- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,432
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
"What are the 39 Steps?"
One of the greatest thrillers ever made.
All 86 minutes of it.
Alfred Hitchcock's British period as director ran for only 14 years, from 1925 through 1939. During that time he crafted some of the finest thrillers to hit the screen, and made a name for himself as a quality, bankable filmmaker. When he came to the Colonies, his first project won an Academy Award as the Best Picture of 1940.
But return to that UK era, spend the time to study his early work, and you'll see how everything that would come after, came to be. As an example, you can study the final music hall sequence in The 39 Steps, and compare it to the Albert Hall sequence in the 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much. Or for that matter, take a look at the 1934 original.
Within that early era, Sir Alfred directed over twenty projects . What's interesting, is that from 1934-38, he directed a string of six films, one after the next, that all stand the test of time.
The 39 Steps was the second of the group.
Visually, it was stunning and at the same time simple in its craft.
Take, for example, a shot 55 minutes in. Story doesn't matter, and for those who have never seen this classic, I'll not ruin a first viewing by discussing it. In this shot, Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll are in a car with some men. The shot is taken from outside the left side of the vehicle, looking in to the open car, which at least appears to be moving. As the shot seems to come to a close, the camera moves back very slightly, and then appears to come around to the rear of the vehicle...
and then miraculously seems to detach itself from whatever was holding it place for the shot, becomes stationary, and follows the car as it drives into the distance.
The two leads are worth a bit of research on your part. Madeleine Carroll (1906-1987) was a British actress, working from 1928 to 1949. Originally working in British productions, inclusive of two Hitchcock films, The 39 Steps and Secret Agent, she moved to the Colonies four years before Hitchcock, and made her mark hear in The General Died at Dawn (1936), directed by Lewis Milestone, and starring Gary Cooper. Also seek her out in the 1937 Selznick version of The Prisoner of Zenda.
Mr. Donat was in far fewer films, nineteen in all, from 1932 to 1958. Look for him in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), The Ghost Goes West (1935), one of my childhood favorites, The Citadel (1938), The Magic Box (1951), a Technicolor production about the life of William Friese-Greene (look him up). Probably his moved beloved role was playing the title character in one of the finest films ever made, the 1939 Goodbye, Mr. Chips. His final performance was as the Mandarin of Yang Chang, in Mark Robson's 1958 classic, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.
Cinematographer Freddie Young told me that not only was he one of the nicest people one was apt to work with, but also a consummate professional. During the production of Sixth Happiness, he pulled Freddie aside mid-shoot, warned him that things were not well with his health, and told him to make certain that he got everything that he needed from him for the film to be completed, and to cut together properly. Much like a similar situation with Spencer Tracy's scenes for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Freddie worked with Mr. Donat to get his scenes from all necessary angles and shots, and had him released from set as early as possible.
For those unacquainted with Mr. Donat's work, I suggest that you order up a copy of Goodbye, Mr. Chips, sit back, and enjoy. That's one we need desperately from Warner Bros. in Blu-ray.
How does The 39 Steps look and sound?
Very nice.
In 1963 the film fell into the public domain, and remained there until rights reverted by virtue of the GATT Treaty around 1998. During that period, it was not out of the norm to see the film derived from a 16mm dupe of a dupe. Not a pretty picture.
The enclosure with the new Criterion edition makes note of the fact that the film was scanned from a fine grain master, but in this case I feel the term may be illusory. While a fine grain is a special stock used to make duplicating positives from original negatives, I have my doubts whether this particular fine grain may not been derived from a dupe neg, making it a fourth generation, rather than second generation element. The simple use of the term fine grain master, often doesn't tell what it might.
Regardless, the image is from a quality 35mm source, as is the audio. Both have been digitally cleaned without doing any damage, and providing a very high quality final product.
Image - 3.25
Audio - 3
Highly Recommended.
As a final comment, make certain when purchasing the UK Hitchcock films to buy legal product. Some of the largest purveyors of DVDs and Blu-rays, such as Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target and others seem to go out of their way to support pirated product, with funds potentially returning to other countries in support of terrorism.
RAH
One of the greatest thrillers ever made.
All 86 minutes of it.
Alfred Hitchcock's British period as director ran for only 14 years, from 1925 through 1939. During that time he crafted some of the finest thrillers to hit the screen, and made a name for himself as a quality, bankable filmmaker. When he came to the Colonies, his first project won an Academy Award as the Best Picture of 1940.
But return to that UK era, spend the time to study his early work, and you'll see how everything that would come after, came to be. As an example, you can study the final music hall sequence in The 39 Steps, and compare it to the Albert Hall sequence in the 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much. Or for that matter, take a look at the 1934 original.
Within that early era, Sir Alfred directed over twenty projects . What's interesting, is that from 1934-38, he directed a string of six films, one after the next, that all stand the test of time.
The 39 Steps was the second of the group.
Visually, it was stunning and at the same time simple in its craft.
Take, for example, a shot 55 minutes in. Story doesn't matter, and for those who have never seen this classic, I'll not ruin a first viewing by discussing it. In this shot, Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll are in a car with some men. The shot is taken from outside the left side of the vehicle, looking in to the open car, which at least appears to be moving. As the shot seems to come to a close, the camera moves back very slightly, and then appears to come around to the rear of the vehicle...
and then miraculously seems to detach itself from whatever was holding it place for the shot, becomes stationary, and follows the car as it drives into the distance.
The two leads are worth a bit of research on your part. Madeleine Carroll (1906-1987) was a British actress, working from 1928 to 1949. Originally working in British productions, inclusive of two Hitchcock films, The 39 Steps and Secret Agent, she moved to the Colonies four years before Hitchcock, and made her mark hear in The General Died at Dawn (1936), directed by Lewis Milestone, and starring Gary Cooper. Also seek her out in the 1937 Selznick version of The Prisoner of Zenda.
Mr. Donat was in far fewer films, nineteen in all, from 1932 to 1958. Look for him in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), The Ghost Goes West (1935), one of my childhood favorites, The Citadel (1938), The Magic Box (1951), a Technicolor production about the life of William Friese-Greene (look him up). Probably his moved beloved role was playing the title character in one of the finest films ever made, the 1939 Goodbye, Mr. Chips. His final performance was as the Mandarin of Yang Chang, in Mark Robson's 1958 classic, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.
Cinematographer Freddie Young told me that not only was he one of the nicest people one was apt to work with, but also a consummate professional. During the production of Sixth Happiness, he pulled Freddie aside mid-shoot, warned him that things were not well with his health, and told him to make certain that he got everything that he needed from him for the film to be completed, and to cut together properly. Much like a similar situation with Spencer Tracy's scenes for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Freddie worked with Mr. Donat to get his scenes from all necessary angles and shots, and had him released from set as early as possible.
For those unacquainted with Mr. Donat's work, I suggest that you order up a copy of Goodbye, Mr. Chips, sit back, and enjoy. That's one we need desperately from Warner Bros. in Blu-ray.
How does The 39 Steps look and sound?
Very nice.
In 1963 the film fell into the public domain, and remained there until rights reverted by virtue of the GATT Treaty around 1998. During that period, it was not out of the norm to see the film derived from a 16mm dupe of a dupe. Not a pretty picture.
The enclosure with the new Criterion edition makes note of the fact that the film was scanned from a fine grain master, but in this case I feel the term may be illusory. While a fine grain is a special stock used to make duplicating positives from original negatives, I have my doubts whether this particular fine grain may not been derived from a dupe neg, making it a fourth generation, rather than second generation element. The simple use of the term fine grain master, often doesn't tell what it might.
Regardless, the image is from a quality 35mm source, as is the audio. Both have been digitally cleaned without doing any damage, and providing a very high quality final product.
Image - 3.25
Audio - 3
Highly Recommended.
As a final comment, make certain when purchasing the UK Hitchcock films to buy legal product. Some of the largest purveyors of DVDs and Blu-rays, such as Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target and others seem to go out of their way to support pirated product, with funds potentially returning to other countries in support of terrorism.
RAH
