91. The 39 Steps (1935)

Directed By Alfred Hitchcock

Synopsis

A man is wrongfully suspected of the the murder of a spy lady. He escapes while trying to figure out the mystery of what are the "39 Steps".

Review

This is not the first Hitchcock film in the list, but it is definitely the one where Freddy comes into his own. 39 Steps is classic Hitchcock, and by that I mean it is great. The pacing is relentless the dialogues are brilliant and the plot is so convoluted that it will give you a headache.

A thing I love about Hitchcock are his little touches, from the train whistle that is superimposed on the woman screaming when she finds a body, or the quick cut to the scotsman who lost his hymn book after Donat gets shot, to the totally out of plot business men on the train talking about ladies undergarments, there is a level of texture to his films that is unbeaten at the time.

The plot is of course brilliant, there is suspense in spades, but what shines here are the characters who are thrown into the plot and are like fish out of water. There are little characters sketches which are brilliant here, like the woman living with a very evangelical and abusive husband in the Scottish moors. Hitchcock manages to make a big, sweeping spy story without forgetting the little characters and the little details which give the far-fetched story all its verisimilitude. Really reccomended. Get it at Amazon UK or US.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

There have been three 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.

Put some modern Rock music (Tool in this case) and voila you have an exciting trailer for The 39 Steps: