Figure 1.--Here we see a scene from the beginning of the 1959 version of 'The 39 Steps;. It pictutes school boys sailing their boats at Hyde Park in London.

The '39 Steps' is an early Alfred Hitchcock thriller, first made in England before World War II (1935). At the time there were also concerns about the Communists. Actually it was based on a World War I novel by the Scottish author John Buchan (1915). The 1935vfilm starred Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. It is a spy thriller. Hitler and the NAZIs were rearming in Germany, but the NAZIs are not specifically identified. A London man is surprised by a counterespionage agent and tries to help him. The spies kill ther agent and the innocent man is accused. He takes off to avoid arrest. The film was remade in color afyer the War (1959). The film begins in a London park where school boys are sailing their boats. In pre-War films with contemporary, boy we think often just wore their own clothes. Exceptions could be special circumstances ot if the child was a main character. By the time the 1959 version was shot, most of the children were probably costumed. We are not sure about this scene. A reader writes, "Not sure if this was just a film crew and main actors being filmed. The boys and other people are there enjoying the sunny weather. The boys are just messing around with their boat. They are wearing their sunday suits." Another reader writes, "I think it is the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, but am nit positive."

Created: 10:17 PM 2/6/2011
Last updated: 4:05 PM 2/12/2011