The films of Alfred Hitchcock, as even the most casual movie buff knows, manage to blend the comic, the romantic, the tragic and the political, all with a plot gripping thriller. The 39 Steps and The Lady Disappears, two works from the 1930s, are no exception. In the first case, a Canadian is tasked with transporting a secret to Scotland while on the run from the police; in the latter, an older woman disappears, leaving a perplexed younger woman who discovers a foreign spy ring while trying to find her. However, even though both of these plots contain dominant thriller elements and come from the same part of Hitchcock's career, they are by no means interchangeable. From the visuals to the characters, they are totally different works. As such, one of the best places to compare and contrast is in the films' opening sequences, where Hitchcock prepares for the intense action that is to follow. In The 39 Steps and Lady Vanishes, the two introductory sequences strive to capture the viewer's attention before the thrills begin; however, close analysis reveals that Hitchcock handles them quite differently....