Week 2 Blog Post: The 39 Steps

In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, “The 39 Steps”, Richard Hannay shelters a young woman named Annabella who was being chased. Little did he know that the woman was being hunted down for discovering the scheme of a spy organization known as “The 39 Steps”. After Annabella was murdered by the agents, he knew he would be the next target so he escapes from London to Scotland in order to meet the man Annabella was trying to get to. While being accused as the murderer of Annabella, he finds his way to the residence of the man he thinks Annabella was trying to go to. This scene had a strong impact on me because the man he meets was actually the chief of “The 39 Steps”.

The use of cinematography in this scene makes it even more dramatic. They have a casual conversation about Annabella and why Hannay came to him in a medium long-shot (Time Frame- 41:20-41:45). When Hannay describes the defining characteristic of the man that was after Annabella, the chief questions sarcastically, “sure it wasn’t this one?” Which is followed by an extreme close-up shot of the chief’s finger with part of his pinky missing (Time Frame- 41:54). The finger was exactly as described by Annabella back in London who told Hannay to be careful for which puts a shock not only on the audience but also on Hannay. We can see the shock on Hannay’s face when the scene changes to a close-up shot of his face (Time Frame- 41:57). Out of shock and despair from meeting the one man he should not have, his smile disappears and slowly lowers his cigarette. He understood that there was no way out of this situation no matter how much he struggles. These quick shot changes in the scene create a strong impact and shocks the audience which Hitchcock was aiming for.