39 Steps [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

This early masterwork from the "master of suspense" is given a solid presentation from The Criterion Collection. The transfer is full frame (standard) with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and the audio is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. The print itself shows a few signs of age, but is generally in splendid shape. The animated menu choices include a commentary by Alfred Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane. It is very educational, covering a wide range of topics including the themes in Hitchcock's work as well as breakdowns of his shot compositions. The disc also includes "The Art of Film: Vintage Hitchcock," a half-hour documentary from the 1970s that focuses on the early U.K. years of the director. There is also a Lux Radio Theatre production of the story from 1937, which runs about one hour and stars the vocal talents of Robert Montgomery and Ida Lupino. A copy of the original 1935 press book is also included. It is quite intriguing, though a bit difficult to navigate. The disc is topped off with a selection of 15 of the original production designs for the film. This is a well put together disc. ~ A.R. Ferguson, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Features:
  • cc Gorgeous new transfer, with digitally restored image and sound
  • Audio essay by Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane
  • The complete 1937 broadcast of the Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, performed by Robert Montgomery and Ida Lupino
  • The Art of Film: Vintage Hitchcock, a Janus Films documentary detailing the director's British period
  • Excerpts from the original 1935 press book
  • Original production design drawings
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Robert Donat - Richard Hannay
       Madeleine Carroll - Pamela
       Godfrey Tearle - Prof. Jordan
       Peggy Ashcroft - Margaret
       Lucie Mannheim - Miss Smith/Annabella

• Director:

  Alfred Hitchcock

• Producer:

  Michael Balcon, Ivor Montagu

• Book Author:

  John Buchan

• Screenwriter:

  Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, Alma Reville

• Cinematographer:

  Bernard Knowles

• Composer (Music Score):

  Louis Levy

• Editor:

  Derek N. Twist

• Production Designer:

  Albert Jullion, Otto Werndorff

REVIEWS:

• Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps firmly established the director's reputation beyond the boundaries of the British isles, but it did far more than that: it was also the film where Hitchcock's reach and grasp as a filmmaker began growing by leaps and bounds. He'd already made three excellent thrillers (The Lodger (1926), Blackmail (1929), and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)) that had attracted considerable attention in America, but The 39 Steps, as a piece of screencraft, assembled all the best elements in those widely scattered successes (spread across eight years of his career) between two covers in a way that riveted audiences and industry observers. It played exactly the way that British movies weren't supposed to, lively and piercingly funny, rather than stodgy and dignified; it was almost as much a comedy as a thriller, which was something new in any country's cinema; and it was almost as much a battle of the sexes in the jousting of its two leads (Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll) as it was a quest by the hero to prove his innocence of a murder charge; by the end of the movie, we want to see not only how Richard Hanney (Donat) proves his innocence but also how he and Pamela (Carroll) manage to stay together. Not coincidentally, The 39 Steps was also the first of his major films in which Hitchcock ripped up and threw away most of the contents of the underlying source (a novel by John Buchan that had been a best-seller then and which has remained a perennially popular read ever since) -- he later followed this practice in his subsequent treatments of Josephine Tey's A Shilling For Candles (as Young and Innocent), Ethel Lina White's The Wheel Spins (as The Lady Vanishes), and Francis Beeding's The House of Dr. Edwardes (as Spellbound), among other literary properties. In the process, he struck a blow for the director as a creative voice in his own right, independent of and superior to the novelist (at least where actual screen adaptations were concerned), who might take one or two good ideas, a name or two, and perhaps a setting and a scene from a chapter and junk everything else, making it his own. In a time when producers and studios still occupied a place of cultural inferiority (even in their own minds) to the authors and publishers of the printed word, this was no small achievement, especially considering that it was done well and, thus, justified itself. So, in his own way, working within the thriller genre in The 39 Steps, Hitchcock helped open the way for virtually every major director who came after him. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
• {$Alfred Hitchcock}'s {#The 39 Steps} firmly established the director's reputation beyond the boundaries of the British isles, but it did far more than that: it was also the film where {$Hitchcock}'s reach and grasp as a filmmaker began growing by leaps and bounds. He'd already made three excellent thrillers ({#The Lodger} (1926), {#Blackmail} (1929), and {#The Man Who Knew Too Much} (1934)) that had attracted considerable attention in America, but {#The 39 Steps}, as a piece of screencraft, assembled all the best elements in those widely scattered successes (spread across eight years of his career) between two covers in a way that riveted audiences and industry observers. It played exactly the way that British movies weren't supposed to, lively and piercingly funny, rather than stodgy and dignified; it was almost as much a comedy as a thriller, which was something new in any country's cinema; and it was almost as much a battle of the sexes in the jousting of its two leads ({$Robert Donat}, {$Madeleine Carroll}) as it was a quest by the hero to prove his innocence of a murder charge; by the end of the movie, we want to see not only how Richard Hanney ({$Donat}) proves his innocence but also how he and Pamela ({$Carroll}) manage to stay together. Not coincidentally, {#The 39 Steps} was also the first of his major films in which {$Hitchcock} ripped up and threw away most of the contents of the underlying source (a novel by {$John Buchan} that had been a best-seller then and which has remained a perennially popular read ever since) -- he later followed this practice in his subsequent treatments of Josephine Tey's {-A Shilling For Candles} (as {#Young and Innocent}), Ethel Lina White's {-The Wheel Spins} (as {#The Lady Vanishes}), and Francis Beeding's {-The House of Dr. Edwardes} (as {#Spellbound}), among other literary properties. In the process, he struck a blow for the director as a creative voice in his own right, independent of and superior to the novelist (at least where actual screen adaptations were concerned), who might take one or two good ideas, a name or two, and perhaps a setting and a scene from a chapter and junk everything else, making it his own. In a time when producers and studios still occupied a place of cultural inferiority (even in their own minds) to the authors and publishers of the printed word, this was no small achievement, especially considering that it was done well and, thus, justified itself. So, in his own way, working within the thriller genre in {#The 39 Steps}, {$Hitchcock} helped open the way for virtually every major director who came after him. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

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