The 39 Steps

TV Movie
2008
TV-PG
1h 30m

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Eddie Marsan, Rupert Penry-Jones, and Lydia Leonard in The 39 Steps (2008)

Richard Hannay, a mining engineer on holiday from the African colonies, finds London socialite life terribly dull. Yet it's more than he bargained for when secret agent, Scudder, bursts into... Read allRichard Hannay, a mining engineer on holiday from the African colonies, finds London socialite life terribly dull. Yet it's more than he bargained for when secret agent, Scudder, bursts into his room and entrusts him a coded notebook with map, concerning the impending start of Wo... Read allRichard Hannay, a mining engineer on holiday from the African colonies, finds London socialite life terribly dull. Yet it's more than he bargained for when secret agent, Scudder, bursts into his room and entrusts him a coded notebook with map, concerning the impending start of World War I. In no time both German agents and the British law are chasing him, ruthlessly c... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

2.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win

Trivia
The ventriloquist on the train who helps Hannay to avoid the police, is Roger De Courcey a well known British performer, who used to appear with a teddy bear named 'Nookie Bear'.

Goofs
The three cars which feature in the film (the grey Morris that Hannay and Victoria steal, the Germans' green Darracq and Hellory's blue Humber) were all registered in the mid 1920s and are models which would not have been available in 1914 when the action in the film takes place.

Quotes
Richard Hannay: So, what's the story?
Scudder: [hesitantly] I am a freelance agent for the British Secret Service Bureau.
Richard Hannay: My housekeeper told me you were an accountant.
Scudder: I don't make a habit of telling people that I'm a spy. Last night I was supposed to meet someone from the Bureau to exchange information, but it was a double-cross. Obviously I've been betrayed. I've been on the trail of a German espionage ring and I've tracked down their headquarters to a village in Scotland.
Richard Hannay: [sarcastically] You should contact the Weekly News. They're offering ten pounds to anyone spotting a German agent. An espionage ring could make you a very wealthy man.

Connections
Featured in Masterpiece: The 39 Steps (2010)

User reviews47

Review

Featured review

5/10

Huge disappointment

In the case of "the book is better than the movie" this is an extreme example. It's such a shame that the BBC would allow Buchan's story to be so altered so that it would hardly resemble it.