1
00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,199
Is your name Hannay?
No.

2
00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,960
Are you coming in to tea, sir?
I'll be right along!

3
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,999
If you ever need to make the case
for Alfred Hitchcock,

4
00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,439
there is no better answer
than The 39 Steps.

5
00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,519
The 39 Steps is not only
a quintessential thriller,

6
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,079
but is so hugely influential,

7
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,799
and this idea that it's almost
not only a quintessential thriller,

8
00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,639
but a quintessential "Hollywood" for
lack of a better way of putting it,

9
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,199
entertainment thing,
where you have espionage thriller,

10
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,919
wrong-man story,
combined with the romance,

11
00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,399
combined with the action set pieces,
combined with somebody

12
00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,919
being thrown off a train.
All of these things

13
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,839
come from The 39 Steps.

14
00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:56,759
In fact, it invented the genre.

15
00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,799
I think it was
in the vanguard of a genre.

16
00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,359
Robert Town said that

17
00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:04,719
this kind of entertaining film,

18
00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,199
this kind of adventurous
entertainment starts here.

19
00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,999
It's very unsentimental, isn't it?
If you think a lot of the films

20
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,799
that were released around the time
of The 39 Steps,

21
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,759
well, it surprises you
how remarkably unsentimental it is

22
00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:19,679
about Britain, about life.

23
00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,759
It's dark.
What it does, is it's the story.

24
00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,399
That's all it cares about.
It does not care about anything

25
00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,719
other than a fast-moving,

26
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,599
propelling, thrilling story

27
00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:31,439
that comes to a conclusion,
then we're done.

28
00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,039
We don't need to wrap anything up.
We don't want a sequence

29
00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,679
where everyone's given medals
or anything. Nope. We're done.

30
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,719
This is it.
This is the perfect story.

31
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,759
This sublime British thriller,
released in 1935

32
00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,199
and based on the novel
by John Buchan,

33
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,399
tells us everything
we need to know

34
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,479
about the imagination and obsessions
of the London-born director.

35
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,240
There he goes!

36
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,040
Spread out in a line.

37
00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,879
You see, it all starts with a baby,

38
00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,159
we'll say, at the age of six months.

39
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,839
And the mother says "Boo,"

40
00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,599
and scares the hell out of the baby,
gives it the hiccups.

41
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,999
And then the baby giggles and
there's its first moment of fear.

42
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,799
Later on, it's on a swing
getting higher and higher

43
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,639
and catching its breath
when it goes too high.

44
00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,999
And so it goes. We all enjoy...

45
00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,879
shall we say,

46
00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:04,160
putting our toe
in the cold water of fear.

47
00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,719
This is the film that defined
his methods and shaped his themes.

48
00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,999
The foundation stone in one
of the great cinematic careers.

49
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,199
It's all here.
An innocent man on the run,

50
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,439
a cabal of enemy spies,

51
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,039
secret codes, landscapes,

52
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,399
train rides, daring escapes,

53
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,359
and an irrepressible blonde heroine.

54
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,999
The 39 Steps is probably the first

55
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,559
action adventure spy film.

56
00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,079
I don't think that there has been
anything quite like it before.

57
00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,079
And of course
there'd been adventure films,

58
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,519
there had been crisis films,
all kinds of things,

59
00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,319
but nothing quite like this
had actually

60
00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,199
appeared on screen before.

61
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,119
And so in a way, not only
was it the first of its kind,

62
00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,639
it actually created a genre,

63
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,919
a genre which, of course,
has proved incredibly fruitful.

64
00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,719
It also reminds us that there is
far more to Hitchcock than thrills.

65
00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,759
Like the hero,
the film keeps shifting identity.

66
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,199
It could be taken as an urbane comedy

67
00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,599
in the vein of Lubitsch or Sturgis.

68
00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,399
It is certainly a romance,

69
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,279
and has been read
as a parable on marriage.

70
00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:37,039
But it is very much
about paranoia and panic.

71
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,079
The way crowds can be
swept up by emotion.

72
00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:45,759
How civilisation is only a thin
veneer across a capricious universe.

73
00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,239
These are the deep-rooted
preoccupations

74
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,320
of the genius known as Hitch.

75
00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:58,640
Darling, how lovely to see you!

76
00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,920
There's a young man having
a free meal in there.

77
00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,399
I was desperate, I'm terribly sorry,
I had to do it. Look at me.

78
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,039
My name is Hannay, they're after me.
I swear I'm innocent.

79
00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,879
You've got to help me. I've got
to keep free for the next two days.

80
00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,559
And to my mind, essentially...

81
00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,919
makes both a thriller
and a comedy romance,

82
00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,559
a romcom, if you want.
It's very much a romcom.

83
00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,519
I mean,
it's a screwball comedy really.

84
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,439
As soon as Pamela arrives,
you've got this...

85
00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,559
I mean, the device of the couple
who are handcuffed together

86
00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,079
is a... is superb and it has,

87
00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,159
there's so many ways
you can look at this.

88
00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,399
Richard Hannay is on the run,

89
00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,039
he ends up in her carriage...
He's been accused of murder.

90
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,959
He's been accused of murder. The
police are coming down the train.

91
00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,439
He bursts into a carriage,
sees Pamela there,

92
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,039
kisses her, and then...
just like to cover up.

93
00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,239
And the police come by and
as soon as the police come by,

94
00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,239
Pamela has no interest
in covering for him,

95
00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,599
"This is the man you're after."
So there's this clamber up

96
00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,079
and clamber over the Forth Bridge,
and then purely by chance,

97
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,199
he bumps into her again later on,

98
00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,919
where he's handcuffed to her because
the people who have taken them

99
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,559
are not the police, they're the
villains pretending to be police.

100
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,079
And he's trying to persuade her
"Look, I'm innocent and

101
00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,239
the people who are after us are not
police, they are going to kill us."

102
00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,039
And she doesn't want
any part of this.

103
00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,039
So they've got to go across bogs

104
00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,439
and they have to work together
to get over obstacles,

105
00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,079
when they have two completely
different interests, which is

106
00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,519
he wants to prove he's innocent
and she wants to get him arrested.

107
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:31,999
And they are stuck together.

108
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,599
A debonair Robert Donat stars

109
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,599
as the unfortunate
but capable Richard Hannay,

110
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,079
who discovers the dead body
of a spy in his apartment.

111
00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:45,679
Fleeing to the Highlands in search
of MacGuffin known as The 39 Steps,

112
00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,239
he will unearth a network
of spies on home soil.

113
00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,359
At his side is the feisty,
mistrusting Pamela,

114
00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,999
played by a fabulous
Madeleine Carroll,

115
00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,719
who only sticks by him
largely because

116
00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,119
they end up handcuffed together.

117
00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,799
First and foremost, The 39 Steps
is an espionage thriller.

118
00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,919
But it's also, you know, sort of,
it contains many other elements.

119
00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,159
I think in today's parlance,
we might say it was sort of

120
00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,639
something that had
a little bit for everyone.

121
00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,639
And it's sort of one of the first
films to do that, in many ways.

122
00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,279
It's certainly one of the kind of
great early models of a film

123
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,519
which is also a film
with action set pieces,

124
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,319
a film with a real dark element,

125
00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,159
and moments of the film
which are quite meditative

126
00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,999
and sort of psychologically naughty.

127
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,039
And also, there's a real kind of...

128
00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:37,879
I wouldn't go so far
as to say farcical,

129
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,999
but a kind of light comic
element to it as well.

130
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,759
Because the situations
that Hannay finds himself in

131
00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,879
are increasingly very absurd.

132
00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:49,519
Hitchcock's not particularly
known for sort of romantic films,

133
00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,639
and yet that is unfair
because there is a...

134
00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:54,999
there is a deep romance
in this film,

135
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,999
but it's a kind of reverse
to what you expect.

136
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,159
I think it's Truffaut
said of Hitchcock

137
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,919
that he shoots his romantic scenes
like murder scenes,

138
00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,679
and his murder scenes
like romantic scenes.

139
00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,559
And there's a certain
amount of truth in that.

140
00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:14,639
In this, you've got two people
who are thrown together,

141
00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,359
who dislike each other,

142
00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,319
who are in a situation
of enforced intimacy,

143
00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,159
especially when they're actually
handcuffed together on the run,

144
00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,479
and off they go on this adventure.

145
00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,759
She is dragged through the mud,
dragged through all over the place.

146
00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,159
It's almost like a trial by ordeal.

147
00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:37,039
And having to go through
this trial by ordeal,

148
00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,999
gives Pamela,
played by Madeleine Carroll,

149
00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,319
rather brilliantly I have to say,

150
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,279
the opportunity to see
the truth behind this man

151
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,239
and that he isn't...
first of all, he isn't a murderer,

152
00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,799
but secondly, even if he...
you know,

153
00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,399
the fact that he's not a murderer
doesn't mean to say that he's,

154
00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:58,039
you know, hugely attractive,
until she realises

155
00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,599
that he is a man of principle

156
00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,799
and that he is very brave,

157
00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,599
and that he's reckless
and that he's funny.

158
00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,279
And various scenes,

159
00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,319
the great thing about it also is
that Hitchcock manages to do this

160
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,079
not just through the big scenes,
not just through the sort of,

161
00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,639
you know,
running across the Highlands

162
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,279
and jumping out of trains
and things like that,

163
00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,959
but also in the smaller,
more intimate scenes.

164
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,199
Here is the invention and audacity

165
00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,799
of a supreme talent coming of age,

166
00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:32,199
where sound and image,
a deft cut or montage,

167
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,919
can stir an entire audience.

168
00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:39,119
The 39 Steps was the film
that convinced Hollywood

169
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,759
Hitchcock was a master of the game.

170
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,839
Sexy, charming, funny and unnerving,

171
00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,400
it is one of his finest achievements.

172
00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,040
Well, here we are.

173
00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,319
May I come home with you?

174
00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,439
What's the idea?

175
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,719
Well, I'd like to.

176
00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:02,799
Well, it's your funeral.

177
00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,840
Come on then, there's a bus.

178
00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,040
Clear out, Hannay!
They'll get you next.

179
00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,599
By 1935,
Hitchcock was firmly established

180
00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,159
as one of Britain's
most accomplished directors.

181
00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:01,519
He was under contract
at Gaumont-British,

182
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,119
beneath the knowing eye
of producer Michael Balcon,

183
00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,719
including The Man Who Knew Too Much,

184
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,119
The 39 Steps, and The Lady Vanishes,

185
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,679
it was an era
of home-grown thrillers,

186
00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:15,679
mixing the ordinary
with the extraordinary.

187
00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:19,559
So, at the point that Hitchcock
is making The 39 Steps,

188
00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:22,759
he has been working in film
for ten years.

189
00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,879
Although The 39 Steps is often
talked about in a particular way

190
00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,839
where if you were sort of
less aware of him,

191
00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,639
you would think perhaps it was
the beginning of his career,

192
00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,879
it actually is one of his most
perfectly formed films

193
00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,439
of a filmmaker who has been working
consistently since the silent era.

194
00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:42,719
And at this point, it's sort of...

195
00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,359
he's just moved onto British Gaumont
under Michael Balcon.

196
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,759
He's made his first film
with Michael Balcon there

197
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,639
called The Man Who Knew Too Much,
and with the same screenwriter

198
00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,719
as well as his long-time
collaborator and wife Alma Reville,

199
00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,519
they start to work on adapting
a John Buchan novel.

200
00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,799
With his wife and son,
Lord Tweedsmuir,

201
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,199
our new Governor General,
arrives expressing good cheer.

202
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,079
My wife and I are looking forward

203
00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,799
to five years of duty,

204
00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,599
but we are also looking forward

205
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,599
to five years of happiness

206
00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,639
in a land which we love

207
00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,239
and a land where we already
have so many friends.

208
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,679
The Scottish novelist
and statesman, John Buchan,

209
00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,039
pioneered the espionage genre,

210
00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:34,159
creating its first hero
in the dashing Richard Hannay.

211
00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,439
With World War I brewing,

212
00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,759
he imagined a genre
of intrigue and flight

213
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,879
against a backdrop
of global conflict.

214
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,239
Hitchcock loved what he termed

215
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,999
"Buchan's understatement
of high dramatic ideas,"

216
00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,119
a tone that influenced
his entire career.

217
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,279
Tell me about the author
of The 39 Steps,

218
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,559
John Buchan, who was he
and what kind of books did he write?

219
00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:01,679
John Buchan, in many ways,
was his hero, Richard Hannay.

220
00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,839
He grew up,
he was the son of a church minister

221
00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,879
and he became a lawyer
and a journalist.

222
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:09,959
He was...
Almost had every job going.

223
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:11,519
He was a lawyer,
he was a journalist,

224
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:13,759
he worked in the Transvaal,
he was in the Boer War,

225
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,039
and then when
he came back to the UK,

226
00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:17,959
he was working
at a publishing house.

227
00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,119
When the First World War broke out,
he couldn't fight

228
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,839
so he set about writing
this thriller, The 39 Steps.

229
00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,079
And the character of Richard Hannay
really has had

230
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,879
all of the experiences
that John Buchan had had.

231
00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,719
He, you know, describes
his own life essentially.

232
00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,719
It was one of many novels
that he wrote

233
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,519
and it was the first one to feature
the hero, Richard Hannay,

234
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,839
who went on through
another four novels.

235
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:45,279
Certainly this was
his most successful,

236
00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,359
and it created a new kind of hero.

237
00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,199
Buchan himself was
an extraordinary character.

238
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,119
He'd been many things.

239
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,519
He was a historian,
a novelist, a politician,

240
00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,559
and he ended up as the
Governor General of Canada.

241
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:04,919
But it's for The 39 Steps
that he is principally remembered.

242
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,199
I remember reading it at school
and I have to say,

243
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,479
it's very much a sort of
Boy's Own adventure

244
00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,479
and it created a new kind of hero,

245
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,919
somebody who was very British
in his way,

246
00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,599
but also had a great sort of idea

247
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,159
of freedom and independence,

248
00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,039
a man who was
a kind of fortune hunter,

249
00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,119
who got involved in a spy ring.

250
00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,639
Hitchcock had been keen to adapt

251
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,719
Buchan's international thriller,
Greenmantle,

252
00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:36,839
but the narrower focus of
The 39 Steps was more practical.

253
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,039
Most of it could be shot in the
Gaumont-British studio in Lime Grove,

254
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,519
with location work in Scotland.

255
00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,639
And he warmed to the possibilities
of a wrongly-accused man

256
00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,759
who must both escape the police
and foil a conspiracy.

257
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:58,320
What you were laughing at
just now is true.

258
00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,479
These men will stop at nothing.

259
00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:14,919
So The 39 Steps as a novel is
very much an adventure story.

260
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,199
It does ratchet up suspense,
but it is very focused

261
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:23,079
on the kind of macho bravery

262
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,119
of its character, who is
forced into these circumstances,

263
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,159
and who chooses heroism anyway.

264
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,399
So when Hitch returned to the novel,
he realised

265
00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,359
there were a lot of things about it
that needed to change.

266
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,359
One thing was the addition
of a romantic subplot

267
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,159
and the addition
of a female character,

268
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,599
more than one female character,
but as a central character,

269
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,919
the Madeleine Carroll character.

270
00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,279
And there is sort of an eye
towards the commercial

271
00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,879
when it came to this
very loose adaptation,

272
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,359
because Hitch was interested
in blending genre,

273
00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,959
because he was interested
in continuing to make thrillers,

274
00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,239
and also because he knew
that a romantic subplot

275
00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,719
would also attract another
element of British audiences.

276
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,479
So all of these things
ended up coalescing

277
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,719
into an adaptation which wasn't
a very strict adaptation at all

278
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,279
of the original material.
I read it at school,

279
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,079
and I have to say,
it left a really strong mark on me.

280
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:15,599
For nothing else,
the actual description

281
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,519
of the murder of the person
who is actually...

282
00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,999
starts the whole story off.

283
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,799
In the case of the book,
it's Scudder, a journalist,

284
00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,599
who has uncovered a plot

285
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,399
to kill the Greek premier.

286
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,439
And when Richard Hannay,
who is looking after him,

287
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,119
he's staying in his flat,
arrives back in his flat,

288
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,159
he finds Scudder's body
on the floor.

289
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,439
And the line is, "There was
a long knife through his heart

290
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:45,959
that skewered him to the floor."

291
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,639
I think it was the word "skewered"
that made all the difference.

292
00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:51,919
I had never read anything
like this at the time.

293
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,879
And so it is that I think it became

294
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,639
a good start in terms of

295
00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,999
the next generation
of adventure novels.

296
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,479
Adventure novels that had a hero
who was almost an anti-hero,

297
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,999
somebody who was caught
between a rock and a hard place,

298
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,039
caught between the authorities
who thought he had done the murder,

299
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:15,759
and, of course, the bad guys.

300
00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,319
So he's on the run
and he's caught between

301
00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:23,679
literally two sets of protagonists,
who are both after him.

302
00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,759
This, of course,
is classic Hitchcock material.

303
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,679
Magazines,
chocolates, cigarettes...

304
00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:53,920
There he is.

305
00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,359
In what sense
do you think his novels,

306
00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:07,519
and particularly The 39 Steps,
were revolutionary for their time?

307
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,799
Was he inventing the spy genre?

308
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:11,999
What he was doing,

309
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,759
and he says very much
in the introduction,

310
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,959
was he was taking a form
that he and his friend loved,

311
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,439
which was these terrible,
terrible invasion thrillers.

312
00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,519
There had been a book called
The Riddle of the Sands,

313
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,439
which had been the very first
sort of idea of...

314
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,839
almost the first spy novel
in the modern sense,

315
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,079
but it's really a book about boats,

316
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,599
and it sort of posits the idea that
the Germans may be about to invade.

317
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,999
And it really was a book that caused
a stir because that was a lot...

318
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,159
you know, it was way before
the First World War,

319
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,199
and it created this idea of,
"what if the Germans do come?"

320
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,959
And so then people were pumping out
versions of this book

321
00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,039
again and again,
which he and his friends seemed

322
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,639
to read as a guilty pleasure.
And he says in the introduction,

323
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,599
"I'm writing, you know, one of these
shockers, one of these terrors."

324
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,799
But he was a really good writer.

325
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,879
And so he takes this idea of these

326
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,159
trashy genre thrillers,

327
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,839
and he makes it into
really the first true...

328
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,079
arguably the first true spy story.

329
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,999
There had been spy stories, there
have been spy stories for 100 years,

330
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,599
but this was the one
which creates the modern spy.

331
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,719
And I think that, you know...

332
00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:23,039
the tricks and traps
that Richard Hannay uses

333
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,679
are ones that then go on
to be used by spies

334
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,079
throughout the 20th century
in spy fiction.

335
00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,599
Adapting the book with regular
co-writer Charles Bennett,

336
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,519
Hitchcock took a cavalier
approach to the novel.

337
00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,439
Most of the film is
his own invention.

338
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,119
The title in the book refers
to a literal set of steps

339
00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:43,279
to a secret rendezvous point.

340
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,279
In the film,
it becomes an illusive code

341
00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,679
for an entire organisation.

342
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,119
The Vaudevillian feats
of the Memory Man,

343
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:52,919
the musical bookends,

344
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,119
and a strong-willed female lead
are all Hitchcock,

345
00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,159
as, of course,
is the delicious potential

346
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,919
of his co-stars being
handcuffed together.

347
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,039
Hitchcock had read the book
as a young man,

348
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,159
in fact as a teenager, and he'd
actually devoured it, he loved it.

349
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,039
And so it was very much in his mind

350
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,479
when it came to looking
for the next project

351
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,879
after The Man Who Knew Too Much.

352
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,359
At first, he was going
to adapt Greenmantle,

353
00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:22,879
which was the second
Richard Hannay book,

354
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,959
and he and his scriptwriter,
Charles Bennett,

355
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,079
went through the book
and realised that there were

356
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,439
far too many locations
and it was...

357
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,399
some of it was in Egypt,
there was sort of...

358
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,319
it was going all over the place.
And so they went back

359
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:37,919
to the first one, The 39 Steps,

360
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,239
which was at least better contained

361
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,839
in terms of its locations,

362
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,799
and would be less expensive
to actually make.

363
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,479
So Francois Truffaut
called The 39 Steps

364
00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,279
"the synthesis of all
of Hitchcock's British films,"

365
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,879
and you can see that because there
are elements of the wrong-man plot,

366
00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:00,279
which are taken from a film like
his silent film, The Lodger,

367
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,519
and there are other
blonde characters in...

368
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,679
blonde women in his films
up till now,

369
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,959
but the quintessential
Hitchcock blonde appears

370
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,679
in the form of Madeleine Carroll's
Pamela in this movie.

371
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,239
It really is just sort of
firing on all cylinders.

372
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,159
So all the other kind of films,

373
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,319
which are still great films
in many cases,

374
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,479
are sort of dry runs in many ways,

375
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:24,319
for this to become kind of the film
that's an international success.

376
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,359
Hello? What are we stopping for?

377
00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:30,239
Oh, it's a whole flock
of detectives.

378
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,439
Sheep all over the road,
damned silly things.

379
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,239
Get out, both of you,
and clear them away.

380
00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,639
What about him?
I'll soon fix that.

381
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:43,879
There, Miss.
Now you're a special constable.

382
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,679
What's the idea?
As long as you stay, he stays.

383
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,720
Yes, and as long as I go, you go.
Come on.

384
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:54,840
Stop them! They've got away!

385
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,440
Come on!
I won't!

386
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:16,119
We must be a mile away by now.

387
00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,120
Don't do that!

388
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,800
Oh, do stop whistling.

389
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,959
What are you doing all this for?
You can't possibly escape.

390
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:27,600
What chance have you got,
tied to me?

391
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,119
Hitchcock had seen Robert Donat
on stage in Saint Joan.

392
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,439
He was handsome and magnetic
without question.

393
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,399
But the director detected
the right combination

394
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,039
of determination and uncertainty
for his put-upon hero.

395
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,919
Drolly level-headed,
Donat's Hannay is the model

396
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,159
for Cary Grant and James Stewart.

397
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,199
Robert Donat has this kind
of easy confidence

398
00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,159
where you sense that he's a man
who is not easily swayed.

399
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,279
He has a kind of strength,
a kind of steel backbone.

400
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,439
And he also seems
like someone who...

401
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,519
is kind of able
to be calm under pressure.

402
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,079
He's not frantic,
even though the situation

403
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,439
should require him
to be pretty frantic.

404
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:16,919
He has been wrongly accused
of murdering a woman,

405
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,119
but he's able to maintain some calm.

406
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:23,039
And given that he is supposed
to be an ordinary citizen

407
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,759
and not a trained spy
or anything like it,

408
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:30,199
I sometimes feel it's giving off
slight kind of proto-007 vibes,

409
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,719
just because he's so
kind of charismatic.

410
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,119
Tell me about Richard Hannay
in the book.

411
00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,999
He's quite different to the character
we see in the film to come, isn't he?

412
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:40,879
Very, very different.
I mean, he's...

413
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,599
Richard Hannay in the film
is an everyman,

414
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,559
and the Richard Hannay of the book
is not at all.

415
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,039
He's come back from South Africa
with a lot of money,

416
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,319
and he's very scornful about the
sort of the decadent home country.

417
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,679
He's very down on people,
he's very rude,

418
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,919
he's quite racist,
he's quite unpleasant.

419
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:01,079
He's also very, very skilled
in the ways of the Transvaal,

420
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,879
the kind of... the bush craft.

421
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,799
So there's certain sequences
in the book

422
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:07,799
where his bush craft is incredible.

423
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,079
I mean, he really understands
the wilds, he understands disguise.

424
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,839
He's much more professional
about being on the run

425
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,479
than the Richard Hannay of the book,
who's just a bloke really.

426
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,239
So he's got a certain amount
of pass that he brings to it,

427
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,679
but you wouldn't want to have...
I mean, I would prefer

428
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:25,679
to have dinner with
the film Richard Hannay

429
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,479
than I would with
the book Richard Hannay.

430
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,559
I mean, if you just wanted to see
a sort of a good example

431
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:35,039
of, you know, the calibre
of British acting talent

432
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,639
at that time in the United Kingdom,

433
00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:39,799
all you have to do
is watch The 39 Steps.

434
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,359
I mean, they're all there.
Everybody is in it.

435
00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:44,719
Oh, come in. Come on in.

436
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,799
Oh, the young lady's terrible wet.

437
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,039
Oh, yes, we had an accident
with our car a few miles back.

438
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,239
Oh. You'll be staying the night?
Yes.

439
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,319
We've just the one room left
with the one bed in it.

440
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,359
But you'll not be minding that.

441
00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:58,719
Oh, no, no, no, quite the reverse.

442
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,599
Yeah, we always talk about plot
and thrills with Hitchcock,

443
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,519
but this film lives or dies
by its two leads.

444
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,359
Because actually it's quite
a small cast in the end, isn't it?

445
00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:12,439
Now, I think he always wanted
Robert Donat as Hannay,

446
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,719
but tell me a little bit
about why it was,

447
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,359
what were the qualities that
Donat had that made him perfect?

448
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:21,479
I mean, Donat's career
was dogged by ill health

449
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,319
and by unpleasant experiences
in America,

450
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,879
but just as he was working
with Hitchcock,

451
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,999
he was on his way to being
a matinee idol film star.

452
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,639
He was incredibly good looking,
he had a lot of style and charm.

453
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,559
At that point, Britain didn't
really have that many

454
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,919
young, handsome star actors.

455
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,079
It had a lot of great
sort of character actors

456
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,759
and a lot of older actors,
but this idea of a young,

457
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,879
dashing male actor
with a kind of light sensibility.

458
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:53,039
He was not... You know, he was not
a doom laden Hamlet-style actor.

459
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,199
He was someone who could be funny,
he could be witty,

460
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,759
he could be the kind of actor
who Hitchcock then spent

461
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,999
the rest of his career
searching to work with.

462
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,079
You know,
he was the future Cary Grant.

463
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,119
He had these great qualities to him.

464
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,399
And he had just been to America
where he'd played

465
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,359
the lead in the Count of Monte
Cristo, very convincingly.

466
00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:14,599
And Warner's had signed him
to a contract.

467
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,159
They want him to play Captain Blood,
the role that, in the end,

468
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,559
went to Errol Flynn,
and he turned down Captain Blood.

469
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,599
"I really don't want
to work in Hollywood."

470
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,839
Came back to the UK, set about doing
smaller films and stage work.

471
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,679
And so he was...
he was hot for a start.

472
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,159
He was hot, he was talented,
he was attractive,

473
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,919
and he had an everyman quality.
And Hitchcock was hungry for him.

474
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,399
They are so terribly
in love with each other.

475
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,079
I can't stand it any longer! I'm
going to tell them the whole story.

476
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:41,799
And hang me for a murder
I never committed?

477
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,999
I don't care whether you committed
it or not! Let me go!

478
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,159
You think I'm going to spend
the whole night with you?

479
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:47,999
Course you are.
What else can you do? Come on.

480
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:49,519
Can I come in, sir?

481
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,359
If anything, the film is made
by Madeleine Carroll,

482
00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,319
then one of the top
box office draws in Britain.

483
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,519
Tending toward
an icy screen presence,

484
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,239
Hitchcock gave her the mystifying
instruction to be herself.

485
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,319
In person,
Carroll was witty and flirtatious.

486
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,639
There had been blondes
in the director's work before,

487
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:14,559
but Carroll's indignant,
alluring, magnificent Pamela,

488
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,279
is the first true Hitchcock blonde.

489
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,399
So Madeleine Carroll is the...

490
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:21,679
maybe the first Hitchcock blonde.

491
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,279
For quite a long time,
she's very stubborn

492
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,079
and she is, you know,
quite, you know,

493
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,079
in many ways,
a bit frightened of him.

494
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:32,839
So they are not particularly friends
through most of the film,

495
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,559
but they do have
an incredible chemistry.

496
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,799
When the pair end up
unwillingly handcuffed together,

497
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:44,039
they are then forced
to work it out with one another

498
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,999
and even at one point,
have to pretend to be honeymooners,

499
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,079
in order to get access into a hotel.

500
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,119
The interesting thing about
Madeleine Carroll, is that she...

501
00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:55,119
this was a role that
she had never played before.

502
00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:58,959
She was used to playing
sort of rather cool,

503
00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,279
aristocratic women with hauteur
that nobody really sympathised with.

504
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,999
And she said she was getting
tired of being typecast,

505
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,519
and that was one of the reasons
that she took the role.

506
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,999
She said it, you know,
it reminded her a little

507
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,759
of Claudette Colbert's role
in It Happened One Night,

508
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,159
And that was the sort of thing
she wanted to do.

509
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,159
And it was that fact
and her contribution

510
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,959
to making that role work,

511
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,999
that was...
actually sort of built it up.

512
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,119
And it was built up during filming.

513
00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:33,559
It wasn't actually written
like that in the script,

514
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,159
in the shooting script. She...

515
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,079
She and Hitchcock
and Alma Reville and indeed,

516
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,039
Charles Bennett,
all realised that this is...

517
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,759
this was going to be a really,
really interesting role for her

518
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:48,639
and it would actually
enhance the film.

519
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,279
So in many ways,

520
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,559
she contributed to that character

521
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,239
as much as the screenwriters.

522
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,239
On the first day his leads
were together on set,

523
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,359
Hitchcock made a great ceremony
of handcuffing them together,

524
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,839
then promptly claimed
to have lost the key,

525
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,319
leaving his flustered stars to cope.

526
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,519
When they finally began to laugh,

527
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,680
he miraculously found the key.

528
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,199
The director knew
the handcuffs would stir

529
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,799
all kinds of thoughts
in the audience.

530
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,999
More than that, the chemistry
between his stars was essential.

531
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,199
By stealth,
Hitchcock was making a romance.

532
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,719
They are literally coupled.

533
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,719
It's so much a film
ahead of its time, isn't it?

534
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,719
That sparring romance,
that kind of chemistry

535
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:35,879
that you know where it's going,
feels very modern,

536
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:37,879
yet this film is 1935.
Absolutely,

537
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,239
and there's a sequence
when they are handcuffed together

538
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,079
and they're in a hotel room,

539
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,719
and she's going to take
her damp stockings off.

540
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,079
And Hitchcock shoots her
taking the stockings off

541
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,519
and it's very languorous
camera work,

542
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:52,599
with Richard Hannay's hand

543
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,439
sort of stroking her leg,
but sort of not,

544
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,919
which I think is one of
the most sensual shots

545
00:29:57,920 --> 00:29:59,919
that he's almost ever done.

546
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:02,959
But this is actually genuinely
a sensual exploration

547
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,239
of this attractive woman
with this man handcuffed to her.

548
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,879
And it's quite remarkable. I mean,
it's an incredibly racy sequence.

549
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,439
Shot in the spring of 1935,

550
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,719
Hitchcock's 20-second film

551
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,799
sees a director thrilling
to the possibilities of the medium.

552
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,959
This was now a story
only a film could tell.

553
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,839
His ambition was
a succession of episodes,

554
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,039
each a film within itself.

555
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,359
The craft is breathtaking.

556
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,799
Those brilliant, telling close-ups,

557
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,719
iconic shot of a screaming woman

558
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,839
drowned out by the shrill call

559
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,600
of a station whistle
from the next scene.

560
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,759
For one thing, they're much prettier
than they were 20 years ago.

561
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,799
More free. Free and easy.
You're right there.

562
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:54,879
I could never understand
how people used to put up

563
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,759
with the old-fashioned sort,
all bones and no bend.

564
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,199
What I will say for the
old-fashioned, they did last longer.

565
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,399
I don't know.
Mine last about a year.

566
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,519
Here, I'll show you.

567
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:06,520
A big demand for these now.

568
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,679
The old-fashioned sort.
Brrrr. My wife.

569
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:13,919
Now take a look at these.

570
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,439
The power of The 39 Steps
lies in its momentum.

571
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:19,759
The hero escapes by train,

572
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,199
nearly coming to grief
on the Forth Bridge.

573
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,959
Plot details remain
in the background,

574
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:26,959
almost beside the point.

575
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:30,279
What counts is Hannay's
escalating predicament,

576
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,919
how he evades capture,
how he clears his name,

577
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:35,959
and how he wins over the girl.

578
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,319
The extraordinary thing is
how many different elements

579
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,959
there are in this film
that Hitchcock has such confidence

580
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,439
with exploring and depicting,

581
00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,239
and as I said, very, very quickly,

582
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,199
you know, this film
does not hang about.

583
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,559
It moves like a rocket.

584
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:58,439
He even manages to get in a
primitive helicopter flying across,

585
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,279
and which was an autogyro.
He'd heard about it.

586
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,879
It was a man,
a Scottish industrialist,

587
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,559
he used to fly to work
in an autogyro,

588
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,399
and he said, "I want a bit of that,
we're going to have that in there."

589
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:13,359
And sure enough, I mean you've
got your first helicopter chase.

590
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,479
Well, I mean, that...

591
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,519
that will appear again
in another form

592
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,959
in North By Northwest,
with Cary Grant being chased

593
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,159
by a crop-dusting plane.
Fantastic stuff.

594
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:49,000
Now, Mr Hannay, I suppose it's safe
to call you by your real name now?

595
00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,519
What about our mutual friend,
Annabella?

596
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,639
She's been murdered.
Murdered?

597
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:58,879
Oh, the Portland Mansions affair?

598
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:00,919
What our friends outside
are looking for you for.

599
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:02,960
I didn't do it.
Of course you didn't.

600
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,199
The 39 Steps is Hitchcock
at his most playful.

601
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:18,039
The increasing absurdity of Hannay's
situation is often comical.

602
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:23,199
Hitchcock loathed those spoilsports
he termed "the plausible,"

603
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,679
relishing the implausibility

604
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,199
of newspaper headlines arriving
hours after the event,

605
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,719
of blind chance and coincidence
saving the day,

606
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,079
of his audience being
swept up by emotion.

607
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,599
I think one of the interesting
things that strikes me

608
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,279
is that we always think of Hitchcock
somehow as an urban director,

609
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:45,159
a city-bound director, yet this is
a film about landscape, is it not?

610
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,519
He is very good at doing it.
I mean, he does this...

611
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:51,319
It is, of course,
a remake of The 39 Steps.

612
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,879
He does this particularly well
in North By Northwest,

613
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:55,999
but what he is very good at doing

614
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,239
is setting up a situation

615
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,759
where there can clearly
be no threat

616
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,839
because the man is
in the middle of nowhere,

617
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,719
and he loved talking about this.
The man is in the middle of nowhere.

618
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,279
As far as you can see,
there is no threat.

619
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:12,399
And yet, as an audience,
you know, because of the filmmaker,

620
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,439
because of the music,
because of what's going on,

621
00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:16,759
that he's in deadly peril,
and then how...

622
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,439
what you're wondering is,
how is that peril going to arrive?

623
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,479
We know this is terrible,

624
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,759
but we can't see any way
in which it could be terrible.

625
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,759
What could possibly
be about to happen?

626
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:28,839
So the audience suspense is,

627
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,239
it's much, much harder for people to
figure out what's about to happen,

628
00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:36,039
when you're in the middle of nowhere
than in a crowded street.

629
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:38,399
Arthur Conan Doyle
wrote that briefly,

630
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,039
Sherlock Holmes says this
at one point.

631
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,319
He says to Watson, "You find
the City of London scary, Watson.

632
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,479
I'm at my most scared
in the countryside."

633
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,359
And that's I think what Hitchcock
takes this idea of the fear

634
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,079
of the barren environment
where there's nothing,

635
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,879
but you are in great peril.
And he does it brilliantly.

636
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,879
I mean, outdoors for him is
an incredibly dangerous place to be.

637
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,119
If you look at the legacy
of The 39 Steps,

638
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,439
you will see elements,

639
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:06,359
if not the entire script,
then you will see huge chunks

640
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,639
of this film played out

641
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,359
over and over again
across the decades in films.

642
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,999
And this was the one
that started it all.

643
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,879
For example, when Robert Donat
and Madeleine Carroll are,

644
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,119
in fact, when they are
handcuffed together

645
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,719
and they're on the run
across the moors

646
00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:27,959
from the bad police,
of course, the fake police,

647
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,199
the secret agents,
where do they hide?

648
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,480
They hide behind a waterfall.

649
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,599
When was the last time we saw that?
The Last of the Mohicans.

650
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,519
That's exactly what Daniel Day-Lewis
does with Madeleine Stowe,

651
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,239
if you think, and probably
many other times before that.

652
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:48,719
There are tropes in this film of...

653
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:51,519
that have become almost cliches,

654
00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:54,479
but he, Hitchcock originated them.

655
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:56,519
And on and on they go.

656
00:35:56,520 --> 00:36:01,639
Absolutely extraordinary legacy
of all kinds of elements.

657
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:05,039
But the other one is
when Robert Donat

658
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:09,119
leaps and smashes through
the police station front window

659
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,119
to escape, and what does he do?

660
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:15,759
He joins a parade
of Salvation Army people,

661
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,439
because he knows that if he
sort of ducks down inside them,

662
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:20,759
the cops won't be able to see them.

663
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:25,319
That scene has been played
out during several films,

664
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,599
notably The Fugitive
with Harrison Ford.

665
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:31,639
I mean, all of these elements
and all of these sequences

666
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,159
originated in The 39 Steps.

667
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,799
They hadn't been played out before,
and yet,

668
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,719
you see them repeated
time and again,

669
00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:42,479
right up until the 21st century.

670
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,359
Under the cover of a thriller,

671
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,199
the film also explores
the perils of marriage.

672
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,759
What is it confirmed bachelor Hannay
is actually running away from?

673
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,599
He fools the milkman
that he is absconding

674
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,999
from an affair, rather than a murder.

675
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,159
He is taken in by a heartbreaking
Peggy Ashcroft,

676
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:04,919
trapped in a loveless marriage
to puritanical crofter, John Laurie.

677
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:06,599
In contrast,

678
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,439
we get the warm-hearted couple
at the inn,

679
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,759
who take Hannay and Pamela
for newly-weds.

680
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:17,439
By the end, those handcuffs
have become an engagement ring.

681
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:23,239
It's a really strange and very
powerful section of the film

682
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:25,439
wherein our main character,

683
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:27,959
is holing up

684
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,279
in this remote cottage
with a Scottish crofter,

685
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,839
and his much younger wife
called Margaret.

686
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,359
And he sort of befriends Margaret.

687
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,959
The husband is very severe,

688
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:41,719
he's very religious,

689
00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:43,879
ultimately a hypocrite
because he's after...

690
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:45,879
you know, he's fairly
money grubbing.

691
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,639
It's a very, very unpleasant
depiction of this man.

692
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:51,799
But his wife seems...

693
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,959
bullied and put upon

694
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,559
and desperate for excitement
and city life.

695
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,079
You really feel sorry
for this character.

696
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,519
The whole segment of the film is
filmed almost like proto film noir.

697
00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:05,599
It's full of shadow, it's...

698
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:09,119
Yeah, it's a really dark
and poignant scene,

699
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,399
ultimately as well because we return

700
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:14,799
to these characters
a little bit later in the film.

701
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,639
She gives a jacket of her husband's

702
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,319
and it has a prayerbook,
a hymnal book in the pocket,

703
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:23,239
which proves to be
very important to the plot.

704
00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:26,519
Later on when her husband is
seen to have discovered this,

705
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:30,519
you hear, just off screen,
her being slapped in the face.

706
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,039
So it's a very dark
portrait of marriage

707
00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,559
and I guess gender...
you know, gender relations.

708
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:40,519
But one idea that does
potentially tie it all together

709
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:42,679
is that it's a film about marriage,

710
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,719
it's a portrait of marriage,
in very different ways.

711
00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:48,319
We get a lot of different
married couples, as you said,

712
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:52,799
and obviously Hannay is set up
as this confirmed bachelor

713
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,919
and you start to wonder,
what is he running away from indeed?

714
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,439
And obviously the handcuffs
become a symbol of...

715
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,919
being chained to your wife,
you know,

716
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,519
it's a double-edged joke
with Hitchcock.

717
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:06,479
But is this a film about marriage?

718
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,759
It is in a way, isn't it?
I mean, the relationships

719
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,279
become more and more successful
as the film goes on,

720
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:14,759
and as Richard and...

721
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,919
Richard and Pamela become closer
and closer and closer,

722
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,079
you find...

723
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,119
marriage around them is
less aggressive and less dark.

724
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,359
So when he's by himself,

725
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,759
he encounters terrible marriages,
marriages which are about

726
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:31,719
a villain and his plotting,
scheming wife,

727
00:39:31,720 --> 00:39:35,959
but then as things smooth
between him and Pamela,

728
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,839
they encounter more and more
sort of reasonable marriages.

729
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:42,479
And it's almost like the film
is teaching him, very slowly,

730
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,560
that it's OK to marry this woman.

731
00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:52,199
The 39 Steps delighted
audiences everywhere,

732
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:54,119
but most significantly,
became Hitchcock's

733
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,159
first major hit in America.

734
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,999
While made in Britain,
it was an international film,

735
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,599
bursting with glamour and excitement.

736
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:05,839
Dubbed the British Clark Gable,
Robert Donat became an instant star

737
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:08,599
and Madeleine Carroll a sex symbol.

738
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:12,199
There's only so long Michael Balcon
was going to be able to deflect

739
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,439
Hollywood's interest in his director.

740
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:19,199
The other thing that is a constant
in Hitchcock's films,

741
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,599
which are... again, that start here,

742
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:26,319
are the idea of fifth columnists,

743
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,679
that secret agents,
this sort of cabal of agents

744
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:32,839
operating inside a country

745
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,839
and pretending to be sort of
respectable members of a community,

746
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,279
while at the same time,
seeking to destroy it.

747
00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:43,079
Remember the time it was made, 1935.

748
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,399
You know, war is in the air,
everybody is very uncertain,

749
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,079
and people stop trusting people.

750
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,519
And one thing about this film

751
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:55,239
is that it's all about
trust and betrayal.

752
00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:57,839
Betrayal and trust.
Who do you trust?

753
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:01,239
That is one of the reasons
that we stick, as the audience,

754
00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:04,759
so closely to Richard Hannay.

755
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,399
We see what he sees
at the same time.

756
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,679
We are not ahead of the game,
and we're not behind it.

757
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:14,839
Hitchcock makes sure that
we are placed in Hannay's position

758
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:19,159
so that when he realises things,
we realise them at the same time.

759
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:22,559
In some senses, The 39 Steps
was a film for its times.

760
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:25,759
Hitchcock was turning
a nervy eye toward a Europe

761
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:28,039
where storm clouds were gathering.

762
00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:30,959
Equally, it was a film
that echoed through his career.

763
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,079
At the height of his Hollywood fame,

764
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:36,119
he would near enough remake it
as North by Northwest.

765
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:39,759
But that political undertone
remained in his work.

766
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:41,759
Hitchcock was very aware
of the fact,

767
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:45,559
when he made North by Northwest
over 20 years later,

768
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:48,719
that he was basically

769
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:51,159
remaking a film
that he had made before,

770
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:53,439
except he had a much larger budget,

771
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,399
it was in colour,

772
00:41:55,400 --> 00:42:00,319
and there is actually a scene
in the novel of The 39 Steps,

773
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:04,319
which doesn't make it
exactly into the 1935 film,

774
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,359
but that he then kind of steals
and uses in North by Northwest,

775
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,719
which is the famous scene
of Cary Grant

776
00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:11,999
trying to escape from the aeroplane.

777
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,119
Probably didn't have the budget
or the capacity to pull that off

778
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:17,279
in 1935 under the circumstances,

779
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,799
but in 1959, he did.

780
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,559
So, it is in many ways
just a bigger version

781
00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:27,759
of what came before,
with Cary Grant,

782
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,679
who is much like Robert Donat;

783
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,439
very suave, very capable,

784
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:35,559
but also somebody who
you believe could be dragged

785
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,359
into these strange circumstances and
has a certain haplessness as well.

786
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,399
It's a first for everybody.

787
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,839
Ian Fleming said,
"Without Richard Hannay,

788
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:47,119
there would be no James Bond."

789
00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,039
These are huge claims.

790
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,519
And yet, you look at it,
and you look at it in the context

791
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,519
of the films certainly,
they're right.

792
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:57,239
There is nothing like it beforehand,

793
00:42:57,240 --> 00:42:59,559
and then immediately,

794
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:03,039
it sort of struck gold
with an audience,

795
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:06,799
it struck a sort of chord
with people, who think, "Wow!

796
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:08,759
Why haven't we seen anything
like this before?"

797
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,159
Well, they were going to see
a lot more after it.

798
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,279
There's no fat on it,
there's just...

799
00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:15,239
I mean, there are
so many layers to it,

800
00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:17,279
but there is nothing that's wasted

801
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,839
by looking at anything,
"Ah, isn't this wonderful?" or...

802
00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:23,759
you know, all we have
is the movement

803
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,239
of Richard Hannay from
the music hall to the music hall,

804
00:43:27,240 --> 00:43:30,199
and then via the North
of Scotland and back again.

805
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:31,879
That's all we need.

806
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,799
It feels foolish to rank
the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

807
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:38,279
There are so many we now consider
signal moments of cinema,

808
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:40,439
films which we watch
in the full knowledge

809
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,799
we are in the hands
of the great, Hitch.

810
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,159
But his British masterpiece
is the moment

811
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:49,879
that genius comes into focus.

812
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:53,879
The 39 Steps confirms
his mastery of suspense.

813
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:55,999
Am I right, sir?

814
00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,119
Quite right, old chap.

815
00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,600
Thank you, sir. Thank you.

816
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:05,360
I'm glad it's off my mind, at last.

817
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:11,800
Subtitles by Sky Access Services
www.skyaccessibility.sky