Mistaken identity and the “wrong man” are, of course, central themes in much of Hitchcock’s work, and it’s a delight to watch how deftly he handles both when Richard Hannay (the engaging Robert Donat) is called upon to speak before a political meeting with absolutely no idea who or what he’s supposed to talk about, while hounded by folks who mean him serious harm. As Hannay’s impromptu speech finds its rhythm and as the platitudes mount (Suspicion and fear, bad; fellowship and generosity, good!), we enjoy the ever-popular spectacle of a hero’s sharp wits allowing him to escape the clutches of his far-less-clever enemies. It’s an improbable, and utterly winning, moment in a movie that Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne once called the progenitor of “all contemporary escapist entertainment.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aalwXQINtio]