The 39 Steps

Saw The 39 Steps, another Hitchcock film. It was one of his early ones I think. It's a bit vague around the edges but there is a man who is innocent and who knows of a terrible plot to smuggle British secrets out to The Enemy. Pursuing him are the forces of English law who believe him to be guilty. It reminds me of the Fugitive a bit (although that TV show post-dates this film by a few decades) or the play Escape (which is closer to the date of this film.) The edges, as I say are vague, but what the film is really about is the lone man eternally running, the armed pursuers eternally pursuing.

I was at first quite happy about how the film treats women. At one point the protagonist hides from the cops in a lady's train carriage. "Just go along with this, I promise I'm innocent" he shouts before smooching her. The cops pop their heads in and, leering, say "seen any strange men come by?" The woman cocks a gimlet eye at the hero and says "I expect this is the man who you're looking for, he just barged in here a moment ago." This is, of course, what any woman or human being would do in this circumstance. Unfortunately, later the hero runs into this woman again in order to show her how very wrong she was to ever doubt his innocence or, of course, the word of a man. Sigh.

The film has the usual Hitchcock cleverness. Social convention, wit, and hastily assembled performances (such as an impromptu make-out session) serve as the tools of the wily protagonist to out-wit his evil enemies. It feels a bit episodic and strains the credulity a bit at times, which is why I say this is probably an early work. It lacks the Swiss-watch-style masterwork of Vertigo, Rear Window, and North by Northwest. There is a moment, however, when a woman screams only to be inter-cut with the piercing sound of a steam engine whistle and you know, sure enough, this is a Hitchcock.