Celluloid Confetti

Last night I was fortunate enough to see Patrick Barlow’s stage adaptation of The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre in London. Someone had inadvertently left the fire-escape ajar, and there happened to be a seat free in the stalls, so I was able to shelter from the smoke and sweat of the streets for 1 hour and 45 minutes of pure escapism (with a 15 minute interval).

I had a great time, and the audience - which included Natascha McElhone, for all you celebrity watchers! - loved it. Anyone who is a fan of Hitchcock’s 1935 classic chase movie should definitely check out its live-action counterpart, which recreates every nuance and visual gag of the original with a cast of only four, who play about two dozen roles between them.

Every action sequence, including the rooftop train chase and the moorland shootout, is brought to life with little in the way of set or props, just lots of dry ice and plenty of hats.

Apart from the brilliance of the staging - and having a troupe of actors gifted who are both in physical comedy and entirely immune from embarrassment - the fact they were able to succeed at all is testament to the nature of Hitchcock’s film-making.

Hitchcock revelled in - and was a master of - trickery and technique, but every moment on screen was laid out as clearly as a move in a game of chess. To recreate each move, all you need are a few wigs, a stack of suitcases and a couple of ladders and lo, check-mate! you have a great couple of hours’ entertainment.

Today, Hitchcock is best remembered for films such as Vertigo (1958) and North By Northwest (1959), in which the sheer scope of the action matches the intensity of the drama, but, as Truffaut once admitted, it was to a ’smaller’ film, Dial M For Murder (1954), that he found himself returning to enjoy over and over again.

Dial M for Murder (1954), along with Rope (1948), were adapted from stage plays, and for this reason, they feel among the most conventional of Hitchcock’s films.

Ironically, they were actually the result of highly unconventional techniques: Dial M for Murder was originally filmed to be shown in 3D(!), and Rope was shot in a series of 10-minute takes, edited to give the appearance of a single continuous shot.

Hitchcock would later dismiss all this as gimmickry, but these techniques helped give both films the immediacy and physicality of the theatre, and go to show that this most cinematic of directors completely understood the nature of the stage.

I think this is why seeing The 39 Steps performed live was so much fun. After the novelty of the first costume change had worn off, I started to settle back and enjoy one of my favourite films all over again.

Stage to screen adaptations are ten a penny, but when was the last time you saw a great film brought to life on the stage?