Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe 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
Top Stories
A holiday guide to movie dystopias
‘Going anywhere nice this summer, sir?’ To celebrate the release of Pixar’s sublime post-apocalyptic robo-romance ‘Wall-E’, Time Out offers a tour guide of the best future worlds in film
Eddie Murphy's Crimes Against Cinema
We all remember the comic highs of 'Beverly Hills Cop' and 'Bowfinger', but Eddie Murphy has been in a fair few stinkers as well. Time Out to presents a handy rundown of his ten darkest cinematic hours...
Olly Blackburn meets Nic Roeg
Nic Roeg is the director of ‘Performance’, ‘Don’t Look Now’ and, most recently, ‘Puffball’. Olly Blackburn is the man behind ‘Donkey Punch’, a thriller about a holiday gone wrong. We sent Olly to meet his legendary colleague
The nine rules of ’80s fantasy
Unpack the VCR and fire up the soda stream as Time Out celebrates a golden age of Hollywood family filmmaking
What do you think?
Post your review now