put a pretty girl inside those she
needn't be ashamed of herself anywhere
all right bring it back to me when it's
filled i will
it's 1935 the silent era of film makes
way for the talkies or the golden era of
cinema and a bright-eyed 36-year-old
alfred hitchcock decides to make the 39
steps
the story follows a canadian man with
almost no backstory ah a gentleman from
canada you're welcome sir embroiled in a
murder and subsequent elaborate escape
across the uk to unravel a spy plot to
smuggle national secrets and to clear
his name orson wells referred to the 39
steps as a masterpiece screenwriter
robert towne remarked it's not much of
an exaggeration to say that all
contemporary escapist entertainment
begins with the 39 steps but 1930 cinema
wasn't just for escapism as many essays
have written it became an incredibly
surprising platform for very liberal
topics such as sexuality gender rights
and equality and much more
movies started to highlight deep social
issues
however this didn't last long and was
curtailed by the rigorous implementation
of the haze code in hollywood
[Music]
in 1930 the motion picture production
code also known as the haze code
administered by joseph breen and former
postmaster general will hayes set film
guidelines regarding sex violence
religion and crime but wasn't enforced
until 1934. the haze code effectively
censored any mature discussion in film
upon paying of a hefty 25 000 fine
equivalent to 417 000
today in 2022 not only this but the film
would be ostracized by the church
dwindling the already strained
movie-going numbers due to the great
depression
but even from within this highly
censored industry mr hitchcock found a
way to still explore difficult topics
in his own way
so in 39 steps about 20 minutes into its
82-minute run time hitchcock transfers
our attention to three characters we
haven't met before and will soon leave
forever during this seemingly innocuous
moment two men discuss a corset and bra
yeah i'll show you
big demand for these now
old-fashioned sword
hitchcock is known for his wicked sense
of humor thank you and in this moment
the humorous comment also happens to be
laced with something deeper
there is a sort of disgust the second
character has towards his wife who isn't
there to hear these horrible words that
he so flippantly uses
my wife as a director alfred hitchcock
is known for never allowing anything
unnecessary into his films and i i
gather you would never shoot from
sometimes in a movie you'll see the
cameras in inside the fireplace behind
the flames oh that's charming isn't it
putting the audience out of the frying
pan into the fire you'd never do that
never why what is that violation well
it's ridiculous yeah nobody can get
inside the father get burnt
it doesn't make sense all those things
are quite silly to me so by taking time
away from the main story and main
characters he's telling us there is
something important about this
interaction he wants us to focus on and
it really doesn't matter if the main
character is there or not put a pretty
girl inside those she needn't be ashamed
of herself anywhere all right bring it
back to me when it's filled i will
this is such an obvious objectification
of women yet no one seems to bat an
eyelid this to me suggests that alfred
hitchcock is very aware of this era's
misogyny or at least the deep sense of
disrespect men have for women to help
drive his perspective home even further
hitchcock uses a third character in the
carriage with the two men as they
discuss the underwear
this third character happens to be a
priest who seems to become more and more
interested in the conversation as it
continues hitchcock's humor here pierces
the male ego again showing that any man
even a priest can be tempted given the
timing of this film surely hitchcock is
referencing the enforced rules on
hollywood enacted by the church showing
the temptation of the priest to look at
the underwear and his subsequent
embarrassment when the train approaches
the station a rather ruffled priest gets
up to leave yet still says nothing
the two men then apologize not for their
rude comments about women but about
talking business i hope you're partners
for talking business sir oh certainly
certainly
[Music]
hitchcock here is hammering home how
there is so little ramifications between
men for such behavior even in 1935.
the priest leaves uncomfortably but on
shutting the train door finds himself
looking directly at the bra he quickly
realizes he's caught staring and leaves
the two men state then mean passing
it
this could reference the priest's lack
of response to their conversation about
women and of course this is a direct
reference to the church's influence on
censoring the movies of this period so
this scene is essentially one minute
taken out of an 82 minute run time which
actually
is quite a bit of time for a scene which
has literally nothing to do with the
rest of the film if i told you that i
have a scene in the middle of my film
which involves characters we've never
met before discussing a topic that has
nothing to do with the film's events
themes or characters journey one might
think i was mad or that scene would be
cut rather quickly
instead hitchcock not only has been
brave enough to do that exact thing but
he has turned it into a perfectly
hitchcockian moment with irreverent
humor and meaning beneath its simplicity
all the more interesting is the topic
raised within this carriage is never
touched upon again for the rest of the
film although the treatment of women is
touched upon which is interesting given
hitchcock's spotty past with women and
especially his lead actresses on set he
suddenly grabbed me and put his hands on
me it was sexual it was perverse and it
was ugly by not revealing a backlash to
the awful behavior of these men alfred
hitchcock is revealing the unchecked
misogyny of men showing how this issue
is not being tackled at all and how it
affects a large proportion of men no
matter their age or position past just
misogyny within this era i believe this
scene highlights how hitchcock perceives
hollywood at that moment in time
hampered censored by the haze code
hollywood's creators directors and
writers and producers would be able to
see the issues of the world but be
completely unable to comment upon them
because they are completely handcuffed
by the haze code they're unable to say
if something is good or bad they just
must sit by
silently and shuffle off rather
embarrassed that
they are unable to say anything at all
you