The Hitchcokian Adaptation.

As we all know Hitchcock is a psychological and subjective director that plays by his own rules. This is clear and evident in his adaptations of other people's works and the liberties he takes with the authors' original concepts. A few exceptional examples of this would be in his rendition of the 39 Steps by John Buchan and Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. Hitchcock changes a few things in the 39 Steps and it is quite beneficial for the silver screen. Replacing Scudder with Annabella Smith allows for a more sexual and, in a sense, psychological element considering the majority of psychological concepts at the time were still Freudian and everything revolved around sex. This can be observed in their banter in the kitchen with allusions to sharing a bead and also in the door way when she implies she might be a lady of the night. Also adding Pamela to the mix sustains this sexual climate in the atmosphere of the film. As we are all familiar with saying "sex sells" it makes the more scrutinizing viewer wonder if the intention of adding these femme fatales was to accommodate the gaze of the audience or to add elements necessary to a man on the run film portraying our protagonist as a lady killer. Hitchcock also removes the scene where Hannay just happens to seek refuge in the home of the conspiracy's ring leader. This improbable and some what buffoonish segment of the novel was hard to believe. Cutting it from the adaptation made it seem less cartoonish and took a little of the campy MacGyver element out of it. As for Strangers on a Train completely changing the latter half of the story made sure that Hitchcock's spin on the concept would be distinctly different from Highsmith's, but it is quite possible that once again this was a change made to better suit the expectations of movie. While Hitchcock has many times deviated from the common conceptualization of a Hero, perhaps this was one leap he couldn't make. In all likelihood the change of having Guy not commit the murder was Hitchcock doing his own thing and making sure to make a distinction from the original text. This also allowed for a more definite good and evil, but this did not stop Hitchcock from maintaining the complexity of Guy and Bruno's relationship as evident in the scene shortly after Bruno goes into his strangle trance. All in all it can be concluded that Hitchcock did both what was necessary to get his subjection of the story across while simultaneously giving an audience what it wants, even if they didn't know they wanted it in the first place.