The Thirty-Nine Steps (1959)

Hitchcock's Version - No Slavish Adaptation by the Master
Alfred Hitchcock's movie version of John Buchan's "39 Steps" is a good example of how a movie director can take as his source material a novel and radically alter it to make it into a completely different kettle of fish. He added two important female characters, love interest, comic touches, a good musical score, and a denouement that is better than his source material. What do you do if you are Richard Hannay, and you bring a woman home to your apartment, and she turns out to be spy who ends up with a dagger in her back? After all, before bringing her home, he had warned her, "It's your funeral."
Robert Donat is Richard Hannay, and Madeleine Carroll is the romantic interest. The movie was made while Hitchcock was still in Britain. Even then he was a playful witty moviemaker. The British music hall performer, Mr. Memory, a key player in the film was a Hitchcock addition to the Buchan story.
The black and white movie is suspenseful with its spies, chase scenes in the Scottish highlands, and its very resourceful hero. Later Hitchcock movies used the isolated and hunted hero, the ingenious amateur, who has to win over doubters (in this case, Carroll). The film doesn't seem dated and is well worth seeing.
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Hitchcock at his finest
This is one of my favorite old films. The story is still relevant, absent cell phones, computers and GPS electronics. I also think the acting is good, especially that of Madeleine Carrol. I have read reviews critical of Robert Donat in this part, but I think he's great. The real star is Alfred Hitchcock. His directing and angles of shots is superb. The DVD copy is good and I'll watch it often.

Hitchcock at his finest
This is one of my favorite old films. The story is still relevant, absent cell phones, computers and GPS electronics. I also think the acting is good, especially that of Madeleine Carrol. I have read reviews critical of Robert Donat in this part, but I think he's great. The real star is Alfred Hitchcock. His directing and angles of shots is superb. The DVD copy is good and I'll watch it often.