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The 39 Steps (1935)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock · Shot by Bernard Knowles · Cut by Derek Twist · Music by Charles Williams · 86 min
How it was made
- Hitchcock changed the meaning of the title itself: in the novel, 'The 39 Steps' refers to physical steps, but in the film it names the clandestine spy organisation, with the German agents renamed 'The Black Stone.'
- Hitchcock invented the character of Pamela and restructured the plot so that Annabella tells Hannay she is travelling to a specific circled house in Scotland, avoiding the novel's contrivance of Hannay randomly stumbling into the villain's house.
- The character Mr. Memory was based on a real music-hall performer known as Datas.
- The budget rose to nearly £60,000, up from £40,000 on Hitchcock's previous film, largely because of the star salaries paid to Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll to help the film sell in America.
- Hitchcock worked a Scottish industrialist's habit of commuting to work by autogyro into the film after hearing about it.
- For Mr. Memory's dying words, Hitchcock reused the song 'Tinkle, Tinkle, Tinkle,' originally performed by Jessie Matthews in an earlier film, despite reportedly not liking Matthews personally.
Behind the scenes
Elsewhere
More by Alfred Hitchcock
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