Week 2 Blog Post: The 39 Steps

After watching Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps”, I was most impressed by his use of humor throughout the film that gives the audience a much-needed break from the suspense and tension of the fast-paced plot. Hitchcock uses ironic plot twists, witty dialogue, and clever cinematography to achieve humor in this film.

One of the best uses of humor in the movie is when Hannay has managed to escape from the police and hides from them by sneaking into the assembly hall where a political meeting is going on. Up to this point, the audience’s tension has been mounting as they watch Hannay confess everything to the police officer in the station. Although the police officer appears to believe what Hannay is telling him, it is soon clear that the police officer has just been playing along with him until backup could arrive. Hitchcock increases the tension of the scene by doing a quick pan from the backup police officers to a close-up of Hannay’s incredulous face (time stamp 45:57). The fast pace of the panning shot gives the scene a sense of urgency, as though there is no time to waste. As the shot focuses in on the close-up of Hannay’s face, we are clearly able to see his feelings of bewilderment and betrayal, and we are able to emotionally connect with him. The camera then zooms out to a medium-long/long shot (46:03) where we are able to see Hannay’s clenched fists and angry stance, therefore further making the audience sympathize even more with Hannay’s misfortune. The camera then takes a long shot of the outside of the building, showing Hannay breaking out of the window and running away. The long shot allows the audience to see the chaos that ensues after Hannay’s escape, including the shocked pedestrians and the policemen that follow close on his heels (46:45).

After so much tension and drama, the audience needs a relief from the suspense. Hitchcock cleverly inserts a scene in which Hannay is mistaken for the political speaker, therefore providing a bit of comedic relief. Hitchcock uses cinematography to increase the irony of the situation. As Hannay is introduced as the political speaker, Hitchcock uses a point of view shot from the perspective of Hannay (48:57) showing all of the other people staring expectantly at him. The deep space and the identical postures of all of the people in the shot increase the hilarity of the situation that Hannay finds himself in. A close-up is shown of Hannay’s concerned face (49:01) as he looks from side to side, making the situation seem even more funny and ironic. This funny scene is only one of the many examples of this film in which comic relief provides a break from the tense, face-paced suspense.