This is one of those rare movies for which I feel no need to give you a recapitulation. Although it has the reputation of being more true to John Buchan's novel than the classic Hitchcock thriller, it is no such thing. It is a remake of the 1935 version, updated for a post-war world, in color, with a goodly amount of location shooting in the Scottish Highlands.
Some of the details have been changed, but not for the better. Kenneth More shows none of the hysteria-induced humor of Robert Donat, although the sequence where More gets a lift from ex-con Sid James as a trucker and spends some time with fake psychic Brenda de Banzies are a couple of worthy star cameos.
I trust I will insult no one if I say that More and Taina Elg are no Donat and Madeleine Carroll, that writer Frank Harvey is no match for Charles Bennett and Ian Hay, and as for director Ralph Thomas, well, he was a fine director, but come on, it's Hitchcock for the earlier version, directing his first talkie masterpiece. This version is good, it is solid, the camerawork is excellent, the pacing is good, but every second invites comparison to the 1935 version, and suffers thereby.
Some of the details have been changed, but not for the better. Kenneth More shows none of the hysteria-induced humor of Robert Donat, although the sequence where More gets a lift from ex-con Sid James as a trucker and spends some time with fake psychic Brenda de Banzies are a couple of worthy star cameos.
I trust I will insult no one if I say that More and Taina Elg are no Donat and Madeleine Carroll, that writer Frank Harvey is no match for Charles Bennett and Ian Hay, and as for director Ralph Thomas, well, he was a fine director, but come on, it's Hitchcock for the earlier version, directing his first talkie masterpiece. This version is good, it is solid, the camerawork is excellent, the pacing is good, but every second invites comparison to the 1935 version, and suffers thereby.