--- title: "The 39 Steps: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-39-steps/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-39-steps" critics_score: 89 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The 39 Steps (1935): what the critics said Critics' score 89 from 11 reviews: 11 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are unanimously positive, with praise centred on Hitchcock’s brisk direction and the ease with which the chase thriller accommodates romantic comedy. Critics repeatedly single out the handcuffed courtship and crofter’s cottage sequence, while Robert Donat’s performance earns approval for moving between humour and fear. His pairing with Madeleine Carroll is another recurring strength. Most critics also stress the film’s influence, finding the foundations of Hitchcock’s later thrillers in its wrong-man story, resourceful set pieces and mixture of suspense and wit. Reservations are minor and the spread is narrow. The Guardian finds the opening creaky, while Eye for Film notes dated accents and dialogue delivery; neither considers these faults a serious obstacle to enjoyment. Differences are chiefly matters of emphasis: alongside the widespread appreciation of the entertainment, Slant Magazine draws attention to alienation and doubt beneath the charming spy adventure. ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Rating A. 18 July 2012. The critic calls the film the ultimate distillation of Hitchcock’s strengths and the genetic material for later masterpieces, praising its fat-free efficiency as a thriller infused with screwball romantic comedy that explores issues of trust with maturity and cool sophistication. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-39-steps-1798173502) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 August 2016. The review celebrates the film's enduring influence on thrillers and action cinema, noting how Hitchcock's inventions have been borrowed repeatedly. It singles out the handcuffed escape sequence and the emotionally charged crofter scene for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/39-steps-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Andy Klein Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 June 2012. The review praises the 1935 film as a work of pure entertainment that out-Hollywoods Hollywood, with a thriller plot delivered in a comic, Capra-like tone of a bickering couple on the run destined to fall in love. It highlights the film's influential structure and the strong Criterion restoration transfer. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/entertainment/tn-blr-0701-dvd-review-the-39-steps-worth-taking-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 July 2012. The review presents the film as one of Hitchcock’s most deceptive great movies—a charming spy adventure that is really a sigh of doubt disguised as a slick pop bauble, highlighting its fleet and inventive direction, subtextual meaning in every shot, and humanist themes of alienation and the wrong-man plot. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-39-steps/) ## The New Yorker — Michael Sragow Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 July 2012. The piece hails the film as the source of contemporary escapist entertainment, praising its blend of paranoid fantasy and fulfilled fantasy in the handcuffed odd-couple courtship between Hannay and the cool blonde. It singles out the erotic tension and the director's shrewd formula as enduring strengths. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/rewatching-hitchcocks-the-39-steps) ## Time Out — GB Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 22 September 2014. The critic praises it as a ripping good yarn with Donat's smooth Hannay on the run from police and spies, featuring set pieces like the crofter's cottage and handcuffed scenes with the heroine. It is described as great fun, an anthology of Hitchcock motifs drawn loosely from Buchan's novel. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-39-steps) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1934. The critic calls it a zippy, punchy romantic melodrama that twists and spins artfully through high-powered sequences while holding entertainment value like steel cable. Donat gives a strong performance ranging from humor to horror, and the light romance with Carroll nicely colors the spy chase. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1934/film/reviews/the-39-steps-2-1200410987/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 April 2008. The critic finds Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 thriller still massively entertaining despite a creaky start. They single out its witty, daring and exuberant qualities and the director's energetic and resourceful handling of the plot and locale changes. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/11/thriller.alfredhitchcock) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A. 30 October 2012. The critic calls it probably the first truly great Hitchcock picture, a gripping and enormously entertaining chase thriller that feels timeless. It praises the witty script, strong performances by Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, and how it establishes the director's signature formula. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/retrospective-the-films-of-alfred-hitchcock-pt-1-1925-1939-20121030/4/) ## Collider — Zach Laws Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 4 April 2025. The critic praises the film as a foundational Hitchcock thriller that showcases the director's emerging style through its blend of action, suspense, romance, and humor. The MacGuffin-driven plot and set pieces are highlighted as particularly effective. [Read the review](https://collider.com/alfred-hitchcock-the-39-steps/) ## Eye for Film — Daniel Hooper Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 April 2008. The critic praises it as one of Hitchcock's finer British films and a prototype for his later Hollywood classics like Notorious and North by Northwest. It highlights the film's enduring entertainment value, classic scenes, and ahead-of-its-time elements despite some dated aspects like accents and dialogue delivery. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-39-steps-film-review-by-daniel-hooper) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-39-steps.md