Search - Alfred Hitchcock's 39 Steps on DVD

A Must See for Hitchcock Fans

Todd W. Hemphill | St Petersburg, FL | 01/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film lays out so many of the motifs that show up in one Hitchcock film after another that it is a "Must see" for all of his fans. It's all there; The blonde love interest, the innocent man drawn into intrique when a dead body falls into his lap, the suave criminal, the sexual overtones, the macabre humor. There's even a scene on a train in which a "McGuffin" is discussed. (Watch for the passenger who is played by Wilfrid Brambell, who went on to portray Paul's Grandfather in A Hard Day's Night)

Truly fine performances by Donat and Carroll make a somewhat dated film very watchable. Watching the seeds of such classics as North by Northwest and The Man Who Knew Too Much sprouting makes The 39 Steps fascinating viewing for any Hitchcock afficianado."

Beware! Defective DVD, terrible quality

Amit Saryan | Burlington, VT | 06/28/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"We bought this edition of "39 Steps" because the price was right and we thought there could be little difference among the DVD versions. We were SO wrong. The first DVD we got "froze" in the first part of the movie -- stuttering that interrupted the film and broke off the sound track. We reported this to Amazon, who kindly sent us a new DVD and refunded our money for the first copy. Now we've just tried to watch the newly-arrived "non-defective" version. It's totally defective: same stuttering, same freezing, same breaking of sound continuity. It is frustrating beyond belief, especially since this is a great Hitchock movie and having the "frame freezing" accelerate as the plot develops -- it gets more and more frequent after the "escape on the moors" sequence and then freezes up entirely when Donat and Carrol are in the room in the inn -- is intolerable. Whoever put this version out (the DVD case lists them as "Movie Ventures") should liquidate every single disk in their stock and issue an apology to customers. Amazon should not be carrying DVDs from this company."

The 39 Steps DVD

Chris B | San Rafael, California United States | 10/30/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The 39 Steps is one of my favorite Hitchcock films! The story, the action, the locations
All great stuff from the master of suspense! Too bad the DVD wont play. I returned it
for another copy, now the new copy will not play the last 20 minutes.
Time to try another vendor."