Hitchcock in Brtain

ALFRED HITCHCOCK 'S THE 39 STEPS (1935

Alfred Hitchcock 's 1935 film The 39 Steps , is today regarded as among the best of his career , and possibly his best film before he left Britain for Hollywood in 1939 . Its history was somewhat tortuous and unconventional , reflecting Hitchcock 's own unconventional working style and eccentric personality , and it became an archetype of how Hitchcock worked with actors and screenwriting collaborators alike

Based on an adventure novel by British-born lawyer and government official John Buchan , the story of an innocent man wrongly accused of

br murder and embroiled in an espionage plot (which he ultimately foils bore little resemblance to its source . As was Hitchcock 's practice , he selected a literary source and adapted it freely , adding elements of what he considered a good film - in particular , romantic , frequently sexual subplots and devices intended to keep both the audience and characters within the film off-balance

After completing The Man Who Knew Too Much , Hitchcock discovered his gift for making mystery thrillers and selected as his next project Buchan 's novel , which he had read in his youth along with the author 's other adventure tales . First , Hitchcock had to transform the book into a screenplay , though this involved not merely translating the story - which was really a male-oriented thriller without a heroine or any hint of romance - into a more complex and interesting vehicle , complete with the romantic interest that the era 's audiences expected

Using the novel only loosely , Hitchcock 's main method for creating screenplays was to act as a sort of informal story editor , collaborating with others who would contribute a wide range of ideas and keeping those he found suitable to the story . He also used Plotto , a compendium of interchangeable master plots , into which he freely inserted elements he liked . Film historian Patrick McGilligan comments , Never mind that sometimes the inserts were implausible . `I 'm not concerned with plausibility ' Hitchcock liked to boast . `Must a picture be logical , when life is not (McGilligan , 2003 ,

. 158

For this film , Hitchcock chose an informal group of collaborators whom he dubbed the Cromwell Road Group ' Buchan was not among them , as Hitchcock . Finding fidelity to literary sources confining Hitchcock had previously adapted both novels and plays but resented authors ' intrusions into his work , particularly in the case of the latter . Says McGilligan , Novelists never claimed the same control over film adaptations as playwrights - and Hitchcock was through with plays , for the time being . Hitchcock had more power now , and he the freedom of working with novels (McGilligan , 2003 ,

br 170 . His group included Alma and Charles Bennett , as well as humorist Ian Hay - the only collaborators credited for the screenplay though only for continuity ' in Alma Bennett 's case (McGilligan , 2003 br

. 172 . From them he fielded ideas about how to flesh out the thin plot and develop its themes

In this early phase , Hitchcock began developing the film 's themes and motifs . Most importantly , he chose...