The 39 Steps

Well, another largely wasted day - although, I did find out that the Pitt library has all of David Lean's feature films on DVD! This Dedicated Leaniac will have to get on that ASAP.

Tonight's feature is The 39 Steps (1935), one of Alfred Hitchcock's first "classics". It is very interesting to view it as a predecessor to pretty much of all his subsequent works. The plot, in a nutshell, involves a man (Robert Donat) who finds himself accidentally caught up in a tangled web of espionage and intrigue beyond his comprehension - all the while, being hunted by sinister spies and unknowing authoritarians. While it bares an obvious resemblance to North by Northwest, Hitchcock's later (and much better) prototypical spy thriller/action film, one can see echoes of nearly all of Hitchcock's later works here - distrust of police/authority, the wrong man accused of a crime and damned by insurmountable circumstantial evidence, dubious spies and elaborate, creatively-staged set-pieces.

You know, I've always found it very hard to actually write about Hitchcock. Maybe there's some Freudian-Jungian subconscious thing about my not wanting to deal with sexual and violent themes explored in his works (I highly doubt that), maybe it's just because Hitch's films are largely visual, with very lightweight plots and characters that don't hold up to any real scrutiny. The 39 Steps is a case in point. In the last analysis, it's a rather banal Hitchcock - as mentioned above, Hitchcock would deal with these themes many, many times in the future and much better. And this movie also features one of my least favorite Hitchcock touches - the maddening vagueness as to what exactly is going on, and what the stakes are (like, who are the spies working for? What are they doing? Why should we care, if you won't let us know?). I know that's the concept of the Macguffin, and I know it ultimately doesn't matter a great deal, but dammit, the way Hitchcock used it on occasion (and uses it here) is just aggravating.

All things considered, though, The 39 Steps isn't a bad watch. It's fast-moving, with nice cinematography and editing, good performances and snappy banter by Robert Donat and Madeline Carroll, and at a mere 86 minutes it doesn't even have. But really, it's best seen as a stepping stone - and foundation - for Hitchcock's later, better works. 7/10 seems a fair rating.

Anyway, classes start tomorrow, though, so we won't have this much time for that much longer. I have an intro to Film Genres class, which will hopefully be interesting. At least it will give me the opportunity to write (a lot more than I'd like to, I'm sure) and check off some films on those 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die books. I'll admit it; I'm a listomaniac.