The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Featurette-On Location (with Robert Powell) Theatrical Trailer Gallery-Stills and Publicity Gallery-Photo-Behind the Scenes Gallery-Original Brochure
Rating
Year Of Production	1978
Running Time	98:46 (Case: 102)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Don Sharp
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Robert Powell David Warner Eric Porter Karen Dotrice John Mills George Baker Ronald Pickup Donald Pickering Timothy West Miles Anderson Andrew Keir
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$14.95	Music	Ed Welch

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

     In 1914 with Europe on the brink of war, retired British Secret Service agent Colonel Scudder (John Mills) discovers a plot by Prussian “sleepers” in England and gatherings the evidence in his notebook. Lead by British traitor Sir Edmund Appleton (David Warner) (this is not a plot spoiler – we know in the first 3 minutes Appleton’s true colours), it seems the Prussians intend to assassinate the Greek Prime Minister as he addresses a joint sitting of the British Parliament, thus destabilising the Balkans, and to gain intelligence about the British High Seas Fleet that will affect its ability to be ready for war. However, no-one in British Intelligence believes Scudder. Sought by the Prussians, Scudder hides in the apartment of Richard Hannay (Richard Powell), a mining engineer recently returned from South Africa. When Scudder is murdered, Hannay is the chief suspect of Chief Superintendent Lomas (Eric Porter). On the run in Scotland, Hannay finds unexpected help from David Hamilton (Miles Anderson) and his fiancé Alex Mackenzie (Karen Dotrice). Hunted by both the police and the Prussians, Hannay must try to recover Scudder’s notebook to clear his name and to decipher the secret of the 39 steps, which just might prevent an assassination and the start of a Great World War.

     In The Thirty-Nine Steps published in 1915, John Buchan created a tale that has struck a cord with film makers. There have been at least four film versions, including Hitchcock’s 1935 film staring Robert Donat, a 1959 version starting Kenneth Moore and a 2008 made for TV version shown recently on the ABC. There is also a version in pre-production due in 2011 to be directed by Robert Towne, better known as a writer of such films as Chinatown (1974) and Mission Impossible (1996). This 1978 version, while a bit old fashioned, is still quite fun. It moves along well, there are some funny sequences, the Scottish scenery, full of mists and barren moorland, is beautiful, and there is a definite romance in seeing steam trains, vintage cars and a mono-winged aircraft in action. On the other hand, the acting for the most part, especially from Richard Powell, Karen Dotrice and David Warner, is quite bland and the direction by Don Sharp indifferent. The result is that the film lacks sparkle and never quite gets to the excitement level it should. However, John Mills and Eric Porter are better and the climax on the face of Big Ben is well worth the wait.

     This 1978 version of The Thirty-Nine Steps is a reasonably entertaining, fast paced thriller; a bit old fashioned perhaps, but with beautiful scenery, vintage machinery, steam trains and a climax on the face of Big Ben that is well worth the wait.

Video

     The Thirty-Nine Steps is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, close to the original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is an acceptable print, although not great. Sharpness is not particularly good, with some scenes quite fuzzy while shadow detail is indifferent in some scenes. However blacks are OK and colours natural but flat, although occasionally contract and shin tones vary. There is mild grain, some edge enhancement but I saw no film artefacts.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The original soundtrack for the film was mono and this is what we get here, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps that is effective. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times, and the effects work well. Some music did end up in my surround speakers, although the sub woofer was silent..

     The music by Ed Welch was OK without being memorable.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

On Location (with Robert Powell) (13:02)

     Actor Robert Powell takes a superficial look at some of the locations used in the three film versions (to that date) of The Thirty Nine Steps. Some footage from the earlier films is included.

Theatrical Trailer (2:33)

Stills and Publicity

     88 mostly B&W stills from the production. No music, the frames advance automatically.

Behind the Scenes

     40 B&W behind the scenes stills. No music, the frames advance automatically.

Original Brochure

     17 B&W stills covering publicity, premier tickets, film synopsis and brochure. No music, the frames advance automatically.

     The Region 2 UK version seems similar to our Region 4. There does not appear to be a Region 1 release. No reason to go beyond our version at this low price.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall