onsdag 23. mars 2016

THE 39 STEPS(1955) Starring Vivien Leigh*Cary Grant*Grace Kelly


Some days ago I finally saw Alfred Hitchcock`s 1935 film The 39 Steps and I must say that the master had not yet developed sufficiently.....

What if he had remade it 20 years later - Set in 1955 - with Vivien Leigh as Annebelle Smith(actress turned spy with wigs to prove it) and role beefed up to about 40 minutes; Cary Grant as Richard Hannay and Grace Kelly as Pamela.

So I just had to make this fake trailer of a Hitchcock remake that never was.
The dreamcast rounds up With Leo G. Carroll as Professor Jordan and James Hayter as Mr Memory.
Richard Hannay find himself mesmerized by actress Annablle Smith and finds himself going several times to see her play. Eventually he asks her out and is puzzled by her polite, but firm mystique. Time and again he sees her in trouble With some mystery men and comes to her rescue on each occasion. He also wonders that she seems to alter appearance and wear wigs... But she laugs it off and says she is an actress....

She seems to warm up to him and take him in her confidence...
At a London music hall theatre, Richard and Annabelle are watching a demonstration of the superlative powers of recall of "Mr. Memory" when shots are fired. In the ensuing panic, Hannay finds himself holding the seemingly frightened Annabella Smith tight , who talks him into taking her back to his flat. There, she tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins, and that she has uncovered a plot to steal vital British military secrets, masterminded by a man with the top joint missing from one of his fingers. She mentions the "39 Steps", but does not explain its meaning. She was also the one who fired the shots.


Later that night, he wakes up by screams and Annabella staggers down the stairs in the hallway, he opens the door and sees her fatally stabbed. Others are awaken, but he tells them she had a nightmare and were sleepwalking.... Inside his bedroom she warns him to flee. He finds a map of the Scottish Highlands clutched in her hand, showing the area around Killin, with a house or farm named "Alt-na-Shellach" circled.

He sneaks out of the watched flat disguised as a milkman and boards the Flying Scotsman express train to Scotland. He learns from a newspaper that he is the target of a nationwide manhunt for Smith's murderer. When he sees the police searching the train, he enters a compartment and kisses the sole occupant, Pamela, in a desperate attempt to escape detection. She frees herself from his unwanted embrace and alerts the policemen, who stop the train on the Forth Bridge. Hannay escapes, however.

He walks toward Alt-na-Shellach, staying the night in the house of a poor crofter and his much younger wife. Early the next morning, she sees a police car approaching and warns Hannay. Hannay flees, wearing the crofter's coat. At a bridge, he finds a sign for Alt-na-Shellach. He arrives at the house of the seemingly respectable Professor Jordan and is let in after saying he has been sent by Anabella Smith. The police arrive, but Jordan sends them away and listens to Hannay's story. Jordan then reveals that he is missing part of a finger; he shoots Hannay and leaves him for dead.

Luckily, the bullet is stopped by the crofter's hymn book in the coat pocket. Hannay drives into town and goes to the sheriff, who does not believe the fugitive's story since he knows Jordan well. Hannay's right wrist is handcuffed, but he jumps through a window and escapes by joining a march through the town. He tries to hide at a political meeting and is mistaken for the introductory speaker. He gives a rousing impromptu speech—without knowing anything about the candidate he is introducing—but is recognised by Pamela, who gives him up once more.

 He is taken away by "policemen" who ask Pamela to accompany them. They drive past the police station, claiming they have orders to go directly to Inveraray, but Hannay realises they are agents of the conspiracy when they take the wrong road. When the men get out to disperse a flock of sheep blocking the road, Hannay escapes, dragging the unwilling Pamela (to whom he is handcuffed) along.

They make their way across the countryside and stay the night at an inn. While he sleeps, Pamela manages to slip out of the handcuffs, but then overhears one of the fake policemen on the telephone, confirming Hannay's assertions. She returns to the room and sleeps on a sofa. The next morning, she tells him what she heard. He sends her to London to alert the police. No secret documents have been reported missing, however, so they do not believe her. Instead, they follow her.

Pamela leads them to the London Palladium. When Mr. Memory is introduced, Hannay recognises his theme music — the annoyingly catchy tune he has been unable to forget for days. Hannay realises that the spies are using Mr. Memory to smuggle the secrets out. As the police take him into custody, he shouts, "What are the 39 Steps?" Mr. Memory compulsively answers, "The 39 Steps is an organisation of spies, collecting information on behalf of the Foreign Office of ..." Jordan shoots him and tries to flee, but is apprehended. The dying Mr. Memory recites the information stored in his brain - the design for a silent aircraft engine - and is then able to pass away peacefully, saying "I'm glad it's off my mind."

The film fades to an image of Hannay and Pamela's clasped hands as they stand at the side of the stage.

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