I just watched this early film from the master of suspense.

I haven’t seen a lot of Hitchcock films. Until recently, I had only seen “Rear Window,” and “North by Northwest.” I’ve padded that out with “Vertigo,” “The Lady Vanishes,” and this film.

I’ve found his earlier work more compelling for some reason. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is or why, but there’s a purity to his early films that appeals to me. His later pictures definitely have all his trademarks, but there seems to be a raw quality they are missing.

Even though I found the story of “The 39 Steps” unremarkable, the way Hitchcock presents it is engrossing. It’s interesting to note that he uses the circular structure (coming back to the beginning at the end) so common today.

I really don’t have much more to say about this, except to note his predilection for encounters on trains. Oh, and to mention that the “The Art of Film: Vintage Hitchcock” extra on the Criterion DVD is incredibly lame.

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