Shocking Blocking (27)
By: Joshua Glenn | Categories: Spectacles

Along with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped and Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male, John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps is among the greatest British thrillers ever written. Yet even though it pokes fun at Buchan’s yarn, Hitchcock’s adaptation is an improvement on the original — thanks to the introduction of Madeleine Carroll’s strong-willed character. Pamela is handcuffed to innocent-man-on-the-run Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), who drags her into the Scottish fog while escaping from his captors. En route to a rustic inn, the two perform a screwball routine, complete with slapstick action and fast-paced repartee, which reaches its apogee when Hannay holds Pamela’s sandwich while she removes her stockings. The blocking in this farcical romantic scene is not only thrilling, but — thanks to the sandwiches — very British indeed.

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An occasional series analyzing some of the author’s favorite moments in the positioning or movement of actors in a movie.

SIMILAR HiLobrow series include: ANGUSONICS — the solos of Angus Young | FILE X — a gallery | FITTING SHOES — famous literary footwear | MOULDIANA — the solos of Bob Mould | SKRULLICISM

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Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based writer, publisher, and cultural semiologist-for-hire. He does business as KING MIXER, LLC. He is coauthor and/or co-editor of TAKING THINGS SERIOUSLY, THE IDLER'S GLOSSARY, THE WAGE SLAVE'S GLOSSARY, the object-oriented story collection SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS, and the kids' field guide to life UNBORED. He is co-founder of the websites HILOBROW and SEMIONAUT; and co-founder of the science fiction imprint HILOBOOKS. He produced and co-designed the iPhone app KER-PUNCH. He manages a secretive online community known as THE HERMENAUTIC CIRCLE. In the '00s, Glenn was an editor, columnist, blogger (BRAINIAC), and new media producer at the BOSTON GLOBE. In the '90s, among other things, he published the philosophy/pop culture zine HERMENAUT; co-produced the DIY website and early online social network TRIPOD; and was an editor at UTNE READER.

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