Alfred in August on LRPA After Dark to feature 1935’s 'The 39 Steps'

LACONIA — LRPA After Dark is celebrating Alfred Hitchcock, “the Master of Suspense,” during his birthday month of August with a festival of some of his early works. Tune in each Friday and Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. for the featured film. Aug. 9-10 LRPA will show the 1935 romantic crime thriller 'The 39 Steps,' starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. 

On vacation in London, Richard Hannay, a Canadian tourist played by Donat, is at the music hall when a man is murdered. A young woman, Miss Smith, confesses the murder to Hannay, begging him to give her sanctuary. She explains that she is a double-agent trying to keep a group of spies from stealing a valuable military secret. That night, Miss Smith is stabbed in Hannay’s flat, warning him to run before she perishes. Hannay becomes a fugitive, both from the police, who accuse him of murder, and from the spies, who need to kill him for what he knows. He takes a train to Scotland, where he hides from the police in the compartment of an attractive blonde named Pamela, portrayed by Carroll. 

'The 39 Steps' is often considered to be Hitchock’s first international masterpiece, and laid the groundwork for thrillers with “the man on the run” that have been made since. It was a favorite film of Orson Welles. 

Alfred in August continues Aug. 16-17 with classic episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and 'Suspicion,' Aug. 23-24 'The Lady Vanishes' (1939), and Aug. 30-31 'The Lodger – A Story of the London Fog' (1927).           

To live stream and learn more, visit www.lrpa.org.