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Title: It's All in the Lighting
Review: This film is one of my favorites, to my mind ranking just below "Vertigo" (which I consider Hitchcock's masterpiece) and above "North By Northwest", which although spellbinding at times doesn't sustain the unbroken suspense of this 1935 work. The faces of both the major and minor characters, from the cleaning woman who discovers a body in Richard Hannay's flat to the wary farmer and his pitying wife to the innocent, handcuffed blonde, are all perfect. But what makes this film soar is the impeccable use of light and shadows - on the moors, in the farmhouse, in the bedroom of the inn. "Vertigo" is Hitchcock's best psychological study; the original "39 Steps" his best action-suspense yarn. This early work by the Master is coming upon its 75th Anniversary and it holds up remarkably well - in plotline, in dialogue, in acting, but most of all in texture. It's can't-miss filmmaking at its finest.
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