M. Woods)
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Blu-ray Image Quality – The Criterion Collection presents the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ with a stunning 1080p black-and-white image and is shown of course with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The Criterion Collection has proudly given us largely crisp and clean transfer, which was created from a 35mm fine-grain master positive. At times, the clarity and contrast are breath-taking, especially when one considers the advanced age of this vintage classic film. Black levels are rich and inky, and the grey scale is really excellent. Background elements shine through well, with fine details and fabric textures looking surprisingly vibrant, and close-ups are clear, too, though not as razor sharp as high-definition aficionados might crave. Noise is absent, and no banding, pixilation, noise reduction, or edge enhancement could be detected. Most of the dirt and debris that surely littered the original print have been eradicated, but a few errant marks and vertical lines remain, though one must really focus intently on the picture to notice them.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The Criterion Collection brings us the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ with just one standard 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience. Generally speaking, the dialog is stable and easy to follow. There is relatively good depth and clarity is pleasing. The famous train whistle is appropriately shrill, and various effects are punchy, but there's no escaping the vintage nature of this track. One can only imagine the audio's decayed condition when the Criterion technicians first examined it, and they have done a totally brilliant job repairing and refining the sound. It's far from perfect, but what they have achieved with the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ makes viewing the film a really enjoyable and rewarding experience.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Audio Commentary by Alfred Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane [Audio only] [1999] [1080p] [1.37:1] [86:33] This audio commentary was recorded by The Criterion Collection in 1999, and features scholar Marian Keane. To listed to the audio commentary while viewing ‘THE 39 STEPS’ film, you must press the AUDIO button on your remote control to access the right 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio presentation. As soon as the film starts we hear the voice of Marian Keane and her in depth talk about the Alfred Hitchcock famous film. The audio commentary essay by Marian Keane is sort of insightful and gives an in-depth outlook of the movie that unfolds before us as we watch each scene, but doesn't provide a lot of background information on the production or even the actors that are important to the film, but her main interest is almost exclusively on interpreting the images provided by director Alfred Hitchcock. But for me personally, Marian Keane is a bit too eager to assign any kind of sexual symbolism. For example, during the Crofter's scene, Marian Keane quickly labels the male Crofter as impotent, which too is an insult. However, there are many other possible reasons that a young wife and an older husband might be unhappy together that have nothing to do with any kind of sexual impotence on the part of the husband, there could be so many other factors. In general, I thought Marian Keane’s audio commentary was sort of helpful, but I must say when Marian Keane talks about the banter between Richard Hannay and Pamela [Madeleine Carroll] begins to sound like some romantic comedy once they are handcuffed together and must cooperate in their actions. Here, Marian Keane sort of hints about some kind of “phallic gun” is effective, but not to me to be honest, for Pamela is indeed afraid that Richard Hannay might be holding a pistol against her and reluctantly therefore has to do what Richard Hannay says, but Pamela is also at the same time feels his violent threats are for real. At the same time Pamela is still smarting from their initial encounter, where Richard Hannay forced a kiss upon her in the railways carriage and clutching Pamela close to his chest and fighting off her struggles with his embrace, in doing so Richard Hannay successfully fooled the police into believing they were lovers in action, and instead thinking he was not the wanted man on the run. So the idiot police pass him by without asking Richard Hannay and Pamela any questions. As we get near to the end of Marian Keane’s audio commentary, points out that Pamela’s resentment of Richard Hannay’s intrusion stays with Pamela until late into the end of the movie, when the plot brings them back together and literally manacles them hand to hand. Eventually Pamela’s anger begins to soften, and as it does, their conversation begins to sound like the banter of lovers. But then unfortunately Marian Keane spoils her argument by insisting that the candle in Richard Hannay and Pamela's inn room should be seen as some kind of phallic symbol as it burns down throughout the night, representing the reduced threat to Pamela posed by Richard Hannay. So all in all, this Marian Keane’s audio commentary is sort of okay and I take a lot of her comments with a pinch of salt talking about certain aspects towards the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ and of course it is up to you to decide whether you agree with me or not and to me I feel Marian Keane who is from America has a totally different moral outlook more like Victorian moral values, compared to us stalwart British moral values and to be honest I have heard much better insightful audio commentaries towards other Alfred Hitchcock films. To finish off the audio commentary, what really annoyed me intensely is that far too often Marian Kean keeps stating the bloody obvious what we are viewing and I do not have to have someone tell me what I have already worked out, and it is entirely up to the viewer to work out what is going on in ‘THE 39 STEPS’ film, and on top of all that, I also felt Marian Kean had a very boring monotonous voice.
Special Feature: Hitchcock: The Early Years [2000] [1080p] [1.37:1] [24:07] With this featurette we get to view a very interesting documentary, that was produced for the Carlton International Media in 2000, and looks at the director Alfred Hitchcock’s pre-war career as well a brief profile of Alfred Hitchcock's work in the Britain's film industry and features interviews with film historian Charles Barr, author and crime historian John Kennedy Melling, and members of Alfred Hitchcock's British crew. This is a very good introduction for those who are unfamiliar with Alfred Hitchcock's life. This short documentary looks at Alfred Hitchcock's early years and interviews with some impressive people. Although much has been written about director Alfred Hitchcock, getting these guys down on the record was a worthwhile venture. Fewer and fewer of his contemporaries now remain. What is striking about Alfred Hitchcock is his place in the different genres of film. Alfred Hitchcock dabbled in horror, he dabbled in spy thrillers. His constant undercurrent was crime, from a basic murder in films like ‘ROPE’ and ‘REAR WINDOW’ to the international espionage story. But despite making crime thrillers in the 1940’s, Alfred Hitchcock never really got to be known for his venture into the genre of “film noir.” We also get to view clips from Alfred Hitchcock films that includes ‘The Pleasure Garden’ [1927], ‘The Lodger’[1927], ‘The 39 Steps’[1935], ‘Young & Innocent’[1937], ‘The Lady Vanishes’ [1938], ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ [1934], ‘Sabotage’ [1936], ‘The Secret Agent’ [1936] and ‘Jamaica Inn’ [1939]. The documentary is narrated by David Bond. Contributors include: John Kennedy Melling [Author and Crime Historian], Charles Barr [Author of “English Hitchcock”], Roy Ward Baker [Second Assistant Director: ‘The Lady Vanishes’], Hugh Stewart [Film Editor: ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’] and Teddy Joseph [Third Assistant Directord: ‘Sabotage’ and ‘Young & Innocent’].
Special Feature: Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock [1966] [480i] [1.37:1] [40:14] With this featurette we get to view original footage from British broadcaster Mike Scott’s 1966 rare television interview with the Master of Suspense director Alfred Hitchcock for the Granada television series “Cinema” in November 1969. Sadly only the raw interview footage remains, but despite this it is still a riveting discussion of Alfred Hitchcock's early days in the British film industry. Alfred Hitchcock talks about his first jobs in silent films, how he never intended to become a director, his understated technique in dealing with actors, his respect for audiences, the highly sexual nature of the handcuff scene in ‘THE 39 STEPS’ and what frightens him personally, but also talks about his different techniques of filming certain scenes. Films such as ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much,’ ‘Sabotage’ and ‘The Lady Vanishes’ are also addressed in this rare black-and-white featurette.
Special Feature: The Borders of Possible [Audio only] [2012] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1.37:1] [23:59] With this featurette, we get to view a new visual essay, where film historian and scholar Leonard Leff discusses director Alfred Hitchcock’s adaption of John Buchan’s novel “The Thirty-Nine Steps” and hallmarks Alfred Hitchcock style of directing. Leonard Leff also expounds on many aspects of the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ and including the original novel upon which the film is based on, the film's sexual innuendos, the casting and impact of the actor Robert Donat, as well as the editing techniques, censorship issues. We also get to view several stills and clips complement Leonard Leff's points on the film, as well as excerpts from Alfred Hitchcock's famous interviews with French film director François Truffaut, and throughout this featurette we also get a plethora of clips from the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ so making this a fascinating and very nice special featurette.
Special Feature: Production Designs: With this featurette we get to view a few black-and-white design sketches and images from the film ‘THE 39 STEPS’ by the Austrian art director O. Werndorff. Born Oscar Friedrich Werndorff [1880 – 1938] in Vienna and worked on several German productions in the early 1920’s, including Ewald André Dupont’s film ‘Varieté,’ and then leaving Germany in the early 1930’s where he moved to Britain where he worked in the British film industry. In addition to the film ‘THE 39 STEPS,’ where he Arts directed Alfred Hitchcock’s films ‘Waltzes From Vienna’ [1934], ‘Sabotage’ [1936] and ‘Secret Agent’ [1936]. Oscar Friedrich Werndorff also served as stage designer in New York and Vienna. It informs us that to navigate the image sequences, you have to press the right arrow button on your remote control to move to the next image and use the left arrow button on your remote control to move back to the previous image you have just viewed. To exit, you have to press the EXIT button on your remote control. By the way, you get to view a total of 27 black-and-white images.
Special Feature: Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut Interview [Audio only] [1962] [1080p] [1.78:1] [22:16] With this featurette we get to hear the famous French filmmaker François Truffaut’s 1962 rare interview with the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock over the course of approximately fifty hours, and especially with the help of collaborator and translator Helen G. Scott. These interviews would form the basis of François Truffaut’s landmark 1967 book entitled “HITCHCOCK.” Presented here are excerpts from François Truffaut’s original audio recordings, in which director Alfred Hitchcock focuses on a couple of aspects of the film ‘THE 39 STEPS,’ including Alfred Hitchcock's attraction to the original novel, because he felt it was based on a critical scene, and a couple of small yet significant moments in the film. We find out that this was in the fall of 1962, whilst the film ‘The Birds’ was in post-production, François Truffaut carried out extensive interviews with Alfred Hitchcock at his offices at Universal Studios. The interviews were recorded onto audio tape and the content eventually edited down into François Truffaut's Hitchcock book. Although François Truffaut speaks no English, so he hired Helen Scott of the French Film Office in New York to act as the translator for the interviews. François Truffaut had intended to quickly publish the book of the interviews, but the first edition wasn't published until several years later in 1966 in France and in 1967 in America. To bring the book up-to-date, François Truffaut conducted further interviews to discuss the films ‘Marnie’ and ‘Torn Curtain.’ In 1984, Patricia Hitchcock donated a set of the interview tapes to the Margaret Herrick Library, where they are now part of the Alfred Hitchcock Collection. Although François Truffaut claimed that the recordings lasted 50 hours, the surviving audio tapes — which cover the 1962 interviews — last for less than 26 hours. Research by Janet Bergstrom has made clear the fact that the book often does not contain a verbatim transcript of Alfred Hitchcock's responses to François Truffaut's questions. The audio tapes of the interviews have not been released commercially. However, portions of the audio tapes were used for a French radio broadcast by the station “France Culture.” Here you get to view a static image of the two men in conversation, which helps to make this quite an interesting special featurette. Personally I found this audio interview a very frustrating experience, as you have Alfred Hitchcock explaining about anecdotes and different interesting aspects about the film ‘THE 39 STEPS,’ but you have translator Helen G. Scott speaking in French most of the time to director François Truffaut in what Alfred Hitchcock has just spoken, but what really annoyed me is when Alfred Hitchcock starts to speak in English, then Helen G. Scott immediately starts to translate in French to François Truffaut all at the same time and sometimes you had a job in not hearing clearly what each person was saying because they were talking over each other’s conversation, but what should of happened is that they should of first let Alfred Hitchcock talk for a little bit, stop, then let Helen G. Scott translate in French. What also really annoyed me is that director François Truffaut actually can speak in English and of course you can understand why people in France thinks people outside France are slightly arrogant towards the French, expecting everyone should speak French.
Special Feature: LUX Radio Theatre Presents ‘THE 39 STEPS’ [Audio only] [1937] [1080p] [1.78:1] [59:52] With this featurette, we are informed that from 1934 to 1955 LUX Radio Theatre was one of America’s most important radio broadcasters, as well as an influential dramatic anthology series. Presented here is its 13th December, 1937 performance of a truncated adaptation of ‘THE 39 STEPS’ starring actors Robert Montgomery and Ida Lupino, aided by Isabel Jewell and Gene Lockhart, and hosted by Cecil B. DeMille. The audio recording includes the broadcaster’s original commercials and a special intermission guest, Major C.E. Russell, formely of the U.S Intelligent Service. The film's breakneck pace translates well with this audio version, and the actors do justice to their roles. As an added bonus, includes publicity photos of Robert Montgomery, Ida Lupino and Cecil B. DeMille.
PLUS: A wonderful 20 page booklet featuring a new essay by film critic David Cairns entitled THIRTY-NINE STEPS TO HAPPINESS. ABOUT THE TRANSFER. SPECIAL THANKS. PRODUCTION CREDITS. We get a plethora of promotional black-and-white featuring the cast.
Finally, "What is drama, but life with the dull bits cut out?" Alfred Hitchcock once observed, and that's a wonderful apt description of the breathlessly paced ‘THE 39 STEPS.’ It's justly famous for its series of action set-pieces, beginning with the shooting at the London music-hall and continuing via a Scottish Highlands adventure to the dramatic finale at the London Palladium theatre. Robert Donat proves to be a wonderful romantic hero – suave, charming and commendably resourceful. And one of the most striking aspects to ‘THE 39 STEPS,’ when viewed 70-plus years on, is how it uses its dynamic story to explore a series of sexual relationships. Initially Richard Hannay is propositioned by a female agent Annabella, who works for "any country that pays me," and is assassinated in his flat. Later Richard Hannay is handcuffed by the villains to a mystery blonde, played by Madeleine Carroll, with whom he shares a night and a bed in an inn, whilst they pretend to be an eloping couple. Alfred Hitchcock even takes the time to show us the deeply unhappy relationship between an elderly crofter played by John Laurie and his much younger wife played by Peggy Aschcroft and it is this woman's kindness and generosity to Richard Hannay which proves literally life-saving. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
