Distributor: R.B.C. Entertainment

A debonair English gent (Donat) unwittingly involves himself in the world of espionage when he comes to the aid of a ‘damsel in distress’. She confesses she is a spy, and divulges that some military information critical to England’s national security is about to be smuggled into Europe from Scotland. She is soon found murdered in his apartment and he becomes the prime suspect. He embarks on a personal crusade across the Scottish moors armed with a map he took from her and her words of warning echoing in his head, in an attempt to find her killer, prove his own innocence and prevent any intelligence from leaving the country. It’s what anyone would do in his situation, right?

The plot is not so much a whodunnit as a who-can-you-trust. I find it hard to review a Hitchcock film without giving too much of the plot away. I will say that this is a clever and well crafted film, with Donat pulling off more great escapes than Houdini, and Carroll, as his reluctant partner in crime, giving a suitably prickly performance, although she does warm to him in time, which does allow for some amusing dialogue. Somehow, the ending was a little underwhelming - I’m not sure why I felt disappointed, maybe it all seemed to wrap up a little too quickly or easily. Or maybe because there was no end chase scene down pokey London alleyways by spies in trenchcoats, perhaps?

Providing a context for the film, Hitchcock’s previous work was “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (remade by him some 21 years later for U.S. consumption) and his next after this film, “Secret Agent”, indicating Hitch’s early career interest in spy yarns and conspiracies as themes for his work. You can see elements of what’s now known as the Hitchcock style coming together here; a penchant for blonde leading ladies, clever use of humour and sound (including the absence of) as a tension reliever or builder for the audience, his use of sexual innuendo (yep - I found some!!) and last but not least, his trademark cameo appearances in his own films. Well - I believe he’s in there somewhere according to the extras on this DVD, but I admit I forgot to look for him this time around! It mustve been a predictably brief appearance.

Reasonable movie - still a bit too early Hitch for my liking, but great for true fans of Hitchcock. The Biog and Filmog are great references. A good DVD package considering how easy it would have been to just do feature & scene selections.

THE EXTRAS

Filmography: Lists all 62 Hitchcock works over 3 screens.

Biography: Comprehensive 14 screen overview of Alfred Hitchcock’s early life, career highlights, includes quotes from him and about him.

Picture Gallery: 5 stills. Four from The 39 Steps, one from The Birds.

Screen Credits: As t suggests.

Original Theatrical Trailers: None for The 39 Steps. A real mixed bag of crud. The only one I’d heard of was The Grand Illusion. Detracts from the DVD package, if anything.

CONCLUSION

A debonair English gent (Donat) unwittingly involves himself in the world of espionage when he comes to the aid of a ‘damsel in distress’. She confesses she is a spy, and divulges that some military information critical to England’s national security is about to be smuggled into Europe from Scotland. She is soon found murdered in his apartment and he becomes the prime suspect.