The 39 Steps (1959)
Director: Ralph Thomas
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
More an attempt to copy Hitchcock than to re-film Buchan, and it suffers by the comparison. The few changes are not for the better (Peggy Ashcroft's wistfully frustrated crofter's wife, for instance, becomes a man-hungry spiritualist, played by Brenda de Banzie), since they broaden the characterisations into caricature. For the rest, the tension is dismally slack, the comedy overdone, and the Scottish scenery ladled out in travelogue dollops.Author:
Cast & crew
Director: Ralph Thomas
Producer: Betty E Box
Cast: Kenneth More, Taina Elg, Barry Jones, Brenda de Banzie, Faith Brook, James Hayter, Michael Goodliffe, Sidney James full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 93 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.



What do you think?
Post your review now