The 39 Steps / 1792 Single Barrel Bourbon

0:00 In 1935, director Alfred Hitchcock and star Robert Dunnott gave the world a goofy spy chase that brought laughs and thrills alike. In 2023 we asked the all important question. If we didn't like the version that came from many barrels, will we like the version that comes from only one? The film is the 39 steps. The whiskey is 1792 Single Barrel and more of you them both this is. The film and whiskey. Podcast Welcome to the Film and Whiskey Podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book.

0:54 I'm Brad G. And this week we are looking at Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 British spy thriller comedy The 39 Steps. It's something, Bob. It's it's definitely something man. And look, not to jump in too quickly to talking about the movie itself, Brad, but one thing that blew me away watching it this time. First of all, we always say this, the sub 90 minute movie. Just chest kiss. Let's go. Brad, sometimes movies from the 1930s, if I'm going to be honest with you. I think that's like my least favorite era of movie making, because sound had just been introduced and they were really struggling with the pacing of movies for a long time there.

1:37 And it's not until like the mid 30s I feel like that movies in general kind of found their footing again. Bob, I'm gasping in Cinephile right now. How to dare you speak down on the oh? There's some notables. Lizard, there's some notable exceptions to the rule, but in general I just find myself getting really bored with movies from the early 30s. And so anytime we go back this far and I'm looking at all of our movies that we've done, Brad, this has got to be like one of the five oldest movies we've done. If you take out the chaplains like it, we don't go back into the early 1930s to you know, or mid 30s very often. I was going to say outside of the chaplains, 39 is probably our earliest year. Yeah, somewhere around there.

2:21 And I was going to say what shocked me this time is how fast this thing moves. You know, we've been looking at Hitchcock in the 1940s in America, and some of those melodramas that he made after he came over from Britain really kind of dragged and needed, needed some cutting done to them. And so my worry was going even farther back into his British days, they would get even more slow. But man, it seems like before he jumped the pond. He really had something going here because this thing is cut like a Scorsese movie. Yeah. Bob, I'm going to disagree with you a little bit on the pacing. For me, it had multiple parts of the film where I just kind of felt really bored and I felt very much so like I was ready for this movie to be over.

3:06 Oh gosh. And like I'm I'm with you 100 percent 79 minute movie. Awesome. I was very excited when I saw that. Usually a good gauge for me is like when I feel the need to move the mouse a little bit, check it, pause, see how much time is left and there's still 40 minutes left of the film out of the 86 minute movie. Oh man, it just worried me a little bit. All right. Well, let me phrase it this way then, because I feel like you'll at least agree with this. When we think about movies that are this old, and again, you know we haven't watched very many for the podcast. But even think about, you know, some of the other Hitchcock's we've done recently, like Notorious, the length of the shots.

3:50 And sometimes he's doing wonders, but even when he's not, they're just very, very long shots and setups. Where is this movie? Is just like bang, an insert shot, bang two people talking like it. It's almost like a a really quick moving montage in points. And I'm not used to seeing that kind of rapid cutting in a movie this old. Yeah. And I I think that there are certain elements that make the movie feel more modern, one of being which what you just said. I also think some of the dialogue is way Whittier than you would expect from such an old film, like there's some genuinely funny lines in this. So yeah, I think that you can tell that this isn't just your average 1930s director figuring out sound like Hitchcock is telling a story here, and overall he does a really good job at it.

4:40 I, you know, I went to see the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie over the weekend. Oh, Bob, book the Swifty. You know it, man. And so maybe I've just got eras on the brain, but it's been kind of cool to visit early Hollywood Hitchcock. You know, we've already done late Hollywood Hitchcock and now we're going back into pre Hollywood Hitchcock. And they're like very distinct from each other. And so I'm, I'm really excited to dive into this movie, Brad. It was one of two that I was kind of debating between putting on our list, the other one being a movie called The Lady Vanishes, which I found to be way more slow moving than this movie. So you're welcome if 'cause if you thought this one was slow, oh buddy, The Lady Vanishes. Does not move as briskly for me as this one does. My attention vanishes.

5:26 Well, hey, we're going to get into talking about the 39 Steps. But before we get there, I do just want to say we would love for you to join us on our social media platforms. You can join the conversation. You can dive in, talk about the movie that you may or may not have seen. Like Brad, give us your opinions on the whiskeys we're drinking. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, at Film Whiskey, or you can jump onto our Discord. We are on there every single day talking about movies, whiskey, and just about anything else in the world. So if you want to join the conversation, you can find a link to our discord at the end of every single one of our show notes. All right. I said we're going to start talking about the movie and to do that we have to get to our first segment of the day, which we call, Brad explains. Brad's going to give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds ticking on the clock, so let's go ahead and hear your take with this little segment that we call. Brad explains.

6:23 Brad Explains is the part of the podcast where Brad breaks down the plot of the movie that he has just seen, often for the first time Brad. I'm going to go out on a pretty massive limb here and say first time with the 39 steps, first time today, Bob. I watch this movie every single day, get up at 4:30. I I really can't start my day without a little bit of Robert Denot, You know what I mean? What a beautiful man, by the way. Dude. The first few scenes that he is in, he's a little bit frazzled, his hair is kind of fussed up and I was like, he kind of looks like Andrew Garfield a little bit. He has some Garfield vibes. Yeah, I'm a big fan. Anyway, you Brad, you have 60 seconds on the clock, Brad explains.

7:08 Is where you spoil the movie in graphic detail. How are you doing on the the the plot mechanics here Brad? It's kind of convoluted at points. It's a little bit obtuse if if I'm allowed to use a $10 word, Bob. Did you watch it with subtitles? I did not watch it with subtitles. Now I see I just kind of automatically watch things with subtitles now because it helps me understand things better. And if I'm being honest, man, those Scottish accents be thick at at parts of this movie. So I double see I did not. Find it super hard to follow, but that's because I was like reading the script as they said the script. So I can't get away from the fact that as I get older, I think I realize more and more how limited my attention is.

7:55 And I can't get over the fact that, like if I'm looking at the bottom of the screen and reading, I'm missing like 70% of what's going on on the screen. Wow. And I don't know if like other people are just better at that than me, but I have found in the past year or so that if I can not watch a movie with subtitles, I much prefer it. Sounds like a you problem man. See I. You know when when Bong Joon Ho won his best director Oscar at the at the Academy Awards, he said I if people can just get over the one inch obstacle at the bottom of the screen, then a whole new world of cinema will open to them. It sounds like you need to get over that obstacle.

8:37 I love me some parasite. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, but you weren't reading it, apparently. Yeah, but I mean. But it's real pretty to look at. Hitchcock did not mean for anyone to watch this film with subtitles, so I'm going to stick with the director here and watched it without Subs. All right, as Hitchcock intended. Brad, you have one minute on the clock to break down this movie and go. The 39 Steps is a film about Robert Dennott's character. What's his name? Harry Carey. Robert Dennott, Yeah, yeah, his character's name. Yeah, his name is Robert Dennott. I don't know what his name. Oh, OK, let's see. It's Hannah. Hannah. Hannah.

9:19 He's a guy who's Canadian and is in London. And this woman meets him at like a show hall and shoots a gun and clears everybody out. And boy, oh boy does she tell him plot stuff, that there's bad people who are stealing information from the Brits. And so he goes on a wild goose chase to figure out what's going on after she's murdered. He meets another woman along the way who sucks and she continually tries to give him away. There's people on his tail. He meets a professor who doesn't have a pinky and at the end of this day, this memorization guy memorized all the details of the secret and tried to get out of the country. I think.

10:07 All right, we're going to stop there, Bob. This Don't, don't, don't over exert yourself. This movie, if I may be so bold, sucks. Here's my counterpoint. OK, I'm ready for no, it does not. Oh yeah, wow. I never thought of it that way before. I'm going to so this is going to be a fun episode because I'm really high on this movie. I've I loved this movie. I thought it it absolutely breezed by. You know as I read the plot details while watching it. I thought it was really easy to understand here. Can I can I do Bob? I'll explain here for a second. Here's no Here's the thing, Bob. The plot's easy to understand. Man is framed for murder. He tries to figure out the the stuff that the woman who was murdered was trying to figure out, to clear his own name. Like, like that's the plot.

10:56 It's not that hard to figure out. It's the way they go about showing the plot and moving about the movie that I'm like, this is just OK. I guess stuff's just happening now. I guess we're just kind of moving along. I guess this woman just is the worst. But now she's not. None of it flowed well for me. Now the individual scenes, some of the individual interactions between characters and things like that were incredible. And I think that Robert Denott and and Madeline Carroll have really great chemistry. They have some really fun scenes together, but overall the movie just kind of felt incredibly messy. Yeah, I'm in a completely different spot than you. And so like I said, I think this will be a fun back and forth if you don't keep cutting me off and telling me no when I'm trying to make a point.

11:47 But besides that, yeah, you know, Brad, maybe the best way to start framing this movie is, I think, the kind of obvious thing. And I'm going to tip my hand with our Let's make it a double here because this movie. Feels like the proto North by Northwest. Like it seems like his His best run at North by Northwest 24 years earlier. Which me, Which makes a lot of sense because by the time he gets to North by Northwest, not only has he improved, I think as a director, even though this is really well directed, but he's like, I've done this exact same story before. I know where the beats need to be kind of tightened up a little bit, where there's lulls that I need to fill with something. But overall, I think the thing that impresses me the most about this movie is it's like 85 minutes long. And so there's just not a lot of downtime in between things happening.

12:42 At least for me, there wasn't. And it was, you know, it's very much like this. So this guy goes to a Music Hall, shots ring out, this woman clutches his arm, is very scared and says, can I come home with you? And Robert Donat is so good. Because he's like, immediately. He's like, can you come home with me? Like, I I suppose you can come home with me. They go back to his apartment. She spills the beans. She's like, there's two guys outside that followed me here. He's like, what's going on? She's like, I am a spy. And I have been basically outed by the counter spies who are trying to smuggle secrets out of England. They're led by a ring. Was the counter spy. They were the spies Well. OK, whatevs you know?

13:24 She's like, I need help. They're trying to smuggle secrets out of England. They are led by a guy that I'm supposed to go meet. He is missing his finger below the the knuckle. That's the only way I can distinguish him. She's like, and now that I've told you all this, they're going to come for you too. And he's like, I think, I think you misspoke, she said. He's missing finger beneath Piggy. Dude, she's she is such a bad actress. And that's what set this movie off on the right path for me because it is, it is intentionally funny at parts. It is intentionally very suspenseful at parts. And then there's other parts where it's just like, who is this goofy woman that he found to play this role?

14:05 And so anyway, she ends up with a knife in her back, and Robert Dennot is immediately framed for her murder and has to go on the run to try to find this guy missing a finger because he thinks the guy's going to help him. He runs through the Scottish Highlands, he finds the guy, the guy turns out to be the main bad guy. And it's revealed that the 39 steps is this secret spy ring, kind of like Spectre in James Bond, where you can't trust the cops, you can't trust anybody. He goes on the lamb. He finds a doll, a Dame if you will, and she doesn't believe him for a long time. And then she does, and then they foil the plot. It's like bang, bang, bang, bang, bang for me. And I think that's, that's what I really like about this movie, is even if it didn't work as well as it did for me and clearly sounded like it didn't for you, Brad. I mean, you're in and out in 85 minutes, Yeah. No, I once again, there are short movies that can feel long and long movies that can feel short. Like it's more than just the actual time that is spent watching the film.

15:10 And I think that's where for me, the messiness of the movie kept it from feeling like a streamlined steam engine flying down the tracks. Like there's there's just so much messiness happening and so much why, why did that happen? What's going on? That forced me to, like, I don't know, just like it forced me into a place where I was like, OK, are we really going there? OK, sure. And it didn't allow me to just sink into the world of the movie. I I think that's what I'm trying to communicate, is that there's just so much silly stuff happening that none of it facilitated my enjoyment of just falling into the film. And so because I'm thinking about it the whole time, yeah, I'm it feels like it's taking forever. Where are you at?

16:04 Like on James Bond movies in general or just like spy type movies. Man, I have watched one or two of the older, you know, Sean Connery, Rodger, what's his name? Rodger Moore. Rodger Moore. I watched maybe like two or three of those when I was a kid and thought that they were silly and and kind of fun as like an 810 twelve year old. I've never gone back and watched any of those since. So really my my best exposure to the world of Double O 7 is, you know, Daniel Craig. Right. Well, and that's, you know, it's good and it's bad because I feel like as we got into the Pierce the Post, Pierce Brosnan era, there's an emphasis on these need to be much more like Jason Bourne movies, right? There is there is no silliness inherent to the plot. Whereas that had been something that from the beginning, like James Bond characters, James Bond plots are inherently silly. Like they just are.

17:02 And you have to have those moments of levity. And I feel like that's actually what made this last Daniel Craig Bond movie for me kind of suck, was that they tried to shoehorn in some of those things while maintaining an overly dower look tone. And so anyway I say all that to say like. I'm wondering if some of the silliness of the plot mechanics Brad is, you know, how much would you put on this movie itself, and how much would you put on? Like, I just don't really jibe with silly spy thrillers. Yeah, maybe. I mean, I I definitely grew up in an era of Mission Impossible, Jason Bourne type of spy movies. I think overall though, the bits and pieces of this movie that I did like, I like, really, really liked. And I I think that Robert Denot and Madeline Carroll is it like, like I said, they have great chemistry and I think that they both have wonderful scenes together. It was just a few moments of like, why is she at the political hall?

18:10 Is that even her? Why would she be here? And then once they get into them talking, I'm like, OK, sure, there's chemistry. It works, but why is she there again? What's going on? Like it just all just yeah. All right. Well, we're going to talk about the performances. I do want to ask like one final question on this whole topic before we get into it, Brad. And if OK, if we take out Cary Grant as a a response, what is it about North by Northwest that works so almost perfectly for you when you think about like? Structure, pacing, tone. That doesn't quite work for you here because like I said, I I think they are very similar movies. Yeah, I mean there's they're similar in like big picture idea like if you went and pitched this movie and pitched North by Northwest to, you know, executives, they would sound like almost the exact same pitch. So I think on a broad level, looking at it, they're very similar.

19:15 I think that what works in North by Northwest is just the fact that everything moves so smoothly from one place to the next. Like he he takes the time necessary to to sweep the audience along with him on the adventure. Whereas this one it's like it it needed about 8 extra minutes, it stays a 90 ish minute movie but like 8 to 10 more minutes to not feel so rushed and like things are just popping up out of nowhere. Like everything in North by Northwest makes sense on why things are happening and where things are moving especially as you get to the end of the film and and more and more secrets are revealed. This one it's like the the secrets that get revealed are you kind of feel like the cheat Macguffins. It's like, oh, Yep.

20:08 And I guess the memory man knows it. And I I guess she's. Got caught up in this and she's showing up at this political hall where he's giving a speech because he got mistaken identity all of a sudden like. What a great movie. I love this movie. It's so good. It is funny too. Brad, you know, I I've always talked about how unpredictable you are in terms of like when I think you'll like a movie and you don't because there are times when like the the logic of the movie just doesn't matter, right? Like. You know, to you and to me, like, if the movie works well enough, you're like, I don't like, I don't really care how he got here. I don't really care if that, like, why is she here?

20:48 Whatever. This is a fun movie, and I think for me that's this movie, and for you it is some other movie that is not this one. Yeah. Yeah, no, 100%. And I I think that part of it is also like the fact that this is Hitchcock, you know what I mean? Like, at the end of the day, you expect more out of the great directors of all time. And for me, I was just like, oh, I expected more than this from Hitchcock and it it didn't deliver. And that's OK. Like, he doesn't have to deliver on every single movie he makes. Like you said, by the time he made Notorious, he'd already made like 30 films, which means that here in 1935, he's probably already made like 15. So when I when I think about just who Hitchcock is, I think I just expected more Polish.

21:40 All right. Well, man, I feel like I have given you the floor too much to to denigrate this movie. And listeners are probably dropping like flies at this point because it's only when both of us are very enthusiastic about a movie that I feel like we actually inspire people to go see the movie. So I we've pretty much taken care of that at this point. No one will go watch 39 Steps, even though I am going to give it a very high score. And I think it works like gangbusters. I need to salvage this a little bit, Brad. Let's bring this back around. And I think we can do that by talking quickly about these two main performers, Robert Donat and Madeline Carroll. And let's start, let's start with Robert Donat, because I think all we've said about him so far is he is very beautiful and he reminds us of Andrew Garfield. And I think what I'll say is.

22:26 It doesn't feel like a 1935 hammy, stagey performance to me. Like it feels very lived in. Not quite like a like a naturalistic performance, but definitely ahead of its time, I think. And I was just really, really pleasantly surprised at how he finds the perfect amount of being bemused by the whole thing. Like he never stops being horny. He's always trying to like, sleep with somebody. You know, he kisses that one guy's wife on the mouth when she helps him out. And that one's not like, sexual. It's more just, thank you very much. And I know that your husband sucks, but like, you're never going to get a kiss like this again, baby. Baby.

23:08 And then walk out the door. But like, you know, with Cary Grant's in North by Northwest, Cary Grant had achieved a very particular kind of bemusement too. And at that point, it was the bemusement of, like a guy who is older like. No, I'm not going to run. I can't run anymore. I have bad knees, but I am going to sit here and crack jokes about this. And Robert Donat is a much different, Like, he's much younger, he's much more athletic. He can run up and down the Scottish Highlands, chasing, getting chased by these guys, but he never stops having a sense of wit about it. And I think he plays it absolutely perfectly. Yeah. I think that Donat has a natural charm and charisma that lets him be more casual with with his acting compared to, like you said, a more hammy chewing the scenery type of performance.

23:57 I think that what really helps him the most is the fact that Hitchcock keeps him moving and keeps him on his toes as a character. The I don't know. Am I allowed to say bad things about it, Bob? Or is my statue? You can say bad things. That's fine. It's fine. OK. OK. I'll just, I'll just go back to the messiness of the film. There's just certain points, specifically the political speech that he gives where I'm like, where did this come from character wise? Like all of a sudden he's giving this political speech that you're like, is Hitchcock is preaching at us? Is there something going on here? Because it doesn't feel like it fits with the rest of the film. And so I think moments like that, like he does an incredible job there as an actor.

24:49 But I think the character suffers because of what's going on in the script. And I I I think I can separate those things in my mind and be like, yeah, I don't know why the hell Hitchcock asked him to do that, but he did a great job. All right. On the other side, you've got Madeleine Carroll. And I will say this, Brad, I think that the movie takes a pretty drastic shift. At the one hour ish mark. So he has been being chased solo until he gets handcuffed to her in the back of a police wagon by two guys who aren't actually policemen. You you come to kind of figure out who they really are, but they get handcuffed together and make their escape and hijinks ensue and there is some comedy involved.

25:31 And you know, they have to pretend like they're married couple and they're hiding their hands and he's pretending to threaten her with a gun because she thinks that he's a murderer and like. There's a lot of convoluted comedy there, but I also like this is where I started to feel like, oh OK, this is the biggest lull in the movie for me. Like I'd, I really want to get back to this guy being chased. And I know that they're trying to set up like romantic tension and character development here. But when they go to that in and you know the old Scottish woman is thinks that they're a married couple and the whole everything that unfolds throughout that night. It takes a long time to get through. Now I will say, I will say it's it's like the one hour mark and the movie ends at like the hour 25 mark. So like it's probably only about 10-12 minutes of screen time before you're back into it again for the finale of the movie. But I I don't want to penalize Madeleine Carroll for this because again, I think it's it's a victim of like the plot mechanics in the script, but.

26:34 I think her character to me kind of represents the parts of this movie that I don't care for, because every time they're trying to develop her, the movie slows down it. It grinds to a halt. I think it's the phrase you were looking for. And and The thing is that, like the scene in The Scottish Inn has really funny moments. It's got some meaningful character development, but it does feel like it takes up like 3/4 of this movie, even though it's maybe like 10%. And you then get to the theater at the end and all of a sudden the movie's over and it felt jarring to go from like, let's slow down and they're spending the night together at this madcap chase is finally crying ground to a halt. And then all of a sudden we're at the theater and it's a memory man.

27:21 And he confessed. Also, why did the memory man answer the question? You know it's funny like I I don't know if it's if it's implied that like he he has to like he like he has some sort of like. He's on the spectrum or he has like Asperger's, you know what I mean? But like, it feels very much like all he does is compute things and then spits them out. So I I don't know. I think it's because the movie needed to happen. Yeah, the answer you always want to hear when asking questions. All right, man. Well, it's very obvious to me that we're in different places on this movie. I'm still enjoying myself because this movie was a freaking blast and like, the best way I could have spent 86 minutes last night.

28:02 But I'll say, I'll say something I like about it, Go for it. The scene on the on the train was incredible. Like, it felt like a really early version of high and low, like they're they're on the train, the camera's moving with them. Obviously it's 1935, so the camera's not dollying through the hallway with them, But there is a really cool thrill of that scene for me. That little scene, that little 1015 minute scene was like the best part of the movie for me. Well, now I'm really second guessing myself because the movie that I could have chosen over this, The Lady Vanishes, is entirely set on a train.

28:45 So I had no idea that you were such a train movie fan. Yeah. All right, man. Well, let's let's carry these split feelings into the whiskey for the day and see if we can find some consensus. What do you say? Let's get to it. All right. So today we are checking out 1792 Single Barrel. Brad, we are on a losing streak here with this brand. I don't really know how else to. Let's not beat around the Bush here. Yeah, I unfortunately, the 1792 products so far have been billed as like really solid, affordable, you know, $30 ish whiskeys. I have not experienced that, to be blunt. The affordability or the solid part? The affordability, Bob, is incredible. I did not pay any money for this whiskey. There you go.

29:43 So whiskey is always the most affordable kind? Yeah. I will say I was much higher than you on the small batch, and I think part of that is that I was just drinking out of my own bottle and maybe trying to justify the purchase. But I'm with you on the sweet weed and the high rye, and today we have a sample that has been sitting on our shelf for probably far too long from the Instagram account and friend of the podcast Bourbon and stuff. This is the 1792 single barrel. And the thing about this barrel Brad is I have seen a picture of the actual bottle this came from and there is, there is like no indicators on the bottle itself. Like I really have no idea what the barrel number is, what the age of this is. It's just, I mean, it looks like your standard 1792 bottle. It just says single barrel.

30:32 Do you know the proof? Yeah Brad, so this is not a barrel proof version of the product. It's been watered down to 98.6 proof or 49.3 ABV. And just a reminder to all of our fans out there who might not, you know know all of the insurance and outs of whiskey. Watered down is not a bad term in the. Whiskey. I should have said diluted, I know, Yeah, literally. It has been watered down to a certain proof point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just just so everybody knows, watered down has a negative connotation in most contexts. However, here for the whiskey world, it literally just means they added some water to it to make it more a little softer. Well, it takes takes the edge off Bob. There you go.

31:16 Gentle on the old pallet, Brad, I will let you start us off today. We've both tried this product and we have come prepared with notes. What did you pick up on the nose of this one dude? I was a very big fan of the nose here, which was a a great, great surprise as as compared to the last three weeks. I got some bubble gum, There's caramel and vanilla and I I got like my my daughter is a huge fan of anything that is like birthday clake birthday cake flavored. And you know, as a 2 year old that can be expected. This was like a birthday cake, Timken or timbed or whatever they're called. Like a like the doughnut holes.

31:59 Oh yeah, yeah. You know what I'm talking about? Like a timbed. That's like the birthday cake flavored. It's got the spark, the sprinkles in it. That is what this smelled like to me. It's rich, delectable. I give it an 8 out of 10 on the nose. Yeah man, I wish that mine had opened up as much as yours did. This for me was kind of all oak. And for the first time, maybe ever on a bourbon, I got something that I sometimes get on Scotch, which is like. A a very saline heavy, kind of meaty scent, like salted meats. I got on this a little bit and that threw me off. After about a minute or two it kind of opened up into your more standard bourbon notes. I got a lot of vanilla on this, but even then it was overpowered by how oaky it was on the nose. So I'm going to give it just a six here and and hope that it gets better, Yeah.

32:49 So on the palate for me, the vanilla really powered through strong like it did for you. On the nose I I almost called it like a vanilla extract, like you just open the bottle and give it a little puff into your nose. There was some almond nuttiness here. The caramel comes through and the cakeiness stayed, but it wasn't. It didn't smell like cake anymore to me. It smelled like a jar of cheap white frosting, like sugary. And delicious. And your score? Oh, and I give it a 7.5. Not quite as compelling as the nose was, but like a really solid above average palette.

33:34 I'm a big fan of the palette on this one, mostly because of like, the progression of how things happen. Like it was it was surprise after surprise for me. So it opened with a lot of really strong vanilla and caramel sweetness on the tip of my tongue, like it was a very sugary sweet. And then as it kind of like moved back on my palate, there was a nice heat. This is definitely like the hottest tasting one we've had so far, even though it's still under 100 proof. When I went to swallow, everything just kind of opened up and it was just like an explosion of cinnamon, almost like cinnamon red hot candy and oak. But they went together so well that I felt like it. It really gave this whiskey a backbone that the others before this had been missing. And it and it wasn't over oaked and that was I think the most surprising thing to me.

34:21 So yeah, 7 1/2 on the pallet for me And then the finish was kind of more of the same. It it built both in ethanol and in flavor like this. Definitely had the most aggressive finish of the four for me so far. But again it was backed up by just a ton of that cinnamon flavor. I gave it an 8 on the finish. Yeah, I think the finish was a similar level of the pallet for me. I'll give it a 7 1/2 there. There's oak, there's vanilla, and I got like like we talked about weeded whiskeys having like a cherry flavor to it. I don't think that this is that level of cherry. For me, it's more of like a maraschino cherry vibe on the finish that. That was Vibe.

35:05 It's the Lacroix of Cherries. It's just like, hey, remember Cherries? Yeah, that's a good, that's a good way of describing it, Bob. I think the balance here is like there's nothing complex about this whiskey, but it's pretty solid all around. I I'd give it a 7 out of 10. Yeah, I'm with you. The only notes that I really took on this were builds nicely, period 7.5, and it does it. It progressively gets more complex and more interesting as it goes along. And so it's not perfectly interesting across the board, but I'd rather have it go up then go down throughout the experience. So it's a 7.5 for me, yeah. And I I think that when it comes to value, it seems like single barrels of the 1792 variety go for around $70.00 that that was kind of the best that I could see online. I don't know about you, Bob.

36:00 This is not like the greatest single barrel that I've ever had by by a stretch, but it was pretty solid. Brad, I hate to kind of poke holes in your theory here, but I am on the Ohio Liquor website. And in the state of Ohio, this is sold for 3999, so it is an allocated bourbon. I think it only drops once a year and so you have to enter the bottle lottery for it. But the $70.00 you're seeing I think is a secondary price. So MSRP is is what most people are going to get. It at for sure. For sure. MSRP is 40 bucks I think maybe let's split the difference, let's call it like 55. Is that OK? Sure. Yeah, I think that's fair. At $55 I don't think this is a bad value. I definitely.

36:43 So I scored it at a 7.5 out of 10 on value at the MSRP. At 55 it would be lower than that. I think I'd probably want to give it a six out of 10. I I was literally singing, thinking the same thing. I think if this is in the 55, you know, 50 to 60 range, it's decent value. It's a bottle that I'd be intrigued by, but it's not something that I would necessarily go out and say I have to have some of this. So yeah, six, Six out of 6 out of 10 for me. Well, and with that 1 1/2 point deduction for my value score, I'm coming out to a 35 out of 50. Brad, what are you at? I'm a point above you 36.

37:24 All right. So we are at a 35.5 out of 50 or a 71 out of 100. This is kind of nice because 35 is generally where we start recommending a product and I think this is right there. Like if ever anything was on the cusp for me anyway, it was this product and I think the score perfectly reflects that. I don't know that I would necessarily buy a bottle of this, but I think I would definitely recommend trying a pour. Yeah, I would say split a bottle. Buy a pour. I wouldn't necessarily commit to a bottle right off the bat. What do you mean right off the bat? Like, maybe it'll grow on you and then you want to buy a bottle.

38:08 Yeah. Like, you know, like the first thing I'm going to do with 1792 single barrel, buy an entire bottle that's going to do that. I'm going to, I'm going to give it a little, you know, give it a little dry run first. I like it, all right. And you know, it kind of goes with our movie for the day, because we've already been saying that this movie felt like a dry run for North by Northwest. It sure did. So what do you say we get back into talking about the 39 steps? Let's get to it, Bob. All right, everybody. That was 1792 Single barrel a whiskey that I can't really think of much more to say about Bob. No, it was, it was there. It was solid. Very pleasant whiskey. And I'll say this, go ahead, a whiskey that has out shown its previous entries.

38:53 Going to say by comparison this, this is stellar. Yeah, yeah. No, the this is redeemed the 1792 brand for me just a little bit. But only this one barrel that we've tried, Yeah, yeah, who knows? All the other barrels might be just complete. I'll let down. All right, man. Well, we have. We've been kicking the can down the road a little too long here. I want to see if I can get above 500 guaranteed on the year 1. The other thing is we know for a fact that this is Robert Doughnut's favorite segment of our show. I like that you call him Doughnut, Robert. Doughnut. Doughnut. Doughnut. His middle.

39:33 Name is Hertz. Don't act. Oh, man. All right, let's get into our segment. 2 Facts and A Falsehood. Brad is going to try to stump your ball. 2 All right and what is wrong? 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and a Falsehood is the part of the podcast where Brad presents three items to me as fact about the making of this movie, one of which is a complete lie, and it's my job to determine which that is Brad. I'm sitting at, what, 15 and 13 right now on the season? No, sorry. I'm sitting at 16 and 14 on the season right now.

40:14 You sure are. It is. It's up to you, man. We'll see what you do. I'm guaranteed to split with you, but you could secure a loss for yourself today if you're not careful. That's an interesting way of phrasing that, Bob. You could clinch a losing season. I could that that's true. I'm I I am familiar with that place, Bob. Yeah, I know, right? As fans of Cleveland sports, we. I know. Exactly. Where I'm at right now, the magic number is always constantly hanging over our heads. Come. I'm at the point where I was going to say I'm at the point where we can't consider the season entire loss, but I'm definitely not getting a good enough draft pick to change next year. I know I'm quite familiar.

41:05 All right, man, hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. Fact number one, before filming the scene where Hannah and Pamela run through the countryside, Alfred Hitchcock handcuffed them together and pretended for several hours to have lost the key in order to put them in the right frame of mind for such a situation. Fact #2, Robert. See, now you've got me in my head. Don't. Is that it? I think he just said it did not. Did not fact #2 Robert did not suffered from frequent sinus infections and was forced to put push back his speech scene many times due to his nasally sound and lack of vocal power. Fact #3 The 62 imported sheep.

41:53 Upon arriving at the soundstage, immediately started eating the bushes that had been brought with them. The infuriated crew had to replace the plants with ones hastily bought from a local nursery. OK, I have no idea. I'm. I'm going to be honest with you. You have leaned so far into the like, let let's get the most boring sounding ones that I kind of don't even care what the falsehood is at this point. Like none of these facts are even that cool to me. He picked the lame ones, man. Thank you, Bob. I I appreciate that. Good thing I'm not worried about what you think of the lame, the lameness or awesomeness of my facts. Oh, believe me, I am aware that you don't. Care what I think?

42:34 Concerned with with winning? I think #2 sounds kind of true and I could see him being sick through the production. It seemed like a very intense and grueling production at parts #3 also sounds pretty funny. That sounds like something that could have happened. No, no, no, Bob, it's not funny. It's it's boring and troll. And I mean you. Know, it's just a silly fact. It's like if you're at a party and you're trading stories with somebody, it's like the seventh story you would share. You're like, Oh yeah, one time I was on a movie and the sheep ate all the bushes. You know, cool. It's not unfunny. It's just, you know, you don't lead with that one. Number one is the one that I'm kind of gravitating toward as a possible falsehood. I know Hitchcock had a playful side. I it's hard for me to think that he would delay production for hours and hours, like just to get them in the right frame of mind.

43:28 But who knows, maybe he did. But just to, you know, not delay the inevitable here, I'm going to just go ahead and say #1 is the falsehood, and that's my final answer. Bob, my 500 season is still in the running. You are you are incorrect. You almost you almost contradicted yourself there. I know, I almost said correct. You're incorrect Bob. You suck at this game. True. Truly true. I mean, when we first implemented this game, I dominated that season, whatever it was, and you have very rapidly met me on the talent level here, Brad. I've come a long way. OK, So what was the falsehood? Fact number two? Was the falsehood the sinuses?

44:10 OK, completely false. Wow. But the sheep? The sheep? Sheep. A true story. See, listen, you you gave me crap when I said that it was like the seventh story you share at a party, but it was the 3rd fact you shared. Like it wasn't even good enough for you to share first. It's a It's a great fact, man. All right, man, let's get back into talking about this movie a little bit. And you know, I guess I just kind of have one remaining question for you, Brad. It doesn't sound like you're totally negative on this film, and yet, yeah, the first half of this episode would indicate otherwise. The two out of 10.

44:50 We've seen enough Alfred Hitchcock Movies Now that I think, whatever the word Hitchcockian might mean to you, you probably have a good sense of what that is now. What a word. Great word. You know, like, I just. I want to be famous enough someday that, like, Bookian is a thing. Yeah. Yeah, Bookish GS. Yeah. Yeah, GS. I like that one. OK, so I'm going to ask you, is this movie, quote UN quote Hitchcockian to you? And what does that term mean to you at this point? Like what is the hallmarks of a of an Alfred Hitchcock movie? See, I I feel like I'm, I'd have to think about that more to come up with something that's not, you know, kind of trite like.

45:36 At the end of the day, there's women in the movie that show their legs. Like, you know what I mean? Like, he has a very clear shot of her, like taking her stockings off. And you know what I mean? So even in the 30s, Hitchcock was a horny dude. Very much so, Yep. You know, there's the the classic blonde. There's the mystery thriller twist and turn. I don't know if I would say I would, I would consider Hitchcock a big reveal guy. You know what I mean? Like a Shyamalan sure is the twist, but this one has that and I I think I I enjoyed that element of it. I think that's the cinematography of the film, the way he shot the movie.

46:23 I think that he does a really great job of using lots and lots of either close up shots. Or like, really wide. You know, the knot is like a tiny speck on a on a ridgeline. That was such a good shot, man. Such a good shot because there's guys in the foreground going there he is and pointing out. Oh, it's so good. And they're like the way they're they're what's the word like highlighted by the the light of the sky and it's just so good. So I think that like if I'm to point to any cinematography, it's the fact that he he is great. He has just really brilliant, anxious close-ups and really beautiful wide establishing shots and I I think he kind of lives in those two realms a lot in his movies. So yeah, I I would call this Hitchcockian. Yeah, for me, I think, you know, I was actually just watching a Hitchcock movie last night that I'd never seen before and it was, spoiler alert, not one of his best. And and it's partially because it didn't do the things that I associate with the really good Hitchcock movies and it's everything you've said.

47:33 But for me, it's also, it's the sense of pacing and it's knowing like when to stop the jokes and when to just completely tip into the thrills. Even North by Northwest, as like as cool and tongue in cheek as that movie is, and it's always kind of winking and it's a little bit wry. You know, when, when they're getting chased across the the rush, Mount Rushmore at the end of the movie. Like we're not cracking jokes at that moment, You know what I mean? It's it's suspenseful enough that he knows when to stop doing that. So it's that. And then it it's coupled with the sort of playfulness that Hitchcock has, whether it is like what you were talking about. Like the hints at sex and you know, implicating the audience and being horny and voyeurs just like he is.

48:20 You know like the the whole movie of Rear Window is you like doing this and you can't explain why, but we're all watching this guy across the way and. Bob, I was on Amazon the other day and there is a Rear Window Board game. Oh yeah, I was. I like was looking through board game sales and I was like, why is there and Alfred Hitchcock presents Rear Window. Colon The board Game You get, You get the game, and it's just a box with binoculars. And you? You're just asked to spy on your own neighbors. That's incredible. That's. But yeah, I think by all the criteria that we've we've set forth here, I do think this movie is Hitchcocky and I think it's playful.

49:05 I think it's got a sense of humor. It really ratchets up the tension for me in those those final moments. I think the chase element is really reminiscent of what he does later on with North by Northwest. So yeah, like, it might not be a pure exercise in suspense or horror, but it's definitely got all the hallmarks of a really good Hitchcock movie. Do you think that we should come up with like a rating scale for how much a movie is like a Hitchcock film? Like if it's an 8 to 10, like a Hitchcock film, it's Hitchcock, Ian, You know, 6 to 8 is Hitchcock esque there. There's a whole thing we could do here. 4/4 to five is just Hitchcock adjacent. Yeah, O'Day Hitchcock.

49:48 The Lacroix of Hitchcock. All right man. I think it is time for us to get to our final segment of the day, which we call, Let's make it a double. We're near the end of the episode, so thanks for listening to the film and whiskey show. Let's favor another film with this one, even if it's struggling. It's a final segment of the day. Now let's make it a double. Let's make it a double is the part of the show where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature. Brad, I'm going to be very boring and very brief here. I I think the very obvious choice is North by Northwest, but not just because it is a chase movie, but it is an Alfred Hitchcock chase movie. It's got, you know, it's got the blonde. It's got everything you could want in a Hitchcock movie.

50:31 There's a couple other kind of chase oriented movies that he made throughout his career. There's a good one called Saboteur, but guess what? It's not as good as North by Northwest. So you should go watch North by Northwest alongside the 39 Steps and have just a really fun night at the movies. Yeah, I was going to say don't let my booing dissuade anyone from watching North by Northwest. It's an incredible film. My booing is just that Bob is boring and basic. Oh yeah. I am going to pick a movie that is nowhere near as good as North by Northwest. But let's be let's be very clear. Important caveat. Important caveat Honestly, I think that the film I'm going to pick is actually a really good, modern example of the level of filmmaking that I think 39 Steps is at. It's a movie that's not great, but I had a lot of fun with the first time I watched it.

51:25 I'm going with my boy Tommy Cruise night and day. I have never seen that movie. You've never seen Night and Day? No, because it was it was one of those ones that when it came out, all the reviews were like 2 1/2 stars out of four. You know what I mean? Like, it wasn't, like, enough to get me to actually pick it up at Blockbuster or whatever. And and and Bob, they were all right. Like, like, like, it's cheesy. It's funny. There's so there's some really good moments. I I think what makes that movie work for me is that you can tell it's Tom Cruise making a movie that's kind of making fun of the Mission Impossible movies. Like like if you read A Layer Deep and that's just amusing to me because Tom takes it so seriously but he's also like joking about it throughout.

52:14 I it's a fun movie. It I would put it along the lines of like a Jack Reacher type of Tom Cruise movie. Got it. Yep. You know it's fun, it's good. It's him doing his thing but in a different universe. Cameron Diaz is is pretty funny in it. She's she's all right. She's not my favorite actress. But I think that story wise and just production value wise, I'm like yeah, go watch night and day. That would be a fun watch with with the 39 steps. I love a good 2 1/2 star movie sometimes because it's like it's not bad and I wouldn't even call it like mediocre because mediocre to me is like I can't tell if I want my time back or not. Like it is so perfectly in the middle, you know?

52:57 And 2 1/2 is like, all right, that was a severely flawed movie and I still don't feel like I wasted that time. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's one of those films that if it if it was like what's it if it was like Jeremy Renner in the lead instead of Tom Cruise. It would be like a 4.9 on IMDb, but because Tom is so charismatic I I just looked it's a 6.3 on IMDb. That's that's a perfect 2 1/2 star movie. Yeah, and it's because Tom is just freaking Tom Cruise. All right, so there you go. We've got a 10 out of 10 movie in North by Northwest and a 6.3 out of 10 movie in night and day. Brad, hopefully this movie The 39 Steps is a little bit higher than 6.3 in your estimation.

53:44 I'm really interested to hear where you fell out on where you fell out, where he fell on this one because it seemed negative at 1st and now it seems pretty positive. So do you want to hold your cards back a little bit, or do you want to spoil it now? I'll let you go first, Bob. I'm going to give it a nine out of 10. The first time I saw it, I was like, wow, this might be Hitchcock's earliest 10. This movie works like gangbusters, and this time around, like, it has its flaws. And I think part of the flaws are just frankly, it is 90 years old almost and as fast as it moves for a for a movie from 1935, it is still a movie from 1935.

54:25 And there are just some editing techniques and things that we've developed that help move films along a little better than this. I think that there are some flaws in the script. There are some some huge leaps in logic. You kind of just have to accept where it's going. But ultimately, I had a freaking blast watching this movie. And it's a nine out of 10 for me. Yeah, I I thought that this was a perfect since we already sent the time establishing what this is. It's a perfect 2 1/2 movie. I'm going to, I'm going to be at a 7.5. That's a three out of four. I'm fine. I'm at a 7 out of 10.

55:09 Did I just convince you to lower your score just based on? You 100% did snark. Snark does not get you anywhere my friend. I was wavering between A7 and A7 and a half and you pushed me down. This is a 7 out of 10 movie. It's solid. It it's fine. I enjoyed it. The fact that it was an hour and 26 minutes is very helpful. It's it's a fun one. Go like go watch it on IMDb. It's got a 7.6. Honestly, any movie that is almost 90 years old and has a 7.6 I feel like is a pretty damn good movie. Like the fact that people watch this movie in 2023, knowing the distance that we are from the time this movie was released. And then still like a 7-8, maybe a nine like that. Yeah, that's pretty, pretty strong endorsement for this film.

55:58 So we're coming out to an 8 out of 10, which is pretty well in line with the 7.6 on IMDb. But I'd like to know what you think. Have you seen the 39 Steps has? Have you persevered throughout Brad's complaints and have we convinced you to go watch it now? You can let us know on all of our social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or if you really love what we're doing here. If you've been a fan of the podcast for a while, or you've listened to this episode and you're like man, movie from 1935, I'm convinced. You can give money to our podcast the this is not free to do. We do it out of the love of our hearts for you guys and the fact that we love, you know, watching movies and drinking whiskey. But if you wanted to, there's three Patreon tears, there's $3 a month, $5 a month, $7.00 a month. All of which gets you a bevy of extra bonus content and more access to us, Bob and Brad, the guys you want to hang out with. So get on there.

57:01 Go to patreon.com/filmwhiskey man, when you started the pitch for the Patreon and you were like, you can give us money, I was like, oh, this is not going to be effective. But then you used the word bevy and you completely redeemed yourself. Brad. Yeah, I appreciate it, man. It's a dumb and Dumber moment, if I've ever seen it. All right. Next week we are rounding out season seven, our 32nd movie of the year. We're going to be joined by film critic Daniel Zwyo to talk about one of Hitchcock's best the 1950s suspense classic Dial M for Murder. So we'll see you next week for that. But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G and we'll see you next time.