Hitchcock spy movie techniques with Tony Lee Moral

Podcast Episode

Hitchcock spy movie techniques with Tony Lee Moral

We talk with the author of the new book "The Young Alfred Hitchcock's Movie Making Masterclass" and discuss how Hitchcock made spy movies.

Do you want to understand the Alfred Hitchcock spy movie techniques? Tony Lee Moral returns to discuss his new book “The Young Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass“. His book teaches you Hitchcock’s process of making a movie. We discuss these techniques with Tony and apply them to how Hitch used them in making his spy movies.

Some of the topics we examine are how Hitchcock pionered “the wrongfully accused man”, the double chase (or double pursuit), using exotic locations, suave villains, how action and fight scenes are filmed, and of course the MacGuffin, and more. As an example, we look at the Hitchcock quote about spies: “heroes in their own country and villains in the foreign country” and look at how he used this idea in his spy movies.

In addition to looking at where Hitchcock used these techniques, we also discuss where other spy movies have used some of these techniques.

It’s an interesting discussion looking at our favorite movie genre through the lens of the master director. Find out what movies use the Hitchcock spy movie techniques.

You can order Tony’s book here on Amazon or here on Barnes and Noble.

Ideas/Comments? Info@SpyMovieNavigator.com

Website Episode Page: https://bit.ly/3DO6Z9m

Check out all of our Alfred Hitchcock content.

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Hitchcock Spy Movies from a Historical Perspective with Kim Putland!

Podcast Episode

Hitchcock Spy Movies from a Historical Perspective with Kim Putland!

Hitchcock Spy Movies were the topic of a thesis by Kim Humphries Putland. We discuss how Hitchcock integrates world events into these movies.

Today we have with us, Kim Humphries Putland who has written a remarkable treatise on Alfred Hitchcock’s spy and espionage genre movies, integrating the current world events into the treatment and unfolding stories in these special movies – history affects the Hitchcock spy movies!

You can find Kim’s thesis here.

Kim’s podcast is called As Told By Hollywood.

Let’s go!

Ideas/Questions: info@SpyMovieNavigator.com

Website episode page: https://bit.ly/3MuQP7B

Be sure to check out our other episodes on our website.

In this episode, we discuss how Hitchcock used current events and wove them into each of his spy movies which are:

  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (both the 1934 and 1956 versions)
  • The 39 Steps
  • Secret Agent
  • Sabotage
  • The Lady Vanishes
  • Foreign Correspondent
  • Sabateur
  • Notorious
  • North by Northwest
  • Torn Curtain
  • Topaz

 


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<em>The 39 Steps</em>

Podcast Episode

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock is considered by many to the first spy movie ever made! If you came to our site as a Bond, Bourne, Hunt, Smiley, or other spy movie fan, you might not have seen this film. Join Dan Silvestri and Tom Pizzato as they examine how The 39 Steps, considered by many to be the first spy movie, has influenced other spy movies that came after it. We'll also look at what happenings in the real world that influenced this spy movie.

The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock is considered by many to the first spy movie ever made!  If you came to our site as a Bond, Bourne, Hunt, Smiley, or other spy movie fan, you might not have seen this film.

Released in 1935, this movie sets the table for future spy movies to come. From helicopter chases and train chases to pursuit through unknown lands, this film is a must for all spy movie fans!

Join Dan Silvestri and Tom Pizzato as they examine how The 39 Steps, considered by many to be the first spy movie, has influenced other spy movies that came after it.  We’ll also look at what happenings in the real world that influenced this spy movie.

 

Related Content

The 39 Steps

Hannay – Robert Donat
Pamala – Madeleine Carrol
Miss Smith – Lucie Mannheim
Professor Jordan – Godfrey Tearle
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Summary on Wikipedia

The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, released in 1935, is considered by many to be the first spy film. So, if you are a spy movie fan, then we must take a close look at The 39 Steps to see exactly what this film is about, how it may have influenced other spy films to come, and what happenings in the real world influenced this spy film. As in many Hitchcock movies, like North By Northwest, Notorious, The Man Who Knew Too Much – an innocent bystander is thrust into the world of espionage.

A woman agent who has no affiliation with any country is trying to stop England’s secrets of air defense from falling into the hands of some certain brilliant agent of a foreign power who wants these secrets. Not because she loves England, but because they will pay her better. This is what she tells Hannay – that at the theater where they had just come from, there were two men who wanted to kill her. She and Hannay went back to Hannay’s flat. And he looks to the street from his flat window, he sees two men – waiting. She tells Hannay that he is in just as much trouble as her now – and if he ever heard of The 39 Steps. Their chief has a dozen names and can look like a 100 people, but the one thing he cannot disguise is he has the top part of his right-hand little finger missing. She wants a map of Scotland because that is where the man she must visit next is.
This film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carrol.

If you are a spy movie fan, you can watch the entire 1935 film on YouTube.

More Details

The film opens in a theater, in London, where a man on stage is about to answer virtually any questions the audience may ask. He is, in a sense, Mr. Know-It-All, called in the film Mr. Memory, who every day commits to memory 50 facts in a variety of categories (science, history, geography, etc.). There is a haunting musical theme that is associated with Mr. Memory that sticks in Hannay’s head.

A man walks in in a trench coat and sits down. Later a woman is shown at the bar. The man in the trench coat, who turns out to be Hannay, asks how far Winnipeg is from Montreal – and Mr. Memory indicates that the gentleman is a Canadian. So, we see he is not a Brit. After a bunch of questions, an official-looking gentleman comes in (police) and there is a scuffle with a guy at the bar. During the commotion, Hannay finds himself face-to-face with a woman. After a while, she asks if she could go home with him. He says, “well, it’s your funeral.” Spoiler: He turns out to be correct.

They leave the music hall and go to his place, 122 (looks like) Portland Place: Portland Mansion. He has a furnished flat as he is from Canada here for only a few months. He asks her name: “Smith.” She looks Eastern European, has an accent – Smith? Ok, now we are a little suspicious of her and who she is.

The Death of the Spy

Hannay sees Smith come into his room in this flat, with a piece of paper, stumbling, and saying, “You’re next!” She falls, revealing a knife sunk halfway into her back. She collapses and dies. Hannay does not know what to do next. The local police think he has killed her – it was in his flat. And he flees, remembering what she said about Scotland.
Not so easy to get out of his flat. The men are still there waiting for him now.

Hannay’s Getaway from his Flat – the Milkman Scene

Because Hannay is now being watched – and he does not know who wants to get him – the police for the murder he did not commit, or the people who killed the spy – he must devise a clever way to get out of his flat. The milkman scene is a classic, and we see other bait and switch scenes in future spy moves too, like in James Bond’s The Living Daylights where the enemy spy kills the milkman, then disguises himself as the milkman so he can get into the safe house where a Russian agent is kept who are defecting to the West. Here, Hannay needs the milkman’s uniform as a disguise to try to escape the two guys waiting to kill him.

The Trains Scene, Flying Scotsman

He heads for the train, the Flying Scotsman. In this clip, we see the death scene, but cuts to the train scene – Hannay is aboard and two are in pursuit of him.
This is the first of many train scenes (chases, fights, key meetings) we will see in spy movies to come! (Just a few to think about: Secret Agent, From Russia With Love, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Mission: Impossible 1, Casino Royale, Skyfall, and others). Here, for the first time, is the original chase scene on the train – with tense moments, intense drama, and a man, Hannay, trying to escape from the officials who are after him, who think he killed the woman spy in his flat.

Just pay attention to the clanging of the wheels, the lighting on the train, the bridge, the pursuit – all part of the blueprint for future spy movies. Two gentlemen read a newspaper across from him on the train about the murder and how Hannay is wanted by the police. The police are aboard the train after a stop and are looking for him. He enters a compartment and kisses a strange woman, who turns him in – but later becomes an ally after a while. The bridge in the movie is the Forth Bridge in Scotland, which opened in 1890, and it is still around and can be visited. The foot chase on the train creates tension and distress. Hannay, while innocent, is trying to escape. The chase is a foreshadowing of future chase scenes and fight scenes on trains as we will see in Spy Train, From Russia With Love, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Mission Impossible 1 and others. His escape to the bridge, Forth Bridge, is electrifying and for the viewer, a relief. The train is stopped on the bridge as the police look for him. This somewhat foreshadows View to a Kill bridge scene in San Francisco for Roger Moore’s Bond. Here, the police re-board the train thinking Hannay got back on, but Hannay did not.

Wandering now around Scotland, he stops and talks to a man, and asks if there are any newcomers around – he says yes an Englishman, a professor, and yes, he is near the town that the spy was to go to. Hannay must stay the night at this farm, meets the man’s wife, who misses Glasgow where she is from. He flatters her. She seems to like him. This scene is important because, as Hannay reads the newspaper he sees that the murder has been traced to Scotland. He knows they are on him. The wife knows that he is the man they are after. In fact, she awakes in the middle of the night, her husband notices, and she tells Hannay the police are coming and he better hurry. The husband thinks they are making love, but he tells the husband the police are after him and pays the man 5 pounds. But when the police come to the door, the wife knows her husband will turn Hannay in. Margaret (she reveals her name) gives him her husband’s “Sunday” coat.

With police still in pursuit, he runs. A small helicopter is looking for him too – ah, remember we will see more helicopter pursuits in spy films, like in From Russia With Love! He runs and is running along a river – the Forth Bridge transverses the estuary (Firth) of the River Forth – so this is probably the River Forth, not far from Alt-Na-Shellach (now we think it is called Achnashellach) – a large estate that he was looking for.

Hannay finds the estate, rings the bell, asks for the Master, and says to ask him if he knows Miss Annabella Smith (the spy). He enters, the police show up, and the maid answering the door denies any strangers are there. Hannay introduces himself as Mr. Hammond and he is from Miss Smith. The people know about the murderer being in Scotland, so know he is Hannay and asks if Annabella was killed and why he is here in Scotland. He says she was coming to see you. That the foreign agent who killed her is headed up by a man who had part of his little finger missing. He reveals that part of his (Professor Jordan ) little finger is missing and that he is about to convey some very vital information out of the country.

He shoots Hannay, and he falls. Turns out the bullet hits the hymnbook that was in the farmer’s “Sunday” coat. Hannay escapes to the sheriff. He turns him into the police who have been after him. The other two men who killed Smith are outside the police station. Hannay escapes through the window. He loses himself in a parade and the woman on the train (Pamela) turns him in again and Hannay tells her to call England and Scotland Yard. She says no. She and Hannay are in a car being taken somewhere. It is a suspicious situation. Pamala and he are now wondering – and Hannay says I bet your Sherriff principal has the top joint of his little finger missing. Pamela overhears something that makes her believe Hannay is telling the truth.

Handcuffed together, Pamela and Hannay escape.

The police are still on his tracks as he stays at an inn with Pamela and they show up to ask the innkeeper about new travelers. But they are supposedly in the good graces of the wife and she sends off the police. Pamala now decides Hannay has been speaking the truth. Eventually, they make it back to England. The haunting Mr. Memory musical theme is still in Hannay’s head as he has been whistling it in various scenes. Is Pamela the first Spy Girl (ala “Bond Girl”)? If so, she is tough and self-sufficient, and a model for future spy women. Think Ursula Andres as Honey Rider in Dr. No.

For spy movie fans, this movie has continuous action – not the kind of special effects action scenes in modern spy films – but continuous action that creates tension onscreen and in the viewer’s mind.

The Theater Finale

Back in London, Pamela goes to Scotland Yard – she had phoned from Scotland (unbeknownst to us). Scotland Yard is not believing her. They want Hannay. She goes to the theater. They follow. Hannay is in the theater too. The tension is police are following her to get to Hannay. Hannay sees someone up in a box, borrows specs and sees a hand with the top knuckle of the little finger missing!

Mr. Memory is now on stage! Hannay figures it out – Mr. Memory has committed all the secret plans to memory and Hannay thinks Professor Jordan will get him out of the country after the show. Hannay is cornered by the police and he shouts out to Mr. Memory, ”What are the 39 Steps?” Mr. Memory starts to speak, “The 39 Steps is an organization of spies collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of . . .” and he is shot by Professor Jordan, who leaps from the box and eventually onto the stage (ala John Wilkes Booth) and is caught. Hannay: “Mr. Memory – what is the secret formula you were taking out of the country?” Mr. Memory: “The first feature of the engine is….renders the engine completely silent.” And he dies. The secret is safe! Hannay is innocent!


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The 39 Steps Opening Scene

The film opens in a theater, in London, where a man on stage is about to answer virtually any questions the audience may ask.  He is, in a sense, Mr. Know-It-All, called in the film Mr. Memory, who every day commits to memory 50 facts in a variety of categories (science, history, geography, etc.).    A man walks in in a trench coat – you only see the man from the waste-down purchase a ticket and walk in – much like James Bond will be introduced to us 27 years later in the film, Dr. No, at Les Ambassadeurs in London, when we just see his hands, arms, and chest before revealing his face.

Then this man walks to a seat, and we see his face.   Later a woman is shown at the bar.   The man in the trench coat, who turns out to be Hannay, asks Mr. Memory how far Winnipeg is from Montreal – and Mr. Memory indicates that the gentleman is a Canadian.   So we see he is not a Brit.    There is a haunting musical theme that is associated with Mr. Memory that sticks in Hannay’s head.   After a bunch of questions, an official-looking gentleman comes in (police) and there is a scuffle with a guy at the bar.   2 shots are fired – we only see the gun.  During the commotion, Hannay finds himself face-to-face with a woman.  After a while, she asks if she could go home with him.   He says, “well, it’s your funeral.”   Spoiler: He turns out to be correct.

They leave the music hall and go to his place, 122 (looks like) Portland Place: Portland Mansion.   He has a furnished flat as he is from Canada here for only a few months.   He asks her name: “Smith.”  She looks Eastern European, has an accent, hesitates and says – Smith?  Ok, now we are a little suspicious of her and who she is.  Later she says her first name is Annabella.

She is nervous, thinks she has been followed, there are a couple of men outside.  She is pulling shades down, and telling Hannay not to answer the phone.  There is mystery all around her – and we don’t know why.  She admits she fired the shots at the theater to create a diversion because there were a couple of men there who wanted to get her.

The Death of the Spy

Hannay is sleeping, when he sees Smith come into his room in this flat, with a piece of paper, stumbling, and saying, “You’re next!” She falls, revealing a knife sunk halfway into her back. She collapses and dies. Hannay does not know what to do next. He knows just enough about her to know he should do something to prevent this information from getting out of the country, which she alluded to, and that Scotland was going to be her intended destination.   Here, she dies with a piece of paper, a map, with a town in Scotland circled.   The local police will think he has killed her – it was in his flat, and he is a foreigner. And the two mysterious men, are still there.  Who killed her?  How?  Did she leave the apartment to find a map?

So he must flee – head to Scotland?  And he flees, remembering what she said about Scotland.

Not so easy to get out of his flat. The men are still there waiting for him now.  Police and spies after him!

Hannay’s Getaway from his Flat – the Milkman Scene

Because Hannay is now being watched – and he does not know who wants to get him – the police for the murder he did not commit, or the people who killed the spy – he has to devise a clever way to get out of his flat.   The milkman scene is classic.  We see other bait and switch scenes in future spy movies too.  Like in James Bond’s The Living Daylights where the enemy spy kills the milkman, then disguises himself as the milkman so he can get into the safe house where a Russian agent is kept who is defecting to the West.  Here, Hannay needs the milkman’s uniform as a disguise to try to escape the two guys waiting to kill him.

He tries to tell the milkman the truth – there has been a murder in his apartment, and two mysterious men are waiting to get him next, but the milkman is not buying it.   So, Hannay makes up a story that he is having an affair with a woman, and one of the men outside is her husband.   Ah, this the milkman understands, and he lets Hannay have his uniform!

This scene demonstrates Hannay is quick on his feet and can think of ways out of jams and pressure situations with relative ease.

It is a great scene, with tension and some comic relief built-in, as the milkman calls to Hannay he forgot the empties!

The Trains Scene, Flying Scotsman

After escaping his apartment, Hannay heads for the train, the Flying Scotsman.   In this clip, see Hannay is aboard the train in the station, and two men are in pursuit of him.  But they stop as the train is pulling away.  Again, no faces are shown, and the camera focuses on their legs as they come to an abrupt halt as the train moves away.   Are they police?  The evil agents?

Somehow, police get aboard the train at another stop, and Hannay enters a compartment with a woman and kisses her, then explains to her that she must help him and tells her his situation.   The police come into the car and ask her if she saw any strangers, and a moment passes and she turns in Hannay and says he is the one they are after.   Hannay climbs out the door of the train, hanging on tot he outside of the train enters in another compartment and starts running down the narrow halls to escape once again.   The woman will become an important player in the film.

This is the first of many train scenes (chases, fights, key meetings) we will see in spy movies to come!  (Just a few to think about: Secret Agent, From Russia With Love, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Mission: Impossible 1,  Casino Royale,  Skyfall,  Mission: Impossible Fallout and others). Here, for the first time, is the original chase scene on the train – with tense moments, intense drama, and a man, Hannay, trying to escape from the officials who are after him, who think he killed the woman spy in his flat.

Just pay attention to the clanging of the wheels, the lighting on the train, the bridge,  the pursuit – all part of the blueprint for future spy movies.  Two gentlemen read a newspaper across from him on the train about the murder and how Hannay is wanted by the police.  The police are aboard the train after a stop and are looking for him.   He enters a compartment and kisses a strange woman, who turns him in – but later becomes an ally. The bridge in the movie is the Forth Bridge in Scotland, which opened in 1890, and it is still around and can be visited.  The foot chase on the train creates tension and distress.  Hannay, who is innocent, is trying to escape.

The chase is a foreshadowing of future chase scenes and fight scenes on trains as we will see in Spy Train, From Russia With Love, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Mission Impossible 1 and others.   His escape to the bridge, Forth Bridge, is electrifying and for the viewer, a relief.  The train is stopped on the bridge as the police look for him.  This somewhat foreshadows View to a Kill bridge scene in San Francisco for Roger Moore’s Bond.  Here, the police re-board the train thinking Hannay got back on, but Hannay did not.

Wandering now around Scotland, he stops and talks to a man, and asks if there are any newcomers around – he says yes an Englishman, a professor, and yes, he is near the town that the spy was to go to.  Hannay must stay the night at this farm, meets the man’s wife, who misses Glasgow where she is from.  He flatters her.  She seems to like him.  This scene is important because, as Hannay reads the newspaper he sees that the murderer has been traced to Scotland.  He knows they are on him.

The wife knows that he is the man they are after.  In fact, she awakes in the middle of the night, her husband notices, and she tells Hannay the police are coming and he better hurry.  The husband thinks they are making love but Hannay tells the husband the police are after him and pays the man 5 pounds.  But when the police come to the door, the wife knows her husband will turn Hannay in.   Margaret (she reveals her name) gives him her husband’s “Sunday” coat.  Her husband is a religious man, and his “Sunday” coat will play a significant role in saving Hannay’s life!

With police still in pursuit, he runs.  A small gyroplane/helicopter is looking for him too – ah, remember we will see more helicopter pursuits in spy films, like in From Russia With Love!  In the book, it is a plane that is heading toward him.  He runs and is running along a river  – the Forth Bridge transverses the estuary (Firth) of the River Forth – so this is probably the River Forth, not far from Alt-Na-Shellach (now we think it is called Achnashellach) – a large estate that he was looking for.

Professor Jordon’s House

Hannay finds the estate and rings the bell.  The maid answers the door.  He asks for the Master and says to ask him if he knows Miss Annabella Smith.  Remember, she is the spy who was murdered in his flat in London.   He enters, the police show up, and the maid answering the door denies any strangers are there.  That’s a clue to the audience only that perhaps Hannay is in trouble.

Hannay introduces himself to Professor Jordan as Mr. Hammond and that he knows Anabella Smith, and is coming on her behalf.  There is a party going on, and Hannay is introduced as Mr. Hammond to a variety of people, including the local sheriff.    The people know about the murderer being in Scotland.  And Professor Jordan knows he is Hannay and asks if Annabella was killed.  He also asks why Hannay is here in Scotland.  He answers by saying she was coming to see you.   That the foreign agent who killed her is headed up by a man who had part of his little finger missing.   He reveals that part of his (Professor Jordan’s) little finger is missing and that he is about to convey some very vital information out of the country.

Jordan shoots Hannay, and Hannay falls with a thump, presumably dead.   It turns out the bullet hits the hymnbook that was in the farmer’s “Sunday” coat.   Hannay escapes to the sheriff.    He turns himself in to the police who have been after him.   The other two men who killed Smith are outside the police station.  Something is fishy.  Professor Jordan obviously controls lots of people in this town, including the sheriff.    Hannay escapes through the window.

He loses himself in a parade and the woman on the train (Pamela) turns up again, and turns him in again.   Hannay pleads with her to call England and Scotland Yard.  She says no.     She and Hannay are in a car being taken somewhere, by the police, because the police need her at the station to identify Hannay.   It is a suspicious situation.   They miss a turn that would go to the station they said they were heading to and Pamela, familiar with the territory, knows this.,   Hannay does not, but she tells the police they missed the turn,  Hanny figures out that they are not the police, but part of Professor Jordan’s agents.

Pamela and he are now wondering – and Hannay says “I bet your Sheriff principal has the top joint of his little finger missing.”  Pamela overhears something that makes her believe Hannay is telling the truth.  Handcuffed together, Pamela and Hannay escape.

The police are still on their tracks as he stays at an inn with Pamela, posing as newlyweds or lovers,  and the police show up to ask the innkeeper about new travelers.  But they are supposedly in the good graces of the wife and she sends off the police.  Pamela now decides Hannay has been speaking the truth.  Eventually, they make it back to England.  The haunting Mr. Memory musical theme is still in Hannay’s head as he has been whistling it in various scenes.  Is Pamela the first Spy Girl (ala “Bond Girl”)?  If so, she is tough and self-sufficient, and a model for future spy women.  Think Ursula Andres as Honey Rider in Dr. No.

For spy movie fans, this movie has continuous action – not the kind of special effects action scenes in modern spy films – but continuous action that creates tension onscreen and in the viewer’s mind.

The Theater Finale

Back in London, Pamela goes to Scotland Yard – she had phoned from Scotland (unbeknownst to us or Hannay).   Scotland Yard is not believing her.   They want Hannay.  She goes to the theater.   They follow.  Hannay is in the theater too.   The tension is high, and the police are following her to get to Hannay.   Hannay sees someone up in a box, borrows specs and sees a hand with the top knuckle of the little finger missing!

Mr. Memory is now on stage!  Hannay figures it out – Mr. Memory has committed all the secret plans to memory and Hannay thinks Professor Jordan will get him out of the country after the show.  Hannay is cornered by the police and he shouts out to Mr. Memory, ”What are The 39 Steps?”  Mr. Memory starts to speak, “The 39 Steps is an organization of spies collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of . . .” and he is shot by Professor Jordan, who leaps from the box and eventually onto the stage (ala John Wilkes Booth) and is caught.  Hannay: “Mr. Memory – what is the secret formula  you were taking out of the country?” Mr. Memory:   “The first feature of the engine is….renders the engine completely silent.”   And he dies.  The secret is safe!  Hannay is innocent!

Again, this is considered by many to be the first spy movie.  And here we see an innocent man, not a spy, as the leading character in the movie, along with a strong female ally.   The photography is spectacular, the directing by Hitchcock flawless, and the impact on future spy movies is deep.   Of course, other Hitchcock movies will have similar themes – like North By Northwest, Notorious, and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

This is a great watch for all spy movie fans.   The entire movie is available on YouTube.  We at SpyMovieNavigator would highly recommend every spy movie fan to view this film.  It’s less than an hour and a half long and is must-see for spy movie fans.

From the book, “The 39 Steps,” by Mark Glancy – a British Film Guide – he indicates that in 1999,  The 39 Steps was voted 4th in the top 100 British Films of the 20th century – one of only three films made before 1940 to be on the top 100 list.

It was an instant success in Britain because the stars, Robert Donat and Madeleine Carrol were huge stars there, and Hitchcock was extremely popular.  It did well in Canada too, and in the US was successful too, but it took time since it was in competition with huge Hollywood films of 1936.

In the movie, The 39 Steps is the spy organization, and maybe the steps to build a secret engine, in the book, they are actually 39 steps leading down to a beach where the spies will meet – but it really does not matter to the story.   The film version, we think, is a lot more of a thriller than actual steps!

As the first spy movie, The 39 Steps is a must for all spy movie fans.   It is a fast-paced story, that holds your interest, and prepares the way for many more spy movies to come.

The last 13 minutes

Elsa thinks Marvin was so kind, and she sees him on the train and tells him she is alone. She looks worried and goes to a berth (1A) with Marvin, who says to her: “I don’t trust you – you’re in the spy racket too. The lovely neglected wife and I fell for it.” He pulls a gun on her and asks if the other two are on the train. If so, he says, they are dead. Elsa is trying to play her role. Marvin was going to have the train searched when she tells Marvin she knows who he is and loves him. Chaos outside as the air force is shooting at the train. He kisses her. We see Ashenden (Brodie) and The General go into the same car with Elsa and Marvin. Marvin quips, “I congratulate you all – especially Madam. When does the shooting begin?” Ashenden tells Elsa to wait outside, as The General says, “It is my job.”

In a surprise move, Elsa pulls a gun on Ashenden (Brodie) and The General, as a flashback to what she told Brodie earlier – “I’d rather see you dead than go through with this.”

Elsa is with Marvin when the planes start bombing the train – he whispers in her ear: “Chivalrous German spy saves British lady from British bombs. “

Just then, bombs wreck the tracks just ahead of the train, and it derails, before The General can take care of Marvin. In the ensuing wreckage, Marvin shoots The General, then both die. Elsa and Brodie survive. The General at the beginning of the movie who got Elsa and Brodie to agree gets a note (a lot of notes in this movie): “ Home safely but never again. Mr. and Mrs. Ashenden”
The scene shifts to newspaper headlines with the successes of the Allies!

Again, following Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps the year before (where we saw the first train scene in a spy movie), we see additional train scenes in this movie, and of course in many spy movies to follow like From Russia With Love (Bond and Red Grant, and Tee Hee), Mission Impossible– 1996 (Hunt vs. Phelps, and the helicopter chase), Bourne Ultimatum (Waterloo station and Russian railway station), The Spy Who Loved Me (Bond and Jaws), SPECTRE (Bond and Mr. Hinx), Skyfall, Octopussy and many more.

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