What a craftsmanlike job Hitchcock did on this one. It belongs to his chase/thriller category but it's neatly plumped out by comedic and serious dramatic interludes. It may seem strictly an entertainment, but that episode involving the dour Scottish farmer and his lonely, compassionate wife is like a little short story in itself, and blended effectively into the overall story.
What's also impressive about it is how much it presages Hitchcock's later favorite kinds of scenes. The man stuck in a public space, the exits covered by his pursuers, who must try to improvise his way out of danger. In this instance, Robert Donat sneaks into a political meeting and is mistaken for the keynote speaker. He stands at the podium and gives a rousing speech full of political malarkey that has the audience on its feet clapping and shouting. His pursuers still manage to nail him and lead him away in manacles but as the police escort him through the door, the audience turns and cheers him again while he waves his grinning farewell with a shackled hand. (A situation nicely handled in "North by Northwest," too, at an auction.) The fact that it works is evidenced by the thousand times it's been copied. (Vide, "The Prize.") The script is quite funny, and sexy too. Scotland looks so barren and windswept. It's hard to believe those bens were once covered by natural forests.
The performances are up to par. Poor Donat died of asthma, which is an unpleasant way to go. Madeleine Carrol was a beautiful blond, one of Hitchcock's first. He seemed to like frosty blonds, but he was never a sentimental mope. Years later he was shooting at a location only a few blocks from where Carrol lived and never bothered to visit her. Peggy Ashcroft, as the farmer's wife, gives a first-rate performance. And she has an inner beauty that transcends anything resembling glamor. She looks almost compellingly homely in this part. One wants to be a kitten and curl up in her lap, certain of being treated gently.
Great stuff here.
What's also impressive about it is how much it presages Hitchcock's later favorite kinds of scenes. The man stuck in a public space, the exits covered by his pursuers, who must try to improvise his way out of danger. In this instance, Robert Donat sneaks into a political meeting and is mistaken for the keynote speaker. He stands at the podium and gives a rousing speech full of political malarkey that has the audience on its feet clapping and shouting. His pursuers still manage to nail him and lead him away in manacles but as the police escort him through the door, the audience turns and cheers him again while he waves his grinning farewell with a shackled hand. (A situation nicely handled in "North by Northwest," too, at an auction.) The fact that it works is evidenced by the thousand times it's been copied. (Vide, "The Prize.") The script is quite funny, and sexy too. Scotland looks so barren and windswept. It's hard to believe those bens were once covered by natural forests.
The performances are up to par. Poor Donat died of asthma, which is an unpleasant way to go. Madeleine Carrol was a beautiful blond, one of Hitchcock's first. He seemed to like frosty blonds, but he was never a sentimental mope. Years later he was shooting at a location only a few blocks from where Carrol lived and never bothered to visit her. Peggy Ashcroft, as the farmer's wife, gives a first-rate performance. And she has an inner beauty that transcends anything resembling glamor. She looks almost compellingly homely in this part. One wants to be a kitten and curl up in her lap, certain of being treated gently.
Great stuff here.