Much of director Alfred Hitchcock’s earlier dealt heavily with espionage, such as “Saboteur” and “The Foreign Correspondent.” These films followed a certain formula that became the norm for Hitchcock’s many spy thrillers. Two of his films that closely play out this formula are his 1935 film, “The 39 Steps,” and his 1936 film, “Secret Agent.” “The 39 Steps” involves an average man who gets caught up against his will in a secret and deadly mission, and “Secret Agent” involves a novelist who fakes his own death and is asked to meet another spy in Switzerland for a secret mission.
One of the main comparisons between the two films is Hitchcock’s use of long takes in his cinematography, permitting a continuous flow of motion in each one. Within the first 10 minutes of “The 39 Steps,” Hitchcock uses around eight long takes, the longest lasting about 57 seconds. Within the first 10 minutes of “Secret Agent,” we have around 11 long takes, the longest one lasting about a minute and 15 seconds. The use of long takes is something that is continued in many of Hitchcock’s films. The long takes allow the audience to take in many details that Hitchcock places in the frames; therefore, the audience doesn’t have to worry about any cuts in the edit to take away from absorbing the details.
Another important comparison between the two films is the relationship between the male lead and female lead. In both cases, the man and woman are at odds with each other. In the two cases, they are in situations where they are forced to work and cooperate with each other. In “The 39 Steps,” Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) and Pamela (Madeleine Carroll) are handcuffed and must pose as husband and wife so the innkeepers don’t catch on to their secret; and in Secret Agent, Richard Ashenden (John Gielguld) and Elsa Carrington (also played by Madeleine Carroll) are paired together to go on a classified mission. As is the case for several Hitchcock spy thrillers, the man and woman eventually come to an understanding, work together, and become a romantic couple in the end. A commonality between these two loves blossoming is that they seem to begin in the wake of a death. In “The 39 Steps,” the last shot of the film is a long take as the viewer witnesses the last moments of Mr. Memory. As soon as he dies from his bullet wound, the film shows Hannay and Pamela reach for each other’s hand, the handcuffs still hanging from Hannay’s right hand, juxtaposing how the two were once reluctantly bound together, but have now accepted each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. In “Secret Agent,” the romance seems to come out of the death of Ashenden’s partner, The General (Peter Lorre), who is shot by Robert Marvin (Robert Young) right before he succumbs to his own wounds from a train derailment in the end.
What the two films also have in common are characters who don’t seem who they appear to be, whether the audience knows it right away for the sake of the plot, or if they are taken by surprise. In Donald Spoto’s book, “The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of his Motion Pictures,” he says, “As in The 39 Steps but with more ominous significance, everything is deceptive: the reluctant spy Ashenden is really the novelist Brodie; Elsa is “issued” as a false wife; Marvin appears charming but is really the villain. The world of appearance…is here developed with obvious insistent gravity,” (52). In “The 39 Steps,” Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle) turns out not to be an ally, but a part of the conspiracy; and Mr. Memory (Wylie Watson), who seems to be just an entertainer, is really being used by the malevolent spies to take secrets out of the country.
What is most important in these films are the moments of realization that the protagonists experience, because these moments have the viewers share that same feeling of realization with the protagonist as something monumental is revealed. For “The 39 Steps,” that moment arrives in the end when Hannay realizes that the tune he has been humming is that of Mr. Memory’s stage show, and that Mr. Memory is being used by the spies who have been chasing Hannay. In this scene, there are point-of-view shots from Hannay’s binoculars as he looks from Mr. Memory on stage to Prof. Jordan sitting in the theater and back to Mr. Memory, the two sharing a brief exchange, unnoticed by the audience in the music hall. In Secret Agent, the moment comes during a chase in a Swiss chocolate factory. Ashenden and his partner, a British agent known as “the General,” find a coded message attached to a box of chocolates. When they open it, the message reveals that Marvin, who is at first just believed to be an American who is in love with Elsa, is the one the protagonists are looking for. The moment of realization plays out similar to that in “The 39 Steps,” in that as Ashenden opens the note, the viewer gets a point-of-view shot, offering a look at the note, and the camera zooms in on Marvin’s name, the exact moment of realization.
Music plays a key role in important moments for both films. In Jack Sullivan’s book, “Hitchcock’s Music,” he says, “The irony darkens further during the village yodeling scene in the beer garden following the assassination, when the telegram reveals that the trio has killed the wrong man, someone who is harmless indeed. The yodels have a jarring effect against the ashen expressions of Richard and Elsa,” (46). In this case, Hitchcock uses joyful music to juxtapose the gloom felt by the main characters. He does the same thing in the final scene of “The 39 Steps” when Mr. Memory is dying from a bullet wound, and the chorus girls are sent on stage to fill in for him as he experiences his final moments backstage, the upbeat music playing in the background.
Hitchcock’s love of trains becomes evident in his spy thrillers, and “The 39 Steps” and “Secret Agent” aren’t exceptions. In “The 39 Steps,” there is a chase on a train involving Hannay being tracked down by the spies. However, the train in “Secret Agents”’ chase scene is considerably different. It’s almost the equivalent of what a big-budget, special effects-laden chase scene would have been back then. It’s as if Hitchcock was trying to outdo the elements that have worked in his formula in previous films. There are ally biplanes shooting at the train, as well as a derailment at the end. Hitchcock’s fascination with trains seems to heighten in this scene, especially with the derailment, as if he’s a child playing excitedly with a toy train set.
Although Alfred Hitchcock uses a familiar formula in several of his spy thrillers, there’s a reason why he’s called “the master of suspense.” Even though the audience might think they know what’s going to happen, Hitchcock always manages to throw in some surprises where we least expect them. He’s as mysterious as the situations in which he places his characters.
Works Cited
Spoto, Donald. The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures. New York: Anchor Books, 1992.
Sullivan, Jack. Hitchcock’s Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
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