The 39 Steps (1935)
Touted as a Hitchcockian masterpiece, this one was tough for me
to navigate. I know that I tried to watch it Saturday night and failed miserably. I
think I’ve tried watching it in the past but have never made it all the way through.
Huzzah! I finally made it through. I still had to visit my good
friends IMDb and Wikipedia in order to wend my way through some of the more
intricate plot twists and turns. Part of it, for me at least, is the
whipcrack-rapid-fire dialogue so prevalent in ’30s cinema. If I can’t hear and
understand you, I can’t get plot twists rushing by me at really, really fast
speeds. (Not just with this film—I find that this is the case in other early
talkies.)
While I enjoyed the performances (even though I was guessing at
how they fit/furthered the plot), I was still behind the eight ball an awful
lot of the time.
Once I actually saw the final music hall scene, all was
revealed. I’m glad I finally lasted long enough to see it.
FilmMeister
No comments:
Post a Comment