The 39 Steps is a 1978 adaptation of the John Buchan novel. It's the 3rd adaptation of the film and Robert Powell plays Richard Hannay. There's a pretty good cast, including David Warner, Eric Porter, Karen Dotrice, John Mills, George Baker, Donald Pickering, Robert Flemyng, Timothy West and Andrew Keir. Michael Robson wrote the screenplay and Don Sharp directed.
The movie is set in 1914 and Richard Hannay is a mining engineer. He gets a visit from his neighbor Colonel Scudder, played by John Mills, who tells Hannay about some Prussian spies. Scudder is killed by those jerks, Hannay is blamed, and he goes on the run. Hannay gets some help from Karen Dotrice but it's touch and go as the enemy agents are hard on his train.
It's a fairly tight story with a nice quick pace. Good locations with plenty of nice scenery. One thing nice about the UK is there are so many nice old buildings around you can do a period drama up quite well. Same with the sets, props and costumes. I wasn't that familiar with Robert Powell, I can't say I've seen any of his work other than the 1969 movie The Italian Job. He did alright and I look forward to seeing him return to the character in the 1988 series Hannay.
Comments