I enjoyed re-watching this classic 1935 Alfred Hitchcock thriller made by Gaumont British studio.

Aiming for an American audience, the studio hired Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. Donat had just starred in “The Count of Monte Cristo “ and Madeleine was about to go to Hollywood under contract to Paramount.

 

 

Lucie Mannheim as ‘Annabella Smith’, the spy who starts Hannay’s adventures. I love how ‘Annabella’ says she is a spy – for hire. And her memorable line, “May I come home with you?”
( Lucie Mannheim was a German actress who fled her own country. In England she married Marius Goring in 1941.)

 

The two bad guys make sure they are seen by everybody.

 

The map of the fictional Highland village of ‘Alt-na-Shellach’ which Hannay has to find.

 

One of the lighter  scenes, typical of Hitchcock, as Hannay escapes from his flat in the milkman’s coat and cap.

Robert Donat, Frederick Piper

 

The journey to Scotland from London on the Flying Scotsman.

Hitchcock brings the tension levels down in this funny exchange between the women’s underwear salesmen in the train carriage Hannay is in, with a clergyman also in the compartment looking increasingly flustered!

 

The first time we see Madeleine Carroll . Why she is on the train to Scotland  is never explained. As Pamela, she is absolutely no help to Hannay, not believing his bizarre story of spies and government secrets.

She constantly turns him into the authorities . Their relationship is decidedly frosty.

 

Hanging on, Hannay leaves the train as it is stopped on the Forth Rail Bridge (which is about 9 miles from Edinburgh).

I’m afraid neither Robert Donat or Madeleine Carroll  made it to Scotland. There was some second  unit shooting in the Scottish Highlands filmed around Glencoe  and on Rannoch Moor, with a double for Robert Donat in some  shots.

Nearly everything else was shot in London’s Lime Grove Studios and Welwyn Studios ( which had a standing street set which was used for the unnamed Scottish town where Hannay hides in the Salvation Army parade.)

 

And here’s the Forth Bridge, opened in 1889 and nearly 2 miles in length, it spans the Firth of Forth between the villages of North and South Queensferry. The world’s first major steel cantilever bridge.  It’s quite a sight.
( I mention this because I have a friend   who lives in South  Queensferry and when I visit, I picture Richard Hannay clinging on  as the Flying Scotsman train is stopped on the bridge!)

 

For this scene, a portion of the bridge was re-constructed on a section of railway line at Stapleford in Hertfordshire.

 

Another studio set with Robert Donat on the Flying Scotsman steam train. Love the kilted soldiers on the right.

 

The Professor’s bullet hits the bible in the crofter’s  coat which Hannay is wearing ( courtesy of the crofter’s wife.)

Sheriff Watson: “And this bullet stuck among the hymns,eh? Well, I’m not surprised. Some of these hymns are terrible hard to get through.”

 

The perfect Hitchcock villain, suave, sophisticated, quiet. Well played by Godfrey Tearle foreshadowing  Otto Kruger   in SABOTEUR and James Mason in NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

 

Great scene in the hotel where they are handcuffed together and have to spend the night.

Daring for the time, ‘Pamela’ removes her wet stockings.

 

The penny  finally drops.Pamela overhears the Professor’s  henchmen discussing their plans.

 

Mr.Memory: “The 39 Steps is an organisation of spies collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of………”

The Mr. Memory character was based on William Bottle who performed in Music Halls as ‘Datas: The Memory Man’.

Hitchcock said to Francois Truffaut: “Mr. Memory is doomed by his sense  of duty – he is compelled to give the answer.”

So when Hannay shouts out “What are the 39 Steps!?”, Mr.Memory answers and is shot by the Professor.

 

Touching when Mr. Memory says to Hannay:

“Am I right, sir?” 

Hannay replies: “Quite right, old chap.”

 

I’ve used this photo recently, but it is the perfect ending, where words weren’t necessary, the implication being Hannay and Pamela may have a future together.

On the set:

It’s misty, there’s a wee bridge, and probably some heather. Must be Scotland.
A pity really that Gaumont British studio couldn’t afford more location shooting . The film’s budget was £60,000, with Donat’s salary at £8,000 and Madeleine Carroll’s at £5,000.

(The  rights to the  1915 John Buchan novel were bought for £800. )

 

The revelation that the respected ‘Professor Jordan’ is in fact the spy ring leader.

 

 

 

Foreign posters which should never have seen the light of day!

 

 

“Hitchcock succeeds in making you jump, scream and chuckle, and has presented a film which is virtually immune from criticism.”

 

Robert Donat (1905-1958) only made about 20 films. He was married twice and had three children. He suffered from asthma most of his life. He died in 1958 from an undiagnosed brain tumour.
His final scene in “Inn of the Sixth Happiness” (1958) , in which he plays a Chinese Mandarin, is always remembered.

To Ingrid Bergman , he says, “We shall not see each other again, I think. Farewell.”

Robert Donat was given a wonderful role and he was perfect – nonchalant, daring, roguish, handsome and that cut-glass accent. The audience is with Hannay all the way.

Overall, I like the film a lot, it is the template for future Hitchcock  films about the innocent man on the run. Hannay is Barry Kane in “Saboteur”, or Roger O. Thornhill in “North By Northwest” – accused of murder and heroically trying to smash a spy ring and get his life back again.

But I have  a few criticisms.
For example, the Hannay character is identified as a  Canadian  rancher in Britain for a few months.Anyone more removed from such a character is Robert Donat who makes no attempt at a Canadian accent.  He acts and sounds like a typical upper class Englishman.

The newspaper report of the murder of ‘Annabella Smith’ and includes a picture of Hannay wearing a Stetson!

In the original Buchan novel, Hannay is a South African engineer. By coincidence, John  Buchan was made the Governor General of Canada in 1935.

Madeleine Carroll’s ‘Pamela’ is woefully underwritten and, given her costar status, she is only in the film for about half the running time.

We are told hardly anything about her or why she is on a train to Scotland – or why she turns up at the Assembly Hall where Hannay makes his impromptu speech.

We learn she is in the London phone book, so must be living in London, but that’s it. The character is  not particularly likeable and really hasn’t much to do other than follow Hannay . A pity because I like Madeleine a lot and she was the first Hitchcock blonde ( working for him again the following year in “Secret Agent”).

After the dramatic scene where the Professor shoots  Hannay, we are taken instantly to the police station where Hannay explains his escape . Surely a missed opportunity for Hitchcock to show rather than tell.I can imagine the scene, no dialogue, as Hannay wakes up, finds himself alone – and still alive . We would watch as he makes his escape from the Professor’s house.

Why is the spy ring called “The 39 Steps” – makes more sense in the book, where there is a set of steps.

Another blogger,  Classic Film Freak, rightly says, “The loose ends don’t matter.”

Very true!

 

One of my favourite lines, in the music hall with Mr. Memory – someone calls out, “What causes pip in poultry!?”

A shout-out to scripters, Charles Bennett and Ian Hay.

Hitchcock’s cameo is so fleeting, I usually miss it – near the beginning when Hannay and Annabella leave the music hall.

There’s a 1937 Lux Radio Theater broadcast of the story with Robert Montgomery, Ida Lupino. Must give it a listen. Also, radio broadcast in  1948 with Glenn Ford and Mercedes McCambridge.

For Hitchcock fans, there is a great website ‘the.hitchcock.zone’.

And, for information on Robert Donat, ‘Robert- Donat.com’

 

Two great trailers: