The 39 Steps: Hitchcock's original runaway train

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that move fast and don't care about explaining every single plot hole, yes. It's a classic for a reason, though some of the acting feels like it walked off a stage play set. If you need grit, modern realism, or a protagonist who isn't charmingly oblivious, you might find this one a bit quaint.

Robert Donat is just so damn likable as Hannay. He has this way of looking perpetually confused but keeping his cool anyway. It's the kind of performance that holds the whole shaky thing together.

The pacing is genuinely wild. One minute he's in a music hall, the next he's on a train heading north, and then he's jumping into a random farmer's life. It feels like a fever dream, but a fun one.

There is this one moment where they are cuffed together—him and Madeleine Carroll—and they have to walk across the moor in the rain. It’s supposed to be tense. But honestly, it’s mostly just funny watching them try to coordinate their legs.

The villains are sort of forgettable, honestly. They show up, look mean, and talk in hushed tones, but nobody really stands out like the bad guys in When Danger Smiles did. You barely remember their faces once the scene cuts.

Odd bits I noticed:

• The Scottish accents go from 'authentic' to 'stage actor trying to be Scottish' pretty fast.
• The train sequences look like they were filmed in a bathtub with a toy set, and I love it.
• The whole '39 Steps' thing is almost a letdown once you find out what it actually is.
• There is a lot of running. Like, an excessive amount of running through fields.

I find it funny how Hitchcock just kind of breezes past the fact that a woman was murdered in the first twenty minutes. He doesn't care about the tragedy of it; he just wants to get the guy on the train. It's very cold, but in a way that keeps the movie from getting bogged down in feelings.

Maybe it’s not as polished as his later stuff. But there's an energy here that you don't get in big modern blockbusters. It's like watching a magic trick where you can see the wires, but you're having too much fun to care.

Also, the ending happens so fast. It just hits a wall and stops. It’s perfect. Don't go looking for deep meanings here. It's just a guy, a secret, and a whole lot of rain. Sometimes that's enough.