History Film / The39Steps

* Film/TheThirtyNineSteps - directed by Don Sharp, starring Robert Powell

John Buchan's novel ''Literature/TheThirtyNineSteps'' has been adapted for film multiple times.

* Film/The39Steps1935 - directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Robert Donat

[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_39_steps.jpg]]

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The 1935 Creator/AlfredHitchcock film has [[Film/The39Steps1935 its own page]].
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''The 39 Steps'' (1959), directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Kenneth More, is more a {{remake}} of the 1935 film than an adaptation of the novel. As in the previous film, the setting was updated to the then-present day, and the villains were a spy ring intent on stealing British secrets.

!!This film provides examples of:

* TheCameo: A lot of them.
* CoolTrain: The LNER again plays a role in the remake, this time providing a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Peterborough_North_3_geograph-2284111-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg streamlined A4 Pacific]].
* NotHisSled: Unlike in the novel, the mysterious phrase "the 39 steps" [[spoiler:is the name of the spy ring]].
* TokenRomance: Adds a romance with a young woman Hannay meets while he's on the run.
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The 1978 film starring Robert Powell has [[Film/TheThirtyNineSteps its own page]].
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''The 39 Steps'' is a TV movie done for the 2008 Christmas season by Creator/TheBBC, starring Rupert Penry-Jones. It's set in 1914, but some liberties are taken to suit the 21st century idea of a proper spy thriller.

!!This TV Movie contains examples of:
* AnachronismStew: The scene where Hannay is chased by a biplane features a 1916 model fighter plane, and the car chases feature vehicles from the 1920s; the film-makers' excuse was that cars actually available in 1914 didn't have the oomph for an exciting chase. Then there's the building Hannay lives in (post-War Art Deco architecture) and the train he catches (a 1920s locomotive pulling 1950s carriages).
* CoolGuns: Scudder is armed with a Nagant [=M1895=].
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Victoria is apparently killed in the climactic fight, but the final scene reveals that she survived.]]
* {{Homage}}: The scene with the plane is a homage to that other Creator/AlfredHitchcock classic ''Film/NorthByNorthWest''.
* NotHisSled: Unlike in the novel, the mysterious phrase "the 39 steps" [[spoiler:refers to a flight of stairs leading down to a Scottish loch]].
* ShirtlessScene: It's got Rupert Penry-Jones in it, what do you expect?
* TokenRomance: Adds a romance with a young woman Hannay meets while he's on the run.

''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' (1978), directed by Don Sharp and starring Robert Powell, is a direct adaptation of the novel, with the original 1914 setting. This one is best remembered for the climax with Hannay hanging off the minute hand of the clock on [[ClockTower St. Stephen's Tower]] (aka Big Ben).

Inspired a TV series, ''Hannay'', also starring Robert Powell in adventures not based on any of Buchan's other novels.

!!This film provides examples of:

* ClockTower: St. Stephen's Tower is featured in the climax.
* MonumentalBattle: The climax features a battle in and around St. Stephen's Tower, which was added because it was felt the novel's denouement lacked action. The famous clock tower was chosen for thematic resonance with the idea of time running out before Europe was plunged into World War I.
* NotHisSled: Unlike in the novel, the mysterious phrase "the 39 steps" [[spoiler:refers to a staircase in St Stephen's Tower, leading to where the assassins have placed their bomb]].
* SwordCane: The main bad guy carries one.
* TokenRomance: Adds a romance with a young woman Hannay meets while he's on the run.
* TruerToTheText: Explicitly intended to be a more faithful adaptation that Hitchcock's version, which the producer described as "about 20 percent Buchan and 80 percent Hitchcock".

''The 39 Steps'' (1959), directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Kenneth More, is more a remake of the 1935 film than an adaptation of the novel. As in the previous film, the setting was updated to the then-present day, and the villains were a spy ring intent on stealing British secrets.

[[redirect:Literature/TheThirtyNineSteps]]