Sarah Boslaugh TheArtsStl Jun 13, 2026 8/10

The screenplay by Charles Bennett and Ian Hay is also loaded with offhand remarks that prove to be prophetic, making this film particularly good for rewatching.

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Nov 11, 2025 4/4

The 39 Steps is sexy, exciting, and wholly unpredictable, with an ending that nicely loops back to the start.

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Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Oct 5, 2023

... an effortless balance of romance and adventure set against a picaresque landscape populated by eccentrics and social register smoothies, none of whom what they appear to be.

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Jorge Luis Borges Sur Dec 15, 2021

From an absolutely dull adventure story -- The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan -- Hitchcock has drawn a good film. He has invented episodes. He has inserted wittiness and mischievousness where the original contained only heroism.

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Forsyth Hardy Cinema Quarterly Feb 4, 2021

[Hitchcock] tells the story clearly and convincingly and the wildly melodramatic moments are in part offset by such well observed sequences as the Scottish political meeting, the Forth Bridge episode, and the discreetly managed scene in the inn bedroom.

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Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Aug 5, 2020 9/10

A noteworthy example of Hitchcock's early thrillers, riddled with plotting, backstabbing, clever twists, and the big reveal of the meaning behind the title.

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Matt Patches Polygon Aug 4, 2020

The 39 Steps transcends the time period: part Bond movie, part comedic caper, and anchored by a performance that feels Ryan Goslingian, it's a black-and-white movie that feels alive and contemporary.

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Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly Jul 27, 2020 4/5

Made in England 1935, 'The 39 Steps' isn't the first Hitchcock film constructed around "the wrong man" conceit, but it's one where he found his touch.

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James T. Hamada The Nippu Jiji (Honolulu) Apr 14, 2020

It's a gripping entertainment.

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Ann Ross Maclean's Magazine Oct 4, 2019

The 39 Steps is as polite as Geneva and as wicked as a dozen G-men pictures in one.

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Helen Brown Norden Vanity Fair Jun 12, 2019

The newest Gaumont British importation, The 39 Steps, should prove pretty conclusively that Alfred Hitchcock is the finest native director in England.

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Walter Chaw Film Freak Central May 23, 2018 4/4

The 39 Steps is light, urbane, sexy as hell, and as so much of Hitchcock was so often, right about everything.

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David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Feb 19, 2018 2/4

The lack of chemistry between Donat and Carroll's respective characters only compounds the hands-off feel...

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Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Sep 9, 2015

The 39 Steps is a masterclass in propulsive narrative cinema that even today's so-called blockbuster auteurs should study.

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MFB Critics Monthly Film Bulletin Jun 2, 2015

The atmosphere of adventure and mystery created at once in the opening sequence in an East End music hall is excellently maintained throughout.

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Martin Chilton Daily Telegraph (UK) Dec 30, 2014 5/5

The scene in which Mr Memory is asked at the London Palladium "What are the 39 Steps?" remains one of 20th-century cinema's most gripping moments.

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Andrew Collins Radio Times Aug 5, 2014 5/5

Alfred Hitchcock brings John Buchan's novel to the screen with characteristic wit and verve.

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Eric Melin Scene-Stealers.com Sep 4, 2012 3/4

Surprisingly fast-paced for a 1935 film, full of twists and turns, and when the unlikely couple becomes handcuffed together and are forced to pretend they are married, it really kicks into high gear. Donat and Carroll have chemistry to burn.

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Christopher Long Movie Metropolis Aug 21, 2012 9/10

At its most breathtaking when both Hitchcock and his characters fully embrace the surreality of the story

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