The mise-en-scene of The 39 Steps serves to lay out the skeleton of the film if everything else were removed. Important places, moments of suspense, hints at romance, and the “ah-ha” moment are all present in the following four observations. While others, such as the use of shadows signifying imminent action, are also obvious, these are the ones that seemed to stick out the most.
In the opening sequence, the music hall sign is lit up one letter at a time and slowly. It calls for the attention of the viewer. Being the first thing seen and taking a while to get to the actual hall, it is obvious that the hall will be an important place. The film begins with a large gathering and the performance of a man with an impressive memory. A gunshot causes a riot, and protagonist Hannay leaves with a woman who will throw him into the story. At the closing of the film, they are once again seated in a music hall listening to Mr. Memory. Hannay, having been chased throughout the movie by spies and police, calls out “What are the 39 Steps?” When Mr. Memory begins to answer, another gunshot is heard. People panic, and police swarm the stage after the gunman. Both times the characters enter music halls, chaos follows.
The ringing of the telephone in the first part of the film signals the building of tension, like a warning bell. The ringing of a telephone pulls most people to answer the phone; the continued ringing grates on the nerves and causes the buildup of tension and suspense. Then, when it has stopped, the question of what it was about is left over. There is a feeling of anxiety, a worry over something not known. In the scene in Hannay’s apartment, someone calls twice. The first is shortly after he and Annabella Smith arrive. She begs him not to answer it, and he obliges. He humors her when she claims that there are spies after her, but the phone call has made him uneasy. It rings again after she died from the knife wound in her back just a few hours later. Another warning bell. Remembering Smith’s fears and noticing two men outside beside a phone booth, he believies her. The ringing of the telephone accentuated the feeling that something was wrong, and because it went unanswered there was a feeling of Hannay missing something and in danger. If the people who killed the woman are calling him, they obviously know what she would have told him.
Later, Hannay is bound to a woman, Pamela, by handcuffs. Spies masquerading as police cuffed them together after apprehending Hannay after a political ralley. Pamela believes Hannay is a murderer, and constatantly attempts to get away from him. The handcuffs in the inn scene show the rising sexual tension between the two. They are already bound together and must learn to move around each other while chained, as though figuratively married. When Pamela goes to remove her stockings, Hannay’s hand is there next to her legs. Because they are handcuffed together, she must also sleep in the same bed next to him. The longer they are cuffed together, the more the sexual tension between them is insinuated. When Pamela finally is able to slip her hand out of the cuffs, there is an awkwardness between them for a little while. Once Hannay realizes she now trusts him and wants to help him, he goes back to being more familiar. At the very end, after the excitement at the hall, the film closes with the two holding hands again. They had to hold hands for a good third of the movie while handcuffed and now are doing so voluntarily. The tension between them is shown to still exist, even though they are no longer chained to each other.
A recurring tune is present throughout the film with Hannay’s whistling. He does it every so often when the pressure is starting to get to him. He does it often while handcuffed to Pamela. The tune is Mr. Memory’s theme and was present at the very beginning when in the music hall. Hannay only remembers where it came from at the very end when the theme starts up again before Mr. Memory comes on stage. It was at that point that Hanney starts to put all of the pieces together. The theme was a clue throughout the film, if noticed, that Memory was important to the plot. It turned out that he was the answer to the whole puzzle.
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