04. THE 39 STEPS (1935)
The inclusion of a character wrongly accused of murder became one of British director
Alfred Hitchcocks signature traits and this top ten could easily have been compiled from his filmography alone. However, as variety is the spice of life, I have refrained from doing this!
The 39 Steps was Hitchs second exploration (after his excellent silent thriller
The Lodger ) of the theme and starred a very British
Robert Donat as the Canadian Richard Hannay, who finds himself accused of the murder of a female spy who unfortunately has expired in his flat! What ensues is a cat and mouse chase across England as Hannay attempts to reach Scotland, whilst dodging the spies and police officers that are in hot pursuit. What makes Hitchcocks film so engaging however, is that the wrongly accused subplot of the narrative proves to be more of an aside than the opening scenes would suggest. Two parts screwball comedy to one part thriller, Hitchcock quickly shifts the narrative focus from Hannays plight to his burgeoning relationship with the unwitting and unwilling Pamela (played with an acidic wit by the beautiful
Madeleine Carroll). Handcuffed together for a considerable portion of the narrative, Donat and Carrolls performances echo those of Clark Gable and Claudette Colberts in the previous years hit comedy, It Happened One Night (1934). By the close of the film, the audience is far more interested in whether Hannay and Pamela will stay together than discovering the secret of the 39 Steps!