Movie Review: The 39 Steps (1935)

Hello and happy Halloween, friends!

Peeking out from the shadows.

Maybe you're like me and don't like horror movies, but love some good suspense for the season? Enter the ideal genre for today: film noir (or proto-noir...more on that in a minute). Remember how I talked about an Alfred Hitchcock film last week? Well, that wasn't the last I had to say on the austere director, as we're back with an earlier work of his.

A note about spoilers: Mysteries are fun when you don't know the end, so no worries, I won't be talking about the climax or plot twists!

The 39 Steps (1935):

Premise: After watching a strange show that ends in gunfire, a woman asks Mr. Richard Hannay if she may go home with him as she doesn't feel safe. Turns out that's because she's a spy and she's carrying information about a secret organization that would jeopardize their crime operations. Mr. Hanney learns the secret, too, so now his life is in danger and he goes on the run through Scotland and England, hiding from murder accusations and being murdered himself. He has to figure out who he can trust and more importantly, what is the next step he should take?

Time to derail my life?

Genre(s): Thriller, Mystery...and Film Noir? (we'll get to that)

Length: 86 minutes.

Age Range: Characters die (shown on-screen) and get threatened. There are also some mild innuendos. A lot is going on, but it might fly over kids heads' if they're not following the dialogue closely. So maybe 10+? It's not PG-13 for content, maybe just for interest.

Crew: Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock. Produced by: Michael Balcon & Ivor Montagu. Written by: Charles Bennett & Ian Haybased, based on the story by John Buchan.

Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier, & Wylie Watson.

There's some fake political campaigning, so don't forget to vote!

General thoughts:

This isn't my favorite Hitchcock movie (those who have stuck around this blog for the last year know which one is the reigning champ) but it is fully enjoyable! 

It's early in the famous director's career but already we can see the types of stories that he loved to tell and would continue to tell. To those of us who have seen a couple of Hitch's flicks, it can seem like a repeat of his iconic ideas but it's actually the inception of those tropes and plot devices we love. For example, an innocent man is caught up and suspected in a series of crimes (North by Northwest (1957)), or a secret holds the key to everything (The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)), and so forth.

Even though it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, we've got to have a Mysterious Lady.

Those ideas would live on, so it's fun to see their origin story even if we prefer what came down the road (though I did like this better than North by Northwest (1957), which is not a common take.) In addition to being on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list, it's worth the watch as even if you think you know what's going to happen, there are a couple of twists that may still surprise you. Good build-up and tension, which is critical for a thriller.

I watched this back in August and while some of it is not particularly memorable, I remember feeling perfectly content when the ending came around. It's super fun because it's not that long, but a LOT happens, so the pace is booking along without a bored moment. Which is also why it's hard to remember everything that happened and why rewatches would still be fun to experience to pick up on more of the details.

Stranger danger.

Because it is going at such a brisk pace, I think there are themes that are rushed through and could've been developed more, such as isolation in the Scottish countryside. It just uses some stereotypes to get through to the next point at times, but that's fine as Hitchcock will come back to it, if not in this film. Isolation from society is kind of a theme of Jamaica Inn (1939), right? 

Thinking about the title (besides the mathematical implications. Does it bother me that The 39 Steps was not made in 1939? Yes, yes it does.) it made me wonder if there was any connection to The 39 Clues, a series by multiple authors about two kids who are trying to win their grandmother's inheritance, but are competing against the rest of their family. I only read 4 of the books because 39 sounded like a lot, but I wasn't sure how many there actually were. I'd just assumed there were 39. 

I got 11% of the way through.

Writing this post up I did some digging and it turns out the main series only has 11 books, but there are quite a few spin-off series'. So how many books are there put together? Well, 11+6+7+5+4+5 which leads us to...38. What?? Not 39?? They were so close! I guess it's a misnomer or a red-herring, which is a classic Hitchcock move.

For the blogathon:

Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy and Quiggy from The Midnite Drive-In are hosting Back in Black: Another Film Noir Blogathon today and tomorrow!

I keep hinting about this being noir, so let's talk about if it really counts. Hamlette was gracious enough to let me talk about this film even if it doesn't quite fit in the right time period. You can't usually find The 39 Steps on any noir lists, but I'm here to make the case that it is.

While it's not an official genre that you'd find on Letterboxd, the term film noir was coined in 1946 by the French critic Nino Frank. I feel like it's hard to explain noir to people who haven't seen a lot of noir because in the examples, usually the endings are given away, so we'll just stick to spoiler-free versions.

Noir = black in French, so film noir is a type of movie that has a darker elements, both visually and thematically.

Like Chat Noir, our favorite friendly French feline.

According to Wikipedia's definition of film noir, they are films "commonly featuring mysteries/crime dramas, detective fiction, and stories with themes of corruption, organized crime, redemption, cynicism, and tragedy." Does The 39 Steps fit that?

Mystery/crime drama?: check.

Corruption?: check.

Organized crime?: check.

Tragedy?: we've got some deaths, so check.

Don't look down.

And that's without me delving too deeply into the stories. Being on the run from the law has got to be film noir 101. Noir is also known for its stark cinematography and The 39 Steps has some pretty cool shots. Nothing monumental, but good set-ups for all the revealing moments. Then there's running through the Scottish hillsides and some iconic landmarks such as The Forth Bridge to liven up the cinematography.

Besides, many of Hitchcock's works are usually listed as noir and there is a consistency in his stories that goes beyond the classic era credited to noir, so I think this counts.

That said, it doesn't fully hold the noir feeling the whole way through and blends elements of a roadtrip comedy à la the previous year's It Happened One Night (1934) at one point. I feel like it then turned around and influenced It's a Wonderful World (1939) in character dynamics, so it is part of the unfolding film history of the 30s that would be foundational for the 40s when noir got its time to shine.

Handcuffs = forced proximity.

I am not an expert on the genre/sub-genre of film noir, but every time I watch one I like the smoke and mirrors of it all. Accentuating shadows and looking for justice when the law won't give it to you. It's a vibe. As a side note, in the one and only film class I've taken, for the first movie (Neruda (2016)) our professor asked if any of us had seen a noir movie before. The first one that came to my mind was The Third Man (1949) and when I mentioned it my professor immediately started humming the theme and agreed that it was a staple of the genre.

Wait a minute, The 3rd Man...The 39 Steps...what if noir has to do with numbers? What if it's about adding up the irregularities of the universe? This is the second time I've mentioned math, so maybe my math major self needs to calm down and do some calculus or something.

But there you have it, the perfect recipe for noir: shadows, Hitchcock, or numbers. All of which are shown in The 39 Steps.

Is it really noir if someone isn't stopped from screaming because that would break the classy silence?

~~~

To discover more film noir posts lurking in the shadows, check out the rosters on Hamlette's and Quiggy's blogs. Thanks to both of them for hosting!

And thanks to all of you for reading! Are there any noir movies you want to watch for Noirvember? Are there any movies that are a Halloween essential for you? How are you all celebrating? I'm not a big candy person (I recently developed an allergy to something that is in a lot of candy anyway, so I probably wouldn't be eating it if I wanted to) but I am currently dressed up as Jareth from Labyrinth (1986). 

Trick or treat!

Chloe the MovieCritic

P.S. If you like mystery and guessing games, then check back here tomorrow for a chance to guess my INKtober endeavors...