Blu-ray, DVD Release: The 39 Steps

By
Laurence
– April 4, 2012Find Others: Blu-ray, DVD, Movie, New Release, NewsGet More: , , , ,

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 26, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion

The 39 Steps movie scene

Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll simply can't get away from each other in The 39 Steps.

The 1935 film The 39 Steps remains one of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s (Psycho) great thrillers and a mystery filled with the kind of moments that truly defined Hitchcock as “The Master of Suspense.”

The classic movie follows Canadian traveler Richard Hannay (Robert Donat, The Count of Monte Cristo), who stumbles into a spy-filled conspiracy that thrusts him into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors — a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued — as well as into an expected romance with the cool Pamela (Madeleine Carroll, Cafe Society).

Adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan, The 39 Steps is one of Hitchcock’s classic wrong-man thrillers, anticipating such later Hitchcock movies as North by Northwest (1959) and, of course, The Wrong Man (1956).

Criterion’s edition of The 39 Steps (the company issued a DVD edition back in 1999) features restored image and sound along with the following features:

  • new high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • audio commentary by Alfred Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane
  • Hitchcock: The Early Years (2000), a British documentary covering Hitchcock’s prewar career
  • original footage from British broadcaster Mike Scott’s 1966 television interview with Hitchcock
  • complete broadcast of the 1937 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, performed by Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery
  • visual essay by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff
  • excerpts from François Truffaut’s 1962 audio interview with Hitchcock
  • original production design drawings
  • booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Cairns

 

Buy or Rent The 39 Steps
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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.