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The 39 Steps [1935] (DVD)
by BlowUp72 The 39 Steps, is a 1935 film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock of the book by John Buchan of the same name, published in 1915. The book and film vary widely in story, though the main character and principal plot behind both stories is the same. The Plot Richard Hannay, played by Robert Donat, has returned home from ... the Commonwealth, and is thoroughly bored by life. To relieve his boredom he takes in a show at the London Palladium, but while watching a performance of the spectacular 'Mr Memory' there are gun shots fired in the auditorium. As the audience rush for the exits he bumps into a beautiful young foreign woman, Annabella Smith, who asks to come back to his flat. There she explains that she fired the shots in the theatre to escape two spies who have followed her across Europe, trying to prevent her from thwarting their plans to create Total War across Europe. Hannay finds this story hard to believe but gives the woman lodgings anyway. In the middle of the night she staggers into his bedroom with a knife in her back and a map with a small Scottish village circled in pencil. Now on the run from the police for her murder and the spies for his involvement with Annabella Smith, he flees to Scotland in search of the village and the answer to the riddle, "What are the 39 steps?" The Alfred Hitchcock Adaptation The famous British thriller director has turned the gripping Colonial-feel of the original novel into a modern spy thriller, with beautiful women, dramatic chase sequences and many iconic and reproduced scenes, including the iconic leap from the train at the Forth Bridge, something which has been parodied and referenced many times since. For the 1935 film adaptation, a female character was invented, Pamela, played by Madeleine Carroll, who adds the comic relief to the intensity of the chase scenes. Handcuffed together, Pamela and Hannay traipse across the Scottish Highlands, as unlikely partners in crime, trying to stay one step ahead of their captors. The film has many wonderful scenes of suspense, such as in the crofter's home at the dinner table as Hannay and the Crofter's wife exchange glances under her husband's nose, or as Pamela tries to escape from Hannay but almost drops an ornament on the floor which could wake him. My Summary This is one of the best British films ever made. With the charm and sensitivity of Robert Donat brilliantly capturing the lead role, the film is suspenseful, exciting, intriguing and stirring patriotic stuff. It is an inspiring version of the book, with much of it written without any connection to the book. It is one of Hitchcock's best films and a must see thriller. Read the complete review |
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Will Hay Collection (DVD)
by Maximus-Qualitus The Will Hay box set Collection. =================== Included are nine DVDs showing will at his best and to be honest in 2 films not really his best. Anyhow, what follows is a nine disc synopsis and my views on each movie. The box contains a huge unfolding DVD holder into which all 9 DVDs are held. Enjoy ... Greg. Ask a Policeman Boys Will Be Boys Oh, Mr Porter Convict 99 Old Bones of the River Where There's a Will Good Morning Boys Hey! Hey! USA! Windbag the Sailor **************************************************** Will hay - Ask a Policeman. ================ This film stars will Hay, Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt. All 3 together making this a cracking film. In the sleepy hamlet of turnround bottom is the old watch tower which is now the headquarters of the local police station. The film starts with a live radio broadcast where, police sergeant Dudfoot is being interviewed regarding the remarkable fact that there has been no recorded crime in the village in 10 years 5 months and 4 days, in fact since he took over the police station, 10 years 5 months and 4 days ago. The next day a letter arrives from the local chief constable who wonders if the station is necessary and proposes to close it down. Dudfoot and his constables Albert and Harbottle set about "faking" some criminal activity to save their jobs, setting up a speed trap to catch motorists. A driver who argues with them is knocked out and taken back to the station, where it is discovered that he is the chief constable. When he awakes he is angry and confused and eventually the chief constable departs. Later a man in sailors hat cons the policemen into allowing him to hang a light on top of the old watch tower. Just then Albert's girlfriend is terrified by the apparition of a flaming hearse and a headless horseman. The chief constable telephones with information that real smuggling is actually going on with the aid of a light hanging on top of the police station! The hopeless Bobbies go to Harbottle's bedridden father!! He points them to the caves below the cliff, where they find dozens of kegs of booze and a tunnel leading up to their cellar of the police station! As they attempt to contact the chief constable, the squire captures them and reveals that he is the head of the smuggling ring, handcuffs them together and locks them up in the police station cell They manage to escape and get their police car to give chase, after the squire who is leaving with a lorry full of tax free contraband. Believing that it is Dudfoot, Albert and Harbottle who have been carrying out the smuggling, the chief constable is hot on their tail. They follow the lorry onto a racetrack and eventually crash into the lorry. The chief constable arrives and although the squire is shown to be the crook, Dudfoot, Albert and Harbottle are not forgiven for knocking out the chief constable and have to run off to escape being arrested. Will hay sometime used the theme in his films involving spooky goings tied in with sneaky crooks. Just as the villains in oh, Mr. Porter! Exploited the local legend of 1 eyed Joe (I have previously reviewed this) to keep people away, so the smugglers here play on the myth of a headless horseman to frighten people away. This is a superb old comedy with subtle humour and wonderful gentle slapstick. When will was along side his 2 cohorts Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt The films just had more spark and dynamism. A film you will enjoy. DVD features: ===== Format: black & white, pal Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run time: 75 minutes Made in: 1939 ****************************************************** Will Hay - Boys Will Be Boys. ================= This film stars Will Hay and Graham Moffatt. No Moore Marriott on this occasion. This is the first movie appearance of Will Hay playing his schoolmaster role as Dr Alec Smart. He will go on to play Dr Alec Smart or Smart Alec as the boys call him. The film starts with Will Hay as a teacher (not a very good one) in a rough prison. He applies for the headmastership at 'Narkover' school. Unfortunately for him he allows a con at the prison to forge him a letter of reference. Later the same con blackmails Dr Smart into giving him a job as caretaker. Later still, the con decides to steal the school governesses' diamond necklace during an Old Boys reunion day. It turns out 'The Old Boys' are all criminals and want in on the theft. Dr Smart attempts to thwart the theft and things go slideways from this point onwards. However to be honest, things where barmy before this point anyhow. The film ends with the jewels inside a rugby ball and everyone trying literally to 'steal' the ball. Will Hay made many films during his career, this was among one of his funniest. The jokes come thick and fast. The plot of the movie is standard and predictable but funny none the less. The humour is inoffensive and of its time. A great old fashioned comedy. DVD Features: ========= Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 73 minutes Made in: 1935 ***************************************************** OH MR PORTER ========= This film stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt. The film starts with Will as a wheel tapper at the local train station, and he is asked "why he taps wheels" to which he replies "if there's a clang the wheels there, if there's no clang the trains left"! He has had every job there is, and he's useless at them all. So his sister threatens her husband that he will have to come and live with THEM if he's not found a suitable job. His brother in law, fearing hell never ever have a sock to call his own again, finds Will a job as a station master at Buggleskelly in Northern Ireland. Will finally arrives at Buggleskelly and here he meets his 2 long standing comedic friends Albert and Jeremiah Harbottle. There are various funnies along the way but basically the plot from here is, a ghost (not really) called 1 eyed Joe, gangsters gunrunning and Will hiring them a train because he thinks they're playing a football match. The train goes into tunnel but doesn't come out the other side. Upon investigation the 3 friends find the gun runners and end up stealing the gun laden train along with the gun runners inside. They hilariously throw a bottle from the speeding train through a passing signal mans window alerting the police. The heroes' eventually crash into a station bad guys and all, where the police are waiting to arrest the gun runners. A super film that delivers the laughs, you will not be disappointed. This film stands head and shoulders above others Will did with his 2 hapless cohorts, Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt. Indeed when he went on to make films without them, the films 'bombed'. I suppose I am an old comedy fan, it was always honest simple and mostly inoffensive comedy. DVD Features: ========== Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 85 minutes Made in: 1937 ****************************************************** Will Hay - Convict 99. ============= This film stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. This is Will Hays third movie as the hopeless Dr Benjamin Twist. He would also use the character in Good Morning Boys and Hey! Hey! USA. Not to be confused with another character he played called Dr Smart Alec. Will plays Benjamin Twist, an awful school teacher who applies for the position of Head teacher at a private school with a salary of £3000 a year! On the interview day he goes to the wrong room and ends up, unwittingly, being offered the job of warden at a tough prison. He celebrates by getting drunk and turns up at the prison sozelled and gets mixed in with some arriving prisoners. One prisoner escapes, CONVICT 99, and Will is mistaken for him! Enter Graham Moffatt as Abert, a prison guard who thinks convict 99 to be little nuts. In the next cell is Moore Marriott as Jerry the Mole, a slightly barmy tunnel digger. Eventually the mistake is discovered when the real convict 99 is captured. Will has the prisoners running rings around him, they are served tea by the guards, have newspapers delivered and are allowed to bet on the pools. The Win at pools but then the money is stolen from Will by convict 99 who then escapes, again! Will and the prisoners leave prison and dressed as policemen get their money back from convict 99, then get back to prison before anyone realises they had left. This is a superb old comedy with subtle humour and wonderful gentle slapstick. When Will was along side his 2 cohorts Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt The films just had more spark and dynamism. A film you will enjoy. DVD Features: ========= Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 84 minutes Made in: 1939 ************************************************* Will Hay - Old Bones of the River. ==================== This film stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. The wonderful teaming of Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt to give a funny film set in Africa. Will arrives in Africa to teach the natives but on the boat he gets tricked into taking liquor still through customs for the brother of a local tribal chief. The chief's brother uses the alcohol to bribe the tribe to make him chief and depose his brother. Meanwhile the local military governor becomes ill so Will takes charge. Will then sets out to collect the taxes but causes the tribes to revolt. Finally Marriott and Moffatt enter the movie. They run a boat and take Will up river. Will more by luck than skill quells the revolt and becomes the hero of the hour. Takes a while to get going but once the trio meet up the film really takes off. The jokes come thick and fast, with some wonderful slapstick. CAN be offensive at times with some very startling racist language used. It was filmed in 1938? DVD Features: ========= Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 86 minutes Made in: 1938 ************************************************* Will Hay - Where there's a Will. ==================== This film stars Will Hay and Graham Moffatt. No Moore Marriott on this occasion. An early outing from Will Hay and Graham Moffatt as a solicitor and an office boy respectfully involved in a bank robbery. Will plays Benjamin Stubbins a useless and penniless solicitor who has his office directly above a bank! He makes unwitting friends of a gang of thieves who think his office is ideally placed. He pretends to be a success to his daughter whilst his office boy keeps dropping him in it. The ending at a Christmas party is as daft as it was dull. A poor film from Will and Moffatt. It never really gets going. The plot is slow and sluggish with jokes and humour sparsely peppered throughout. I was very disappointed. DVD Features: ========= Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 77 minutes Made in: 1936 ************************************************* Will Hay - Good Morning Boys. ================== This film stars Will Hay and Graham Moffatt. No Moore Marriott on this occasion. This is Will Hays FIRST movie appearance as the hopeless Dr Benjamin Twist. He would also use the character in Convict 99 and Hey! Hey! USA. Not to be confused with another character he played called Dr Smart Alec. Schoolteacher Dr Benjamin Twist runs his classroom as he does his life hopelessly and without a clue. Here his pupils run him ragged and teach him a thing or two. Will is strongly disliked by one of the school governors who sets out to prove once and for all that Twist is useless. He enters Twists pupils in a 'Tri School' challenge to decide which school is the best. The competition is set in Paris! Once in France the boys unwittingly help an art thief steal the 'Mona Lisa'. And Twist ends up taking the picture out of the Gallery. The boys end up cheating and coming top of the exams. Once they realise what has happened with the picture they outwit the crooks and get the picture back to Twist so that he can return it and be the hero of the hour. A descent Will Hay film, with the usual solid supporting performance from Albert (Graham Moffatt). The story is predictable and so are many of the jokes and puns; however this does not subtract from the nostalgic humour. DVD Features: ======== Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 74 minutes Made in: 1937 ************************************************ Will Hay - Hey! Hey! USA. =============== A lone outing for Will this time with no Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt. This is Will Hays second movie as the hopeless Dr Benjamin Twist. He would also use the character in Good Morning Boys and Convict 99. Not to be confused with another character he played called Dr Smart Alec. Will is a ships porter who ends up being drugged by a runaway crook, who then swaps identities with him. By the time he awakens he is far at sea. Will joins up with another stowaway And finally jumps ship in the USA. He gets a job as a tutor, whilst his stowaway companion becomes a kidnapper and ends up kidnapping the very child Will is tutoring. It ends with a farcical quickness that is disappointing. A poor will Hay film this one as it lacks the subtle humour and wonderful gentle slapstick of his usual comedies. When Will was along side his 2 cohorts Moore Marriott and graham Moffatt The films just had more spark and dynamism. I am a Will Hay fan but this is his poorest movie. There are too few jokes. A disappointingly poor film. DVD Features: ========= Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 89 minutes Made in: 1938 ************************************************* Will Hay - Windbag the Sailor. =================== This film stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. Windbag The Sailor was the first teaming of Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. The trio would go on to make Oh Mr Porter! And Ask a Policeman, my two favourites and many more films. Captain Ben Cutlet is a story teller at his local bar; he tells fishy tails and in return gets a fair few free drinks. Harbottle is the barman and manages to get a few freebies himself. Albert is the gofer and generally messes up Cutlets stories. One day though his stories get him into trouble and he finds himself captain of a scruffy unseaworthy ship, The Rob Roy. But the second mate and the ships owner want to sink the ship for the insurance money and Cutlet is going to take the blame. But Will gets wind of the plan and after escaping being tied up he and his two cohorts end up on a life raft all at sea. The mutinous crew try to scupper the ship and take to their lift boats but the ship stays afloat. Will and the boys regain the ship, capture the crew and sail home. With the great trio at its heart this film is easy on the eye. The jokes are simple and enjoyable. A nostalgic comedy which is funny and light. Some remarks are in herd which nowadays are clearly racist! When Will and the boy's meat the island chief the language used is cringingly bad. This was made in 1936. DVD Features: ========= Format: Black & White, PAL Language: English No of discs: 1 Classification: U Region: Region 2 Run Time: 82 minutes Made in: 1936 There are no extras on any of the DVDs, just chapter selection but the quality is perfect. Well there you have it, the definitive collection. Some good film and a couple of poor ones. Hope you enjoyed the review. Greg. Read the complete review |
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The Raven (1935) (DVD)
by hogsflesh A review of the Second Sight DVD, which costs about £7 on amazon. This is a Hollywood horror film from 1935, produced by Universal, the classic horror studio. The previous year, they'd had a great success with The Black Cat: a film which used the title of an Edgar Allan Poe story (but which largely ignored the story itself); ... and which had teamed the studio's rival horror stars, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The Raven does much the same thing (except that the original is a poem, not a story). Brilliant Doctor Vollin saves the life of an attractive dancer, Jean. Unfortunately, he becomes obsessed with her, much to the horror of her father and her fiancé. Meanwhile Bateman, a criminal on the run, persuades Vollin to alter his face; Vollin disfigures him and then uses him as a general horror dogsbody, both butler and henchman. It all comes to a head at a big party at Vollin's weird house to which all the other characters are invited. This is only an hour long, and it doesn't waste any time. There's very little extraneous material; almost every scene furthers the increasingly weird story. Plotwise this partly resembles The Black Cat (couple trapped in weird house with Lugosi and Karloff); The Old Dark House (party trapped in house by inclement weather, with Karloff as shambling butler); and Mad love (surgeon becoming obsessed with unobtainable woman). This was more or less the last horror film Universal made until 1939 (allegedly because of pressure from the British Board of Film Censorship). It's also the last one they made that's played more or less straight and has high enough production values to be taken seriously. In spite of that, it's a lot dafter than most of their output, and has none of the sly humour or impressive gothic ambience that make their other horrors stand the test of time so well. Cast-wise, this is a two-horse race again. In spite of getting top billing, Karloff plays the distinctly subordinate part of Bateman. Initially just unlikely (as a bank robber with an English accent trying to make something of lines like 'I don't want to do them things no more'), after his surgery he just re-hashes all his old Frankenstein mannerisms. It's far from his best work. Lugosi, as Vollin, is firing on all cylinders; whether that's a good thing or not will depend on your feelings towards this uniquely mannered actor. His English was never great; whole sentences come out wrong because he can't figure out where to put the emphases. But here, at least, he has an excuse to go completely over the top. Whether reciting Poe to himself (his beaky nose emphasised in profile), playing his organ, describing himself as a god, or just torturing people, he's obviously having the time of his life. He doesn't speak in this film, he declaims; his gleeful cackling and mad ranting towards the film's denouement are delightful. It's great to see a really hammy actor properly unshackled, although fans of subtlety and understatement might not agree. Although the opening credits claim the film is 'Suggested by Edgar Allan Poe's immortal classic', it really has nothing whatsoever to do with The Raven (although there's a silly Raven-inspired ballet sequence). Lugosi talks about ravens a couple of times and speaks some lines from the poem, but that's about it. But the Poe-obsessed Vollin has created an entire torture chamber in his basement, including a fully functioning pit-and-pendulum. The last quarter of the film is absolutely bonkers; it's like an episode of the 1960s Batman featuring a guest villain obsessed with Poe. Goodness only knows if anyone was ever seriously scared by this kind of thing, but it certainly feels like the Universal horror formula was faltering, and it's probably just as well they took a break after this. It has the usual snippets of classical music on the soundtrack, and the direction is largely uninspired (Universal had plenty of good visual stylists who worked on their horrors - Louis Friedlander evidently wasn't one of them). The set designs lack the usual stylishness, and because of its length this feels like a B-movie. It has a 15 certificate, which is weird, as I can't see anything that shocking in it - Karloff's makeup is unpleasant, but you soon get used to it (and it isn't very realistic). The DVD has no extras at all, which makes it of questionable value for the price, given how short the film is. The picture quality is pretty good, with the wear and tear not really noticeable unless you look for it. The same company has also released The Black Cat - it would be acceptable to put both of them on one disk for this price, but this feels like a bit of a rip-off. The film just isn't good enough to be worth £7, although if it turns up on TV it's probably worth a look. Read the complete review |
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5 reviews Genre: Crime & Thriller - Thriller / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Director: Alfred Hitchcock / Actors: Peggy Ashcroft, Madeleine Carroll ... / DVD released 24 July, 1999 at Delta / Features of the DVD: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition - A man in London tries to help a countere... |
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Genre: Horror / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Parental Guidance / Director: Jean Yarbrough / Actors: Lester Matthews, Henry Hull, Valerie Hobson ... / DVD released 2008-05-05 at Universal Pictures UK / Features of the DVD: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL |
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Genre: Drama / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Suitable for 15 years and over / Director: William A. O'Connor / Actors: Lois January, Noel Madison, Sheila Bromley, Dean Benton, Lois Lindsay ... / DVD released 2003-10-13 at Elstree Hill Entertainment / Features of the DVD: Black & White, Full Sc... |
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Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy - Fantasy / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Director: Frank R. Strayer / Actors: Ralph Morgan, Maxine Doyle, Pedro de Cordoba, Russell Gleason, Mischa Auer ... / DVD released 2003-05-20 at Alpha Video / Features of the DVD: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC |
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1 review Genre: Comedy / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Parental Guidance / Actors: Will Hay ... / DVD released 2008-09-01 at ITV DVD / Features of the DVD: Box set, PAL |
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1 review Genre: Horror / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Suitable for 15 years and over / Director: Lew Landers / Actors: Irene Ware, Bela Lugosi, Lester Matthews, Boris Karloff ... / DVD released 2007-10-29 at Second Sight Films Ltd. / Features of the DVD: Black & White, PAL |
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1 review Genre: Comedy / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Universal, suitable for all / Director: Arthur Mertz / Actors: George Formby, Constance Shotter, Beryl Formby ... / DVD released 2008-04-14 / Features of the DVD: Black & White, PAL |
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Genre: Comedy / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Universal, suitable for all / Director: William Beaudine / Actors: Will Hay, Gordon Harker, Jimmy Hanley, Davy Burnaby, Norma Varden ... / DVD released 2001-12-03 at Cinema Club / Features of the DVD: Black & White, PAL |
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Genre: Comedy / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Parental Guidance / Actors: George Formby, Naill MacGinnis, Wilfred Lawson, Dennis Shaw ... / DVD released 2007-05-07 at Optimum Home Entertainment / Features of the DVD: PAL |
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Genre: Crime & Thriller - Thriller / Theatrical Release: 1935 / Director: Leslie S. Hiscott / Actors: Arthur Wontner, Lyn Harding, Leslie Perrins, Jane Carr, Ian Fleming (II) ... / DVD released 2003-06-24 at Alpha Video / Features of the DVD: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC |
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