Monday, August 30, 2010

Regarding The 39 Steps

Richard Hannay (Rupert Penry-Jones) is bored. Recently returned to England after living in Africa for a time, he finds English people dull and stuffy. Then a secret agent pushes his way into Hannay's apartment and is promptly killed - after giving Hannay a coded notebook and instructions to give the book to Captain Kell of the secret service. Hannay is accused of the murder and soons finds himself on the run from the police and a German spy ring.

Pros: I really like Hannay. His morals aren't quite on line, but he's really nice. I also really like Victoria Sinclair (Lydia Leonard), the harum-scarum suffragette who joins Hannay. The story is pretty good - an amalgamation of the book by John Buchan and the earlier movie by Alfred Hitchcock, with a few new parts thrown in. For the most part, they really handled the guy and girl traveling together alone angle well. They could have made it really sleazy, but they stayed pretty clean considering how new the movie is.

Cons: The ending is extremely frustrating!! There are a couple of scenes I sincerely wish they had left out. And, of course, the "mysterious" German spies are rather too shifty looking for my taste.

My Rating: T (sexual references, content)

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