The 39 Steps (1935)
When watching a film from 1935 you cannot apply what you know about movies to it. On the one hand, surely most of what you have seen was produced in the last 20 or 30 years. On the other hand, a movie like The 39 Steps has shaped all that has come after it.
I hadn't watched this movie before, I didn't even know what it was about. I don't think I'll be rewatching anytime soon. I usually don't care much for spy movies. This story reminded me a bit of North by Northwest, which is later,
Another big problem for me was that I didn't like the main character all that much. I did like Annabelle Smith a lot and I missed her for the rest of the movie. I didn't like how he went in and kissed that woman on the train but I was greatly relieved when she didn't trust him though and continued not to for quite some time after that. And later he threatens her and grabs her neck. It wasn't confortable to see at all. I did like her. She stood her ground and was competent.
I also liked how in the final scene they have an arrangement to meet even though they know they might be followed, lol. It was nice to see people who don't go from zero to super spy in a couple of days.
The dvd booklet had a quote by Hitchcock that said (paraphrased and translated) "if we can only do plausible movies, we'll be doing only a couple of them". I guess I'm not to look for plotholes but I just can't understand a few points.
1) So I follow a spy to a random guy's home (and I find out his phone number! was that easier in 1935?) and I stab her in the back. And I leave without dealing with the other guy. Why not shoot her through a window or something? She could still crawl towards the man and start the movie.
Well, okay. I do that. But why do I wait for him on the street? I don't get it.
2) Mr. Memory. Was he in with the spy group? If he was, why answer who The 39 steps were? Why talk about that secret at the end? If he wasn't, he didn't think he strange he was asked to memorize that? Was he threatened? If he was, that sort of bring us back to the first question.
I also had problems with the image itself. I'm not used to watching such old black and white movies. There were points where the screen was mostly black with a few hills vaguely hinted. Rebecca is not much later but it's so much clearer! I guess there's a perfectly technical explanation for this but it doesn't make for a great viewing experience.
And no, it's not that I want HD quality all the time, I've watched whole movies in youtube, I can deal with a lot.
I liked the "hall scenes", bookending the movie and marking the middle of it. BTW, that was a good political speech. Empty, but good. I also really liked the "I was evil since I was a little child speech". It was fun and I sort of see that's when she starts to trust him. That and hanging the pantyhose to dry. It's like evil murderers wouldn't care for those details.
I guess that, in the end, it felt a it was a lot of running around, meeting people who don't believe him (or are the head of the evil organization) and escaping again. I didn't feel I knew the characters so I didn't care much for them.
Checking imdb, found the "fuck you, Hitchcock":
Before filming the scene where Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll run through the countryside, Alfred Hitchcock handcuffed them together and pretended for several hours to have lost the key in order to put them in the right frame of mind for such a situation.
Madeleine Carroll suffered at the hands of Alfred Hitchcock's quest for realism, right down to the real welts on her wrists from the long days of being handcuffed to Robert Donat.
I hadn't watched this movie before, I didn't even know what it was about. I don't think I'll be rewatching anytime soon. I usually don't care much for spy movies. This story reminded me a bit of North by Northwest, which is later,
Another big problem for me was that I didn't like the main character all that much. I did like Annabelle Smith a lot and I missed her for the rest of the movie. I didn't like how he went in and kissed that woman on the train but I was greatly relieved when she didn't trust him though and continued not to for quite some time after that. And later he threatens her and grabs her neck. It wasn't confortable to see at all. I did like her. She stood her ground and was competent.
I also liked how in the final scene they have an arrangement to meet even though they know they might be followed, lol. It was nice to see people who don't go from zero to super spy in a couple of days.
The dvd booklet had a quote by Hitchcock that said (paraphrased and translated) "if we can only do plausible movies, we'll be doing only a couple of them". I guess I'm not to look for plotholes but I just can't understand a few points.
1) So I follow a spy to a random guy's home (and I find out his phone number! was that easier in 1935?) and I stab her in the back. And I leave without dealing with the other guy. Why not shoot her through a window or something? She could still crawl towards the man and start the movie.
Well, okay. I do that. But why do I wait for him on the street? I don't get it.
2) Mr. Memory. Was he in with the spy group? If he was, why answer who The 39 steps were? Why talk about that secret at the end? If he wasn't, he didn't think he strange he was asked to memorize that? Was he threatened? If he was, that sort of bring us back to the first question.
I also had problems with the image itself. I'm not used to watching such old black and white movies. There were points where the screen was mostly black with a few hills vaguely hinted. Rebecca is not much later but it's so much clearer! I guess there's a perfectly technical explanation for this but it doesn't make for a great viewing experience.
And no, it's not that I want HD quality all the time, I've watched whole movies in youtube, I can deal with a lot.
I liked the "hall scenes", bookending the movie and marking the middle of it. BTW, that was a good political speech. Empty, but good. I also really liked the "I was evil since I was a little child speech". It was fun and I sort of see that's when she starts to trust him. That and hanging the pantyhose to dry. It's like evil murderers wouldn't care for those details.
I guess that, in the end, it felt a it was a lot of running around, meeting people who don't believe him (or are the head of the evil organization) and escaping again. I didn't feel I knew the characters so I didn't care much for them.
Checking imdb, found the "fuck you, Hitchcock":
Before filming the scene where Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll run through the countryside, Alfred Hitchcock handcuffed them together and pretended for several hours to have lost the key in order to put them in the right frame of mind for such a situation.
Madeleine Carroll suffered at the hands of Alfred Hitchcock's quest for realism, right down to the real welts on her wrists from the long days of being handcuffed to Robert Donat.