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 then he bargained for when secret agent, Scudder, bursts ... See full summary »

Director:

James Hawes

Writers:

John Buchan (novel), Lizzie Mickery (screenplay)

Stars:

Rupert Penry-Jones, Lydia Leonard, David Haig

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rupert Penry-Jones	...	Richard Hannay
Lydia Leonard	...	Victoria Sinclair
David Haig	...	Sir George Sinclair
Patrick Malahide	...	Professor Fisher
Patrick Kennedy	...	Hellory Sinclair
Eddie Marsan	...	Scudder
Alex Jennings	...	Captain Kell
Steven Elder	...	Vicar / Wakeham
Werner Daehn	...	Ackerman
Peter Stark	...	Engel
Del Synnott	...	London Constable
Roger De Courcey	...	Ventriloquist
David Gallacher	...	Professor's Butler
James Bryce	...	Concierge at Club
Stewart Preston	...	Waiter at Club

Storyline

Richard Hannay, a mining engineer on holiday from the African colonies, finds London socialite life terribly dull. Yet it's more then 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 coveting the Roman numerals code, which Hannay believes he must crack himself. Masquerading as a liberal party pundit, Richard also gets stuck with parliamentary candidate Sir George Sinclair's sister Victoria. They must survive with the secrets and decide who they can trust and how to keep it from others.

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Plot Keywords:

england | london england | scotland | explosion | biplane | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

28 December 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

39 Lépcsőfok

Filming Locations:

Sir Walter Scott steamer, Loch Katrine, Stirling, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

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'.

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Goofs

As the film is set before the start of the Great War in 1914, the featured biplane could not display red, white and blue RAF roundels as they were not introduced until December 1914: some months after the Great War had begun.

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Quotes

Richard Hannay: No one should involve themselves in intelligence work without a good breakfast.

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Connections

References North by Northwest (1959)

User Reviews

Heartily enjoyable TV Movie thriller

Not disappointing at all. I heartily enjoyed this reworking of The 39 Steps. The depiction of Hannay's well known terrible predicament and his single minded efforts to extricate himself from such was mounted well enough to furnish me with a riveting 90 minutes. The Photography, script and acting were entirely creditable. Certainly the suspension of disbelief was not maintained throughout. At times narrative expediency was a little disconcerting. But from the outset I detected the filmmaker's agenda of non seriousness. In Hannay's narration in the opening scene he tells us that the talk at his club was in part concerned with: "Hobbs' dismissal for four by Haig at the Oval." He then adds the self-knowing risible annotation: "that's cricket by the way." This sets one up for the not-that-deadly-serious content to follow.