Part of Weekend Classics: Lovers on the Lam
Often cited as one of the best thrillers of the decade, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film was an early solidification of what would be a long-standing reputation as the Master of Suspense. British diplomat Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is vacationing in England when a terrified woman appears at his flat with a map in her hand and a knife in her back, muttering something about 39 steps, a conspiracy that thrusts Hannay into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors — a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued — as well as into an unexpected romance with the cool Pamela (Madeline Carroll).
“THE 39 STEPS is a masterclass in propulsive narrative cinema that even today's so-called blockbuster auteurs should study.” —Times (UK)
