This is one of the better of the early Hitchcock's British-made films, probably second only to "The Lady Vanishes." It is also the one that has been remade the most number of times in 1959 and again in 1978. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by John Buchan, who, incidentally, became Governor General of Canada under the title of Lord Tweedsmuir the very year the film was released.
The plot will be familiar even to Hitchcock fans who happened to miss this movie. A visiting Canadian, played by Donat, is falsely accused of the murder of a beautiful spy who had sought refuge in his London flat. Like Cary Grant a quarter-century later in "North by Northwest," he is forced to flee both the law and an international spy ring, heading north to Scotland to seek out a man missing part of his little finger who turns out to be the ringleader. While fleeing south again he is kidnapped and handcuffed to Carroll and, naturally enough for a Hitchcock film, an initial friction between the two eventually blossoms into romance as she is increasingly persuaded of his innocence. The action is fast-paced and there are some wonderfully amusing scenes. My favourite found Donat accidentally thrust onto the platform of a by-election campaign rally and forced to improvise a political speech as if he himself were introducing the candidate. The humour lies in his actually pulling it off to the audience's satisfaction and applause!
There are a few scenes of a sexually suggestive nature that probably would not have appeared in an American film at that time, although they might have only two years earlier before the adoption of the Hayes Code. One has Donat and Carroll checking into a small hotel together, with the proprietors uncertain whether or not they are married. Another is a closeup of Carroll removing her stockings while handcuffed to Donat.
Virtually everyone notes the appearance in two brief scenes of a very young Peggy Ashcroft, the famous Shakespearean actress. I myself didn't like these scenes. Although Hitchcock was a Roman Catholic, he was apparently not above stereotyping the man of faith (John Laurie) as a dour, humourless wife-beater whose one positive contribution is a bullet-stopping hymnbook! I can't help wondering whether C. S. Lewis or G. K. Chesterton saw the film and, if so, what they would have thought of such a one-sided portrayal.
Three more flaws keep this from being a masterpiece. First, like many of Hitch's early efforts, it has something of a rough, amateurish feel to it. (Admittedly, part of this may be due to a physical deterioration of the film over the decades, but it's difficult to tell for sure this many years later.) Second, Donat's accent is obviously not that of a Canadian. Surely I'm not the only Canadian to have noticed this? Third, it all ended too abruptly. I found the final scene something of a letdown.
The plot will be familiar even to Hitchcock fans who happened to miss this movie. A visiting Canadian, played by Donat, is falsely accused of the murder of a beautiful spy who had sought refuge in his London flat. Like Cary Grant a quarter-century later in "North by Northwest," he is forced to flee both the law and an international spy ring, heading north to Scotland to seek out a man missing part of his little finger who turns out to be the ringleader. While fleeing south again he is kidnapped and handcuffed to Carroll and, naturally enough for a Hitchcock film, an initial friction between the two eventually blossoms into romance as she is increasingly persuaded of his innocence. The action is fast-paced and there are some wonderfully amusing scenes. My favourite found Donat accidentally thrust onto the platform of a by-election campaign rally and forced to improvise a political speech as if he himself were introducing the candidate. The humour lies in his actually pulling it off to the audience's satisfaction and applause!
There are a few scenes of a sexually suggestive nature that probably would not have appeared in an American film at that time, although they might have only two years earlier before the adoption of the Hayes Code. One has Donat and Carroll checking into a small hotel together, with the proprietors uncertain whether or not they are married. Another is a closeup of Carroll removing her stockings while handcuffed to Donat.
Virtually everyone notes the appearance in two brief scenes of a very young Peggy Ashcroft, the famous Shakespearean actress. I myself didn't like these scenes. Although Hitchcock was a Roman Catholic, he was apparently not above stereotyping the man of faith (John Laurie) as a dour, humourless wife-beater whose one positive contribution is a bullet-stopping hymnbook! I can't help wondering whether C. S. Lewis or G. K. Chesterton saw the film and, if so, what they would have thought of such a one-sided portrayal.
Three more flaws keep this from being a masterpiece. First, like many of Hitch's early efforts, it has something of a rough, amateurish feel to it. (Admittedly, part of this may be due to a physical deterioration of the film over the decades, but it's difficult to tell for sure this many years later.) Second, Donat's accent is obviously not that of a Canadian. Surely I'm not the only Canadian to have noticed this? Third, it all ended too abruptly. I found the final scene something of a letdown.