93
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- By comparison with the sinister delicacy and urbane understatement of The Thirty-nine Steps, the best of our melodramas seem crude and brawling.
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineOne of Hitchcock's best British films, and a prototype for so much of what would follow in his American career. For those who love a grand spy mystery, a wild chase, and a harrowing portrait of an innocent man struggling to prove his innocence while the world turns inexplicably against him, The 39 Steps is ideal.
- 100Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenLike Rear Window later on, this charming, masterfully made British spy adventure from 1935 is a sigh of doubt, perhaps even a cry of anguish, disguised as a slick pop bauble.
- 100The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasHitchcock would make richer films in Hollywood, but The 39 Steps came off the line as the Model T of cinematic plot machines.
- 90Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanThe movie with which Hitchcock became Hitchcock.
- 90VarietyVarietyYes, they can make pictures in England. This one proves it. International spy stories are most always good, and this is one of the best. [19 Jun 1935, p.21]
- 80Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrAs an artist, Alfred Hitchcock surpassed this early achievement many times in his career, but for sheer entertainment value it still stands in the forefront of his work.
- 80Time OutTime OutOther English Hitchcocks may be more provocative, but few offer such a ripping good yarn.