The Thirty-Nine Steps Synopsis & Summary

This 1978 re-remake of The 39 Steps adheres more closely to the source novel by John Buchan than Alfred Hitchcock's better-known original, restoring the pre-World War I time frame of the Buchan story. Hannay (Robert Powell) is an innocent bystander, suspected by enemy agents of having intercepted their secret war plans. Pursued by both the spies and the police, Hannay runs for his life in the company of Alex (Karen Dotrice). The Thirty-Nine Steps ends with a "high and dizzy" sequence on the face of Big Ben, borrowed from the 1942 Will Hay comedy My Learned Friend. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide