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Movies / Upcoming / The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps

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The 39 Steps (1935)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:30

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.8/10

Consensus: Packed with twists and turns, this essential early Alfred Hitchcock feature hints at the dazzling heights he'd reach later in his career.

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is a Canadian rancher on vacation in London who sees a vaudeville act at the Palladium in which Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson) draws on his photographic memory to answer... Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is a Canadian rancher on vacation in London who sees a vaudeville act at the Palladium in which Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson) draws on his photographic memory to answer questions posed by the audience. When a shot rings out in the theater a frightened young woman approaches Hannay and asks for his help. The woman claims that foreign spies who plan to smuggle valuable military secrets out of the country are after her, and when she herself is later killed, Hannay finds himself both framed as the man responsible for her death as well as the next potential victim of the spy ring. Traversing through rural Scotland, on the run from both the police and the spies, Hannay finds himself attached to a cool but reluctant blonde, and together they have to figure out the meaning of the woman's last words and bring down the spy ring before the precious military secrets are smuggled abroad. THE THIRTY NINE STEPS is the film that established Hitchcock as the master of the mystery spy-thriller. [More]

Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Peggy Ashcroft

Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Peggy Ashcroft, Godfrey Tearle, John Laurie, Wylie Watson, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Composer: Hubert Bath
Producer: Ivor Montagu

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The 39 Steps

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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Great fun.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Laced with comic romantic touches.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

The 39 Steps (1935) is one of the earlier Alfred Hitchcock British spy-chase suspense-thrillers from a vintage period

Full Review Source: Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films | comment Comment
01/01/00
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films

With its great turns by Donat, Carroll (the original Hitchcock blonde) and all the cast, and immaculate direction of a cracking script, this is timelessly enjoyable. A true classic.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
04/11/08
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film

Hitchcock at his very best.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/11/08
Ian Freer
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A brilliant piece of pure -- and purely enjoyable -- filmmaking.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
08/14/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

In Hitchcock's hands, however, this well-known espionage adventure provided the basis for a new sort of thriller and a new sort of comedy.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/04/08
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

As an artist, Alfred Hitchcock surpassed this early achievement many times in his career, but for sheer entertainment value it still stands in the forefront of his work.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
07/09/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

It's almost cleansing to see a film like this which doesn't insult your intelligence.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ted Prigge
Ted Prigge
rec.arts.movies.reviews

At 35, with more than a dozen features already under his belt, the director triumphed with this dazzling mixture of spycraft, banter, expository nonsense and manic chases along the Scottish Highlands.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
09/04/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

This film couldn't be more entertaining, even if it had 40 steps.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/23/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

If you can imagine Anatole France writing a detective story you will have some notion of the artistry that Hitchcock brings to this screen version of John Buchan's novel.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Andre Sennwald
Andre Sennwald
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's melodrama and at times far-fetched and improbable, but the story twists and spins artfully from one high-powered sequence to another while the entertainment holds like steel cable from start to finish.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/18/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

All the fun of North By Northwest in a little over half the time, The 39 Steps is – even for the umpteenth viewing – absolutely unmissable.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
04/11/08
Total Film

For those who love a grand spy mystery, a wild chase, and a harrowing portrait of an innocent man struggling to prove his innocence while the world turns inexplicably against him, The 39 Steps is ideal.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Wonderful early sound, quite British Hitchcock thriller

comment Comment
10/23/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

As dull as anything Hitchcock has done, save the exhilerating final 10 minutes.

comment 1 Comment
12/22/03
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
eCinemaCenter.com

Brilliant early Hitch

comment Comment
09/24/05
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

The "innocent man" notion has been copied and recopied for decades, but few have the minerals to stand with this one.

comment Comment
01/17/03
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

O excesso de coincidências leva o roteiro a soar maniqueísta (bem como a “tensão sexual” entre Donat e Carroll), mas a direção de Hitchcock, como sempre, salva o filme.

comment Comment
07/09/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
 
 
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