The 39 Steps (1935)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Buchan (adapted from the novel by)
Charles Bennett (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

1 August 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

His First Picture Since "Monte Cristo" ROBERT DONAT

Plot:

A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and he stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring trying to steal top secret information.

Plot Keywords:

On The Run | Spy | Police | Music Hall | Canadian

Cast

Robert Donat	...	Hannay
Madeleine Carroll	...	Pamela
Lucie Mannheim	...	Miss Smith
Godfrey Tearle	...	Professor Jordan
Peggy Ashcroft	...	Crofter's Wife
John Laurie	...	Crofter
Helen Haye	...	Mrs. Jordan
Frank Cellier	...	The Sheriff
Wylie Watson	...	Memory
Gus McNaughton	...	Commercial Traveller (as Gus Mac Naughton)
Jerry Verno	...	Commercial Traveller
Peggy Simpson	...	Maid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ivor Barnard	...	Political Meeting Chairman (uncredited)
Charles Bennett	...	Second Passerby Near the Bus (uncredited)
Noel Birkin	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ex-Det. Sergt. Bishop	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Matthew Boulton	...	Fake Police Officer (uncredited)
Edgar K. Bruce	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Kate Cutler	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Philip Desborough	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Pat Hagate	...	M.C. Who Introduces Mr Memory (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Passerby Near the Bus (uncredited)
Carleton Hobbs	...	Fake Policeman #2 (uncredited)
Vida Hope	...	Usherette (uncredited)
Robert Horton	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Elizabeth Inglis	...	Professor Jordan's Daughter (uncredited)
James Knight	...	Detective at London Palladium (uncredited)
Hubert Leslie	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Miles Malleson	...	Palladium Manager (uncredited)
Quentin McPhearson	...	Clergyman on the Flying Scotsman (uncredited)
Phyllis Morris	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Frederick Piper	...	The Milkman (uncredited)
Hilda Trevelyan	...	Innkeeper's Wife (uncredited)
John Turnbull	...	Scottish Police Inspector (uncredited)
S.J. Warmington	...	Scotland Yard Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
John Buchan		(adapted from the novel by)
Charles Bennett		(adaptation)
Ian Hay		(dialogue)

Produced by
Michael Balcon	....	producer (uncredited)
Ivor Montagu	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Hubert Bath		(uncredited)
Jack Beaver		(uncredited)
Charles Williams		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bernard Knowles		(photography)

Film Editing by
Derek N. Twist		(as D.N. Twist)

Art Direction by
Oscar Friedrich Werndorff		(as O. Werndorff)
Albert Jullion		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pen Tennyson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Albert Whitlock	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
A. Birch	....	recordist

Special Effects by
Philippo Guidobaldi	....	miniature builder (uncredited)
Jack Whitehead	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Reg Johnson	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Peter Sargent	....	clapper-boy (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marianne	....	wardrobe
Joe Strassner	....	dress designer (as J. Strassner)

Music Department
Louis Levy	....	musical director
Louis Levy	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Alma Reville	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Gaumont British Picture Corporation (presents) (as Gaumont-British Picture Corporation Ltd.) (as A Gaumont-British Picture also)

Distributors

• Gaumont British Distributors (1935) (UK) (theatrical)
• Gaumont British Picture Corporation of America (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Nederland NV (1935) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Gaumont-France Distribution (1936) (France) (theatrical)
• Filmes Luís Machado (1936) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1942) (Australia) (theatrical)
• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1942) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Victory Films (1951) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV)
• Hal Roach Studios (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1999) (2004) (2009) (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2005) (France) (all media)
• Park Circus (2008) (UK) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• ITV DVD (2009) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Suomi-Filmi (1936) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Parvisfilmi (1948) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Urania Film (1987) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Sesam Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Magnum Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD) (8-disc Hitchcock Classic Collection)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1970) (1989) (1999) (2007) (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Les Films G.É.C.É. (????) (France) (theatrical)
• New Star (2011) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Ciné Video Film (????) (France) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gaumont/Columbia TriStar Home Video (GCTHV) (????) (France) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Network DVD (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The (????) (USA) (TV)
• VTI Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Shepherd's Bush Studios  recorded at

Also Known As:

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full Range Recording System: at Shepherd's Bush London)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 (2002) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Netherlands:9 (2009 re-release) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1935) | Argentina:Atp (DVD rating) | UK:U (tv rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1986) (1998) (2002) (2004) (2005) | Finland:K-16 (1936) | Finland:K-8 (1987) | Argentina:13 (original rating) | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:U (re-release) (2008) | USA:Unrated | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Big Water of Fleet Viaduct, Dromore, Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, UK

Company:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Trivia:

According to one of his sons, John Buchan (upon whose 1915 novel the film was based) was impressed with the film, despite its departures from his original plot.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Hannay gets the train from London to Scotland, but the train on that journey is seen bursting out of Box Tunnel near Bath, which is nowhere near the line from London to Scotland. The locomotive changes from a London and North-Eastern one, with a prominent sign "Flying Scotsman" above the smoke-box door, to a Great Western one, with no "Flying Scotsman" sign.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Music hall announcer:Ladies and Gentleman, with your kind attention, and permission, I have the honor of presenting to you one of the most remarkable men in the world.
Heckler in Audience:How remarkable? He's sweating!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Steele Your Heart Away (#3.6)" (1984)

Soundtrack:

Tinkle, Tinkle, Tinkle

The Quintessential Hitchcock

Trust and betrayal have been a recurrent theme in several of Alfred Hitchcock's works. The 39 Steps, made in 1935, has the all the classic elements of the master filmmaker that set the standard for later Hitchcock films. The 39 Steps has the classic Hitchcockian theme of an average, innocent man caught up in extraordinary events which are quite beyond his control. The sexually frustrating institution of marriage is another major motif present in the film. The strained and loveless relationship between the crofter and his wife, the placid relationship of the innkeeper and his wife, the (physical) bond between Hannay and Pamela can be examined in terms of degrees of trust between the couples. In fact, the short 'acquaintance' between Hannay and Smith and Hannay and the crofter's wife are also built completely upon trust. It is these couples, and the chemistry between them (or the lack thereof) that drive the entire film.

Over a span of four days, the smart and unflappable protagonist, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is involved in a circular journey to prove his innocence and expose the hive of intrigue. He is involved in chases and romantic interludes that take him from London to the Scottish Highlands and back again and he assumes numerous identities on the way - a milkman, an auto mechanic, a honeymooner, a political speaker among others.

The opening of the film, the first three shorts do not show him above his neck. With his back to the camera, he is followed down the aisle to his seat. He is then assumed to be lost in the crowd. This gives the audience the feeling that he could be anybody. Later when he takes in the identities of a milkman, a mechanic, a politician one realizes that he is Hitchcock's archetypal 'everyman' who unwittingly finds himself in incredible dilemmas.

In one of the brilliantly managed sequences on the train, Richard Hannay throws himself at a lone girl and forces a kiss just as a detective and two policemen pass by their compartment. It reveals his desperation to remain free until he can prove his innocence. In the scene after Annabella staggers into his room with a kitchen knife in her back, Hannay sees her ghostly image (which is superimposed) talking to him, `What you are laughing at right now is true. These men will stop at nothing.' The double exposure achieves a result which is a tad chilling and sad. The hallmark of Hitchcock's style is his ability to completely shock his audience by deliberately playing against how they would be thinking. In such episodes as the murder of the woman in Hannay's apartment or when the vicious professor with the missing finger casually shoots Hannay, the action progresses almost nonchalantly leaving the viewers stunned.

A great story, interesting and likeable characters, slyly incongruous wit, classic Hitchcockian motifs and a great MacGuffin are just a few things that make the The 39 Steps the quintessential Hitchcock.