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The 39 Steps (1935)
Tomatometer
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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.
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
Reviews for The 39 Steps
The "innocent man" notion has been copied and recopied for decades, but few have the minerals to stand with this one.
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.
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.
It's almost cleansing to see a film like this which doesn't insult your intelligence.
The 39 Steps (1935) is one of the earlier Alfred Hitchcock British spy-chase suspense-thrillers from a vintage period
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