I just read a few comments on this film, for inspiration and direction. Some people call it one of the finest movies Hitchcock made. I disagree.
The plot is similar to “North by Northwest” in that is centers on an innocent man, unwittingly dragged into a spy game. Without spoiling much of the plot, suffice to say the protagonist, Richard Hannay, played by Robert Donat, is abandoned within a world too powerful for him with few and unlikely allies.
Were it not for the addition of the amazing character of Mr. Memory (“Am I right, sir?”), I would have been somewhat disappointed by the film as a whole. Mr. Memory has the uncanny ability to remember many facts with incredible recall and detail. In fact, he memorizes fifty new things a day. The one dimensionality of only being shown Mr. Memory while he performs is given depth by his charm and sharp wit in response to countless hecklers.
There’s an interesting bit of pastoral symbolism, which may or may not have been intentional. Hannay is saved from his pursuers once by a hymnbook and a second time by a flock of sheep. I haven’t set decided what to make of this, but it’s an interesting conversation piece if nothing else.
If you’ve already seen “North by Northwest”, you stand to be satisfied to seeing its predecessor, or disappointed by a slightly less suspenseful variant on the theme. If you haven’t, it’s definitely worth your few hours.