The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps was made and released in 1935.
Production Company: Production Company: Gaumont British Picture Corporation, Ltd.
Based on the novel by John Buchan
Watch The 39 Steps
Cast
Robert Donat... Richard Hannay
Madeleine Carroll... Pamela
Lucie Mannheim... Annabella Smith
Godfrey Tearle... Professor Jordan
Peggy Ashcroft... Margaret - Crofter's Wife
John Laurie... John - Crofter
Helen Haye... Mrs. Jordan
Frank Cellier... Sheriff Watson
Wylie Watson... Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson also appears in Jamaica Inn)
Gus McNaughton... Commercial Traveller with Pipe (as Gus Mac Naughton)
Jerry Verno... Commercial Traveller
Peggy Simpson... Maid
Mr. Memory
Mr. Memory [...] is based on a true-life musichall personality called Datas. The audience would ask him questions about major events, like: "When did the Titanic sink?" and he would give the correct answer. There were also trick questions. One of them was: "When did Good Friday fall on a Tuesday?" And the answer was: "Good Friday was a horse running at Wolverhampton race track and he fell at the first hurdle on Tuesday, June 21, 1864."
Alfred Hitchcock to Francois Truffaut
MacGuffin
Hitchcock explaining to Truffaut what the MacGuffin is: "It's the device, the gimmick, if you will, or the papers the spies are after. [...] the "MacGuffin" is the term we use to cover all that sort of thing: to steal plans or documents, or discover a secret, it doesn't matter what it is. And the logicians are wrong in trying to figure out the truth of a MacGuffin, since it's beside the point. The only thing that really matters is that in the picture the plans, documents, or secrets must seem to be of vital importance to the characters. To me, the narrator, they're of no importance whatever.
Hichcock Films with a MacGuffin
- The 39 Steps (the mechanical formula for the construction of an airplane engine)
- The Lady Vanishes (secret hidden in a melody)
- North by Northwest (microfilm containing government secrets)
- Torn Curtain ("Gamma Five" project, concerning an anti-missile missile)
- Similar to, but no MacGuffins are: Number Seventeen (the necklace), The Man Who Knew Too Much (assasination), Notorious (uranium)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Truffaut: at the beginning of the movie, when Robert Donat is locked up in a flat in which a woman has been stabbed, he notices from the window two spies pacing back and forth in the street. You sho'vved those spies from his viewpoint; the camera was in the room and the spies were outside, on the sidewalk. They were shown from a distance. But in the remake Ralph Thomas has two or three close shots of the spies in the street. Because of this the scene loses its whole impact; the two men are no longer strange and sinister and there is simply no reason to feel afraid for the hero.
Hitchcock: It's really too bad; they miss the whole point. It's obvious that you can't change your viewpoint in the midst of a situation of that kind.
Francois Truffaut: Hitchcock
The 39 Steps (1935) titles
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Some High Angle Shots
Downhill |
When Roddy (Ivor Novello) leaves the school after having been expelled, he is seen from above and looks small and depressed. |
| The 39 Steps | When Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle) is trapped, we see the stage he is on in a high angle shot. |
Secret Agent |
When the organ player is found dead in the church, we see this from the bell towrer where Ashenden and the Mexican is hiding. |
Suspicion |
When Lisa has spoken with the detectives after Beaky's death |
Shadow of a Doubt |
The high shot from the roof in Philadelphia when uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) has tricked the detectives and escaped their surveillance. Here the high angle shot illustrates that uncle Charlie is in total control. |
| I Confess | Father Logan (Montgomery Clift) is seen from a high angle when he is on his way to turn himself in. |
Dial M for Murder |
When Tony is telling Lesgate hos the murder plan is to be set out. |
The Trouble With Harry |
When Sammy (John Forsythe) and Captain Albert Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) is digging to get Harry out of the ground. |
| The Birds | A high angle shot of Bodega Bay occurs when the gulls descend on the town to attack. |
Topaz |
When Kusenov is asked if he knows about the spy ring called Topaz, there are several high angle shots. |
Frenzy |
When Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) is put in his cell after the verdict has been read. |
Family Plot |
When Fran and Adamson comes up from the cellar, they are seen from above (which includes the crystals in the frame) |
Original Title |
German Title |
Italian Title |
French Title |
| The Pleasure Garden | Irrgarten der Leidenschaft | Il giardino del piacere | Le Jardin d'Agrément |
| The Mountain Eagle | Der Bergadler | L'aquila della montagna | L'Aigle de la Montagne |
| The Lodger aka: The Case of Jonathan Drew (U.S.) |
Il pensionante | Les Cheveux d'Or | |
| Downhill | Il declino | La Pente / Downhill | |
| Easy Virtue | Virtù facile | Le passé ne meurt pas | |
| The Ring | Vinci per me | Le Masque de cuir | |
| The Farmer’s Wife | La moglie del fattore | Laquelle des trois ? | |
| Champagne | Tabarin di lusso | À l'américaine / Champagne | |
| The Manxman | L'isola del peccato | The Manxman | |
| Blackmail | Erpressung | Ricatto | Chantage |
| Juno and the Paycock aka: The Shame of Mary Boyle |
Giunone e il pavone | Junon et le paon | |
| Murder! | Sir John greift ein | Omicidio! | Meurtre |
| The Skin Game | Bis auf's Messer | Fiamma d'amore | The Skin Game |
| Number Seventeen | Nummer Siebzehn | Numero diciassette | Numéro dix-sept |
| Rich and Strange | Endlich sind wir reich | Ricco e strano | À l'est de Shanghai |
| Waltzes from Vienna Strauss Great Waltz (U.S. title) |
Vienna di Strauss | Le Chant du Danube | |
| The Man Who Knew Too Much | Der Mann, der zuviel wußte | L'uomo che sapeva troppo | L'Homme qui en savait trop |
| The 39 Steps | 39 Stufen | Il club dei trentanove | Les 39 Marches |
| Secret Agent | Geheimagent | L'agente segreto | Quatre de l'espionnage |
| Sabotage | Sabotaggio | Agent secret | |
| Young and Innocent aka: The Girl Was Young (U.S. title) |
Jung und unschuldig | Giovane e innocente | Jeune et innocent |
| The Lady Vanishes | Eine Dame verschwindet | La signora scompare | Une femme disparaît |
| Jamaica Inn | Riff-Piraten / Die Taverne von Jamaika | La taverna della Giamaica | La Taverne de la Jamaïque |
| Rebecca | Rebecca / Rebekka | Rebecca, la prima moglie | Rebecca |
| Foreign Correspondent | Mord | Il prigioniero di Amsterdam | Correspondant 17 |
| Mr. and Mrs. Smith | Mr. und Mrs. Smith | Il signore e la signora Smith | Joies matrimoniales |
| Suspicion | Verdacht | Il sospetto | Soupçons |
| Saboteur | Saboteure | Sabotatori | La Cinquième colonne |
| Shadow of a Doubt | Im Schatten des Zweifels | L'ombra del dubbio | L'Ombre d'un doute |
| Lifeboat | Das Rettungsboot | Prigionieri dell'oceano | Lifeboat |
| Spellbound | Ich kämpfe um Dich | Io ti salverò | La Maison du docteur Edwardes |
| Notorious | Berüchtigt (Weißes Gift) |
Notorious, l'amante perduta | Les Enchaînés |
| The Paradine Case | Der Fall Paradin | Il caso Paradine | Le Procès Paradine |
| Rope | Cocktail für eine Leiche | Nodo alla gola | La Corde |
| Under Capricorn | Sklavin des Herzens | Il peccato di Lady Considine | Les Amants du Capricorne |
| Stage Fright | Die rote Lola | Paura in palcoscenico | Le Grand Alibi |
| Strangers on a Train | Der Fremde im Zug (Verschwörung im Nordexpress) |
L'altro uomo | L'Inconnu du Nord-Express |
| I Confess | Ich beichte (Zum Schweigen verurteilt) |
Io confesso | La Loi du silence |
| Dial M for Murder | Bei Anruf Mord | Il delitto perfetto | Le crime était presque parfait |
| Rear Window | Das Fenster zum Hof | La finestra sul cortile | Fenêtre sur cour |
| To Catch a Thief | Über den Dächern von Nizza | Caccia al ladro | La Main au collet |
| The Trouble with Harry | Immer Ärger mit Harry | La congiura degli innocenti | Mais qui a tué Harry |
| The Man Who Knew Too Much | Der Mann, der zuviel wußte | L'uomo che sapeva troppo | L'Homme qui en savait trop |
| The Wrong Man | Der falsche Mann | Il ladro | Le Faux Coupable |
| Vertigo | Aus dem Reich der Toten | La donna che visse due volte | Sueurs froides |
| North by Northwest | Intrigo internazionale | La Mort aux trousses | |
| Psycho | Psycho | Psyco | Psychose |
| The Birds | Die Vögel | Gli uccelli | Les Oiseaux |
| Marnie | Marnie | Marnie | Pas de printemps pour Marnie |
| Torn Curtain | Der zerissene Vorhang | Il sipario strappato | Le Rideau déchiré |
| Topaz | Topas | Topaz | L'Étau |
| Frenzy | Frenzy | Frenzy | Frenzy |
| Family Plot | Familiengrab | Complotto di famiglia |
Complot de famille |