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The 39 Steps [1935] | ![The 39 Steps [1935]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519JYBGADWL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft
Studio: ITV DVD
Category: DVD
List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £3.88
You Save: £12.11 (76%)
New (15) Used (3) from £3.39
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 1837
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 78 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5037115013637
ASIN: B00005AY13
Theatrical Release Date: August 1, 1935
Release Date: August 13, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: 6(4) unsealed
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Amazon.co.uk Review
A high point of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood career, 1935's The Thirty-Nine Steps is the first and best of three film versions of John Buchann's rather stiff novel. Robert Donat plays the rancher embroiled in a plot to steal British military secrets. He finds himself on the run; falsely accused of murder, while also pursuing the dastardly web of spies alluded to in the title. With a plot whose twists and turns match the hilly Scottish terrain in which much of the film is set, The Thirty-Nine Steps combines a breezy suavity with a palpable psychological tension. Hitchcock was already a master at conveying such tension through his cinematic methods, rather than relying just on situation or dialogue. Sometimes his ways of bringing the best out of his actors brought the worst out in himself. If the scene in which Donat is handcuffed to co-star Madeline Carroll has a certain edge, for instance, that's perhaps because the director mischievously cuffed them together in a rehearsal, then left them attached for a whole afternoon, pretending to have lost the key. The movie also introduces Hitchcock's favoured plot device, the "McGuffin" (here, the military secret), the unexplained device or "non-point" on which the movie turns. --David Stubbs
Amazon.co.uk Review
A high point of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood career, 1935's The Thirty-Nine Steps is the first and best of three film versions of John Buchan's rather stiff novel. Robert Donat plays Richard Hannay, who becomes embroiled in a plot to steal military secrets. He finds himself on the run; falsely accused of murder, while also pursuing the dastardly web of spies alluded to in the title. With a plot whose twists and turns match the hilly Scottish terrain in which much of the film is set, The Thirty-Nine Steps combines a breezy suavity with a palpable psychological tension. Hitchcock was already a master at conveying such tension through his cinematic methods, rather than relying just on situation or dialogue. Sometimes his ways of bringing the best out of his actors brought the worst out in himself. If the scene in which Donat is handcuffed to co-star Madeline Carroll has a certain edge, for instance, that's perhaps because the director mischievously cuffed them together in a rehearsal, then left them attached for a whole afternoon, pretending to have lost the key. The movie also introduces Hitchcock's favoured plot device, the "McGuffin" (here, the military secret), the unexplained device or "non-point" on which the movie turns. --David Stubbs
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 The 86 Mintues April 14, 2008
Shawn Watson (Badger's Brook, Scotland)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was really looking forward to this movie since this Criterion dvd is rather costly and a rerelease with a flawless screening seemed like the perfect way to be introduced to this so-called Hitchcock classic. It's a real shame the film ends up being so damn twee.
The main problem is that the film is just too quaint. None of the bad guys feel like a real threat and are frequently fooled by Hanney's simple tricks, the stakes aren't exactly high and the MacGuffin is surely Hitchcock's lamest. The final scene in which a memory man (a pre-USB key device) recites a vital formula to no one of importance before dying is a dumb way to end the film. I was expecting some gripping set-piece like at the end of North By Northwest or Saboteur when the hero and villain went head to head at Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty. But a single shot fired at the London Palladium? Come on!
And what's the deal with that silly chase sequence over the moors of Scotland. The stupid speeded-up footage makes it look like a Benny Hill skit sans music. Plus there absolutely aint no atmosphere to speak of. The only thing that really amused me was the chemistry between Hannay and Pamela, but that came too late in the movie.
They also changed too much from the book. Pretty much all that's left is the name Richard Hannay and the words 'the 39 steps'. Take away those and it's something completely different from John Buchan's book.
A true adaptation would have been much better.
 Hitch's most enjoyable British film December 12, 2006
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Hitchcock's The 39 Steps still holds up remarkably well - indeed, it's one of the few of his films that is consistently delightful, not least because of a great script that improves immensely on Buchan's racist novel and fills in the gaps between setpieces with equally good scenes filled with great dialog and memorable characters, from the milkman who aids Hannay's escape to John Laurie as the untrustworthy crofter and a luminous Peggy Ashcroft as his ill-suited wife. It also has a lovely feel for the unfriendly beauty of the Scottish landscape that gives the film a sense of scale and isolation lacking in most British films of its day.
Carlton's collector's edition boasts a fine transfer and a brief documentary on Hitchcock's British films as well a gallery of stills and production designs.
Great edition of wonderful film November 27, 2006
thomas12321 (denmark)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is the best I've seen from Hitchcocks British period. The plot has a lot of odd twists - some of them highly impropable. But it doesn't really matter - this is a film that should be enjoyed just for the ride. It is a movie that just sparkles.
Robert Donat I've never seen before but he seems to be an actor who instinctively knew what Hitch was after, and so suave, too, he beats Cary Grant!
This edition offers an extremely nice-looking print + some wonderful extras including a very informative documentary on Hitchcocks British films. At the present amazon bargain price you simply can't go wrong!
The British classic that really put Hitchcock on the map May 7, 2006
Daniel Jolley (Shelby, North Carolina USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
1935's The 39 Steps is the film that really put Alfred Hitchcock on the map as a world-class movie director. With its mixture of classic Hitchcockian wit, dark (and light) humor, and suspense, it brought to the fore the man's genius and set the stage for many a classic thriller to come. Robert Donat is excellent in the role of Richard Hannay, a young Canadian who finds himself in between a rock and a hard place after his encounter with a young female spy in London, while Madeleine Carroll brings beauty, grace, and a sense of romance to Hannay's increasingly harrowing quest to not only prove himself innocent of murder but to safeguard the defense of Great Britain from foreign agents. All he has to go on are a cryptic reference to something called "the 39 steps," a name of a town in Scotland, and a warning to stay away from any man missing the upper digit on his right pinkie finger.
When the mysterious Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) invites herself home with him and tells him her fantastic story of intrigue and danger, Hannay doesn't quite believe her - until, that is, she turns up in the night with a knife in her back. Knowing that the killers are waiting for him outside (and also knowing how likely the police would be to find him guilty of the murder up in his flat), he quickly adopts the classic mantle of the innocent man on the run, desperate to ultimately prove his innocence. The journey he makes from London to a little town in Scotland is not an easy one, as Hannay finds himself running from the bad guys who want to kill him as well as the cops pursuing him for murder. Deceit and double-crossing as well as assistance from unexpected quarters keep things very interesting - particularly after he finds himself on the run yet again (after one of several narrow escapes), now handcuffed to the lovely and initially unsympathetic Pamela (Madeleine Carroll). The romantic element thus introduced into the film deviates from the original novel on which the screenplay was based, but it clearly strengthens the film, setting the stage for a most climactic conclusion.
One of Hitchcock's best-known British films, The 39 Steps doesn't prove as gripping or dramatic as many of the master's later movies, but the exquisite dialogue and direction do make for some memorable moments (none more so than Hannay's improvised speech at a political meeting, which definitely qualifies as a classic in my book), and the twists and turns along the way continuously ratchet up the suspense, with everything working in concert toward a finish that does not disappoint.
Classic Action/Adventure May 3, 2006
L. Davidson (Belfast, N.Ireland)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
"The 39 Steps" is over 70 years old now , so not surprisingly it looks somewhat dated. It features the kind of wrongly-accused-man-on-the-run scenario so typical of later Hitchcock films , such as "Saboteur" and "North by Northwest". Robert Donat's Hannay gets embroiled in a spy plot to steal military secrets and has to flee to Scotland to clear his name and find out who is behind the dastardly conspiracy. There are some memorable scenes in the film ,such as those in the music hall, the election rally and on the train to Scotland (Hitchcock did have a fondness for high drama on steam trains !). "The 39 Steps" is the quintessential Hitchcock film and a template for some of his greatest Hollywood successes later in his career.
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