The Thirty Nine Steps

1978

1h 42m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

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22 Images

Mystery

Thriller

The year is 1914 and Richard Hannay, Mining Engineer who is visiting Britain for a short time before returning to South Africa, is shocked when one of his neighbours, Colonel Scudder, bursts into his rooms one night and tells him a story that Prussian 'sleeper' agents are planning to pre-start World War I by murdering a visiting foreign minister. However, Scudder is murdered and Hannay is framed for the death by the 'sleepers'. Fleeing to Scotland Hannay attempts to clear his name and to stop the agents with the aid of Alex Mackenzie but not only is he is chased by Chief Supt Lomas for Scudder's death but by the agents who are headed by Appleton who has managed to hide himself in a high-placed position in the British Government...

Directors

Don Sharp

Writers

Michael Robson(screenplay by)

John Buchan(novel by)

Stars

Robert Powell

David Warner

Eric Porter

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Videos1

Trailer
Watch The 39 Steps (1978) Original Trailer

Photos22

Top cast

Robert Powell

Richard Hannay

David Warner

Sir Edmund Appleton

Eric Porter

Chief Superintendent Lomas

Alex Mackenzie

Scudder

Sir Walter Bullivant

Bayliss

Marshall

Porton

David

Lord Rohan

Magistrate

Harkness

McLean

Tillotson

Fletcher

Lord Belthane

Woodville

Directors

Don Sharp

Writers

Michael Robson(screenplay by)

John Buchan(novel by)

All cast & crew

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Review

Featured review

7/10

“Hannay” (Robert Powell) might have wished he hadn’t answered his front door when he encounters the fleeing “Scudder” (Sir John Mills) who seeks shelter in his flat. Quickly, he has regaled his host with tales of international espionage, murder and duplicity and before he knows it, “Hannay” is on a train heading for the highlands with the police and some murderous spies in hot pursuit. Luckily, he is quite a quick-witted sort of a gent, and so when he stumbles upon a grouse shoot at a grand country estate, he manages to befriend “Alex” (Karen Dotrice) and “David” (Miles Anderson) and with a bout of divertion at the local Liberal election hustings finds he must race back to London to alert “Insp. Lomas” (Eric Porter) to the dangers of the “39 Steps”, “Ariadne’s Thread” and a threat to plunge the Balkans into all out war. Though I still think Robert Donat’s was the best "Hannay” (1935), I think Powell holds this together quite well as he races up and down the country trying to stay alive and get to the bottom of things. Porter and David Warner also contribute quite effectively as this iteration of John Buchan’s story builds to quite a conclusion dangling from the arms of Big Ben. It does have more of a made for television look to it, and that does compromise some of the sense of menace as we proceed, but it’s a strong story well presented, and I enjoyed it.

Geronimo196731 Dec, 2025