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The 100 best novels: No 42 - The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)

W hen 39-year-old John Buchan , recuperating from a duodenal ulcer, turned to writing (in a matter of weeks) a "shocker" or "dime novel" in the first months of the first world war, he was already the admired author of more than 10 works of fiction and spoken of in literary circles as a name to watch. Indeed, Buchan might quite plausibly have become a great Scots novelist following in the footsteps of Walter Scott and RL Stevenson. Instead, with ideal timing, he wrote another kind of classic, The Thirty-Nine Steps , an archetypal English spy thriller.

Long before the outbreak of war, the English reading public had become gripped by invasion fever. This was a volatile cocktail of jingoism and xenophobia inspired by the Anglo-German naval arms race and stoked by bestsellers such as The Great War in England in 1897 by William Le Queux and the infinitely greater 1903 classic The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers.

Buchan, who worked for the British War Propaganda Bureau, was well-versed in this Edwardian genre and the outbreak of war across the Channel became the perfect inspiration for a topical and thrilling tale of acute jeopardy involving British secrets, German spies and the sinister plotting of the Black Stone gang, a conspiracy hellbent on fomenting a vicious global conflict.

So far so (fairly) conventional. Buchan's contribution to this "dime novel" scenario was to create in his protagonist, Richard Hannay, an appealing antihero, both cool and brave, but also "pretty well disgusted with life" who, caught up in a high-octane international drama, has the resource, intelligence and daring to thwart a naked foreign attempt to drag Britain into war.

Hannay, who would feature in four more subsequent Buchan thrillers, is a mix of sleuth and action man, a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. His creator was obviously influenced by Conan Doyle ( No 26 in this series ) and would, in turn, later influence Graham Greene and Ian Fleming.

Buchan's other great contribution to this genre, which also owes something to Kidnapped ( No 24 in this series ) was to refine the "man on the run" yarn into a page-turning adventure. He knew exactly what he was doing, describing a "romance where the incidents defy the probabilities, and march just inside the border of the possible". None of this would have amounted to a hill of beans without Buchan's brisk characterisation, loving evocation of Scottish landscape and his switchblade prose. This is lethal, spare, clean and contemporary. When Hannay returns to his London flat after dinner in clubland, the reader can hardly escape the grip of Buchan's brilliant narration: "I snapped the switch, but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the far corner which made me drop my cigar and fall into a cold sweat." Now read on.

A note on the text

The Thirty-Nine Steps , a brilliantly teasing and memorable title, was first published as a serial adventure story in Blackwood's Magazine from August to September 1915, appearing in book form that same October from the Scots publisher, William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.

The book has never been out of print and has inspired many film and television adaptations: Alfred Hitchcock's liberty-taking 1935 version , starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, a female character absent from the novel; a 1959 colour remake ; a 1978 version , with Robert Powell as Hannay, that sticks rather more faithfully to Buchan's text than Hitchcock; and finally a 2008 British television version , starring Rupert Penry-Jones. There's also a long-running West End spoof abridgement, indicating the novel's enduring appeal.

Three more from John Buchan

Greenmantle (1916); Mr Standfast (1919); The Island of Sheep (1936).

• The 100 best novels
• John Buchan

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The Thirty-Nine Steps: Book Review

The Thirty-Nine Steps , written by John Buchan and published in 1915, was one of the first “conspiracy” spy thrillers. Critics regularly vote it one of the top ten spy thrillers of all time.

Warning: Major spoilers are blacked out like this [blackout]secret[/blackout]. To view them, just select/highlight them.

The Thirty-Nine Steps: Title

The title references the Goal archetype. The protagonist’s goal is to discover what ‘the thirty-nine steps’ are. Referencing one of the archetypes of the story in the title is a classic title generation technique.

(For more on titles, see How to Choose a Title For Your Novel )

The Thirty-Nine Steps: Logline

Just before the First World War, a Scottish adventurer finds a dead man in his flat, murdered by a German spy ring. The prime suspect for the murder, he goes on the run, and must evade capture, clear his name and save his country.

(For more on loglines see The Killogator Logline Formula )

The Thirty-Nine Steps: Plot Summary

It is 1914, just before the outbreak of World War One. Richard Hannay returns to London, having made his fortune in Africa.

Hannay meets a man who claims to be investigating a German spy ring known as the Black Stone. Hannay lets the man hide in his flat, but later finds him murdered. He fears the Black Stone will come for him next, as the murdered man had given him a notebook for safe-keeping before his death.

Reasoning that the police will arrest him for the murder, Hannay decides to go into hiding in his native Scotland. He escapes from his flat dressed as a milkman and takes the train to Scotland.

In Scotland

Hannay cracks the code in the notebook. It describes a German plan to start the coming war with a bolt-from-the-blue attack on the Royal Navy. The Black Stone are responsible for enabling the attack by stealing a document showing the Royal Navy’s dispositions. The phrase “The Thirty-Nine Steps” is prominent in the notebook, but without explanation.

An aeroplane pursues Hannay, as do the police and the Black Stone’s men. Every time they get close, Hannay has a lucky escape. He also meets a local landowner who believes his story and writes an introductory letter to a contact at the Foreign Office.

Eventually, the   Black Stone captures  Hannay . Luckily, the room they lock him in contains explosives, and he blasts himself out.

Back to London

Hannay returns to London to meet his Foreign Office contact, Sir Walter Bullivant. Bullivant promises to deal with the matter. After Hannay leaves Bullivant’s house, the police spot him. Still suspecting him as a murderer, they chase him back to Sir Walter’s house. Hannay enters just in time to see one of his pursuers from Scotland leaving the house dressed as the First Sea Lord…

The man [blackout]is an imposter with incredible mimicry skills, and a German spy. Hannay must stop him from returning to Germany with Britain’s naval secrets.[/blackout]

Hannay tries to work out what ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps’ are, [blackout] as he feels this is the key to catching the spy before he escapes. He deduces the phrase must refer to cliff-side villas in Kent, from where the spy could descend the steps to take a yacht to Germany.[/blackout]

With Bullivant, Hannay [blackout]finds a house backing on to the cliffs that has thirty-nine steps down to the sea. There is also a yacht offshore, and Hannay poses as a fisherman to reconnoitre it. The officer in charge appears to be German.[/blackout]

Hannay returns [blackout]and confronts the three men at the house, who claim to be innocent Englishmen. Eventually, Hannay penetrates their cover identities. Now sure they are the Black Stone, he calls in the police and they capture two of the conspirators. The last spy escapes to the yacht with the secrets, but unknown to him the police boarded the yacht before Hannay entered the villa. The final spy goes into custody and the Royal Navy is safe.[/blackout]

(For more on summarising stories, see How to Write a Novel Synopsis )

The Thirty-Nine Steps: Alternative Cover

The iconic image of The Thirty-Nine Steps is the man on the run. I loved the “staring in to the sun” feel of the silhouette and the lens flare. I thought reversing out the title balanced a cover that was bottom heavy otherwise, because of the plainness of the background.

(For more on designing novel covers see How to design a book cover ).

The Thirty-Nine Steps: Analysis

The Thirty-Nine Steps was the prototype of the ‘conspiracy’ sub-genre of the spy thriller (see Spy Novel Plots ).

The ‘Conspiracy’ Plot The Protagonist: Witnesses an inciting incident by a group of Conspirators headed by an unknown Antagonist. Realises they are not safe from the Conspirators. Is also not safe from the authorities, as they are tricked or infiltrated by the Conspirators. Goes the run, pursued by both the Conspirators and the authorities. Involves one or more Allies in their escape (Optionally there is romance subplot with one of the Allies). Narrowly avoids capture and death (or is captured and escapes) by both the Conspirators and the authorities. Works out who the Conspirators are. Persuades the authorities they should work together to stop the Conspirators. Confronts the Conspirators, unmasks the Antagonist and stops (or fails to stop) the Conspiracy.

Six Days of the Condor  and  North By Northwest  both follow the Conspiracy plot formula pioneered by The Thirty-Nine Steps.

Narrative Drive

Reading the plot summary above, it’s clear that The Thirty-Nine Steps relies mostly on fast pace to hold the reader’s interest.

John Buchan wrote originally The Thirty-Nine Steps for serial publication in Blackwood’s Magazine and shows that origin in being only novella length – around thirty thousand words. The thing with serials is  things have to happen. Each chapter has a physical or mental problem for Hannay to solve and ends in a cliffhanger; the narrative drive is relentless .

Curiously, the dénouement is one of the least action packed chapters. It turns on the somewhat ridiculous idea that Hannay can’t [blackout]recognise the spies who have chased him throughout the story. Once he finally sees through their disguise, they offer only token resistance.[/blackout]

Credibility

Hannay’s miraculous ability to escape from impossible situations through coincidence, the intervention of previously unmentioned people, and pure luck makes it hard to take his jeopardy seriously. Buchan himself did not regard his ‘shockers’ as his best work, and also wrote non-fiction and more literary novels. The writing is a hell of a lot better than the hackneyed prose of William Le Queux  though.

Of course, the language and the character’s attitudes are from a bygone age; John Buchan wrote the novel just before the First World War. That old-fashioned Britishness is part of the story’s charm, just as it is in the Riddle of the Sands.

The Thirty-Nine Steps: My Verdict

Hannay’s ability to escape traps through pure luck stretches credibility to breaking point for the modern reader. However, with its huge narrative drive, The Thirty-Nine Steps  showed the way the spy thriller had to develop. It remains a fun, quick read and well worth an afternoon’s attention.

The Thirty-Nine Steps: The Movies

The Thirty-Nine Steps is a perennial favourite for movie adaptations, and producers have dramatised it many times for film, television, radio and theatre.

The most famous adaptation is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 version. Hitchcock took the original conspiracy thriller and turned it into a romantic comedy-thriller. He has Hannay thrown together with, and handcuffed to, Pamela, an attractive young woman who he meets on the train to Scotland. The ending is also completely different to the book. Here’s the trailer:

The Thirty-Nine Steps was also remade in 1959, 1978 and 2008. None of the other filmed versions have been particularly faithful to the book either. They all change the secret the Black Stone has stolen, the major characters other than Hannay, the nature of the ‘thirty-nine steps’, or other key details. This is a symptom of the fact that the original book has a high concept , but the ending is neither action-packed nor visual enough.

Want to Read it?

The Thirty-Nine Steps  novel is available at Project Gutenberg here .

The Hitchcock movie version is available on Amazon US here,  and Amazon UK here.

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The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, Book Review

Do you love a good mystery me too you'll love the thirty-nine steps by john buchan. and more that likely, it's a book than you have never heard of before. it was written a long time ago., imagine talking to friends, telling them about a really great mystery you just read. they'll be green with envy because you know something that they don't., the thing is this, there are lots of really great mysteries that were written decades ago. and you'll never learn about them, unless someone like me tells you.

In a hurry? CLICK HERE to purchase your personal copy of The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan over at Amazon!

All the images in this post are clickable! And by the way, if you're looking to hone your problem solving skills, reading mysteries will help you.

Five Big Ideas from The Thirty-Nine Steps

• It's okay to be fearful, but don't let it prevent you from taking action.
• Think things through, then decide.
• It's possible to lead others who are senior to you.
• Things are seldom the way they seem. Dip below the surface.
• Don't overthink things and allow them to prevent you from taking decisive action.

Let Me Introduce You to The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan!

What is The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan About?

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan is narrated by 37-year-old Richard Hannay, who has recently returned to the United Kingdom after being away for a long time. He is bored and is thinking that he will give the place another day. And if nothing happens, he is going to leave.

That very evening, as he is about to enter his flat, a man who lives in the building approaches him. Mr Scudder is acting strange and wants to speak to Hannay inside his flat. Scudder, an American from Kentucky, spins an unusual dark tale to Hannay.

Scudder uncovers a plot to assassinate Constantine Karolides, a politician who will travel to the UK. Through a series of disguises, he arrives in the United Kingdom and has been living in the same building as Hannay.

Scudder stages his own death to deter those who want to see him dead because of what he knows. Hannay believes what Scudder has told him and allows him to stay in his flat. He notices Scudder is always writing in a little black book.

Four days later, in the evening, when Hannay returns to his flat, he finds Scudder stabbed to death. And skewered to the floor. He knows that if he stays, the police will blame him for the murder. And the killers will assume that Scudder has disclosed what he knows. The place has been ransacked. So the killers were searching for something.

Hannay remembers the little black book and begins a search. When he is not really looking, he finds it in his tobacco jar. Scudder writes in code, and Hannay has to find the cypher to crack the code. He is confident that he’ll be able to do that. The next morning, after spinning a tale to the milkman, he leaves wearing some of the milkman’s clothing.

After hours of trying, he finally cracks the code and can read what Scudder has written. At that point, he learns Scudder wasn’t completely honest with him. And that the situation is more dire. Scudder was the quintessential lone wolf, and wouldn’t be completely transparent with anyone, wanting the glory for himself.

As the story unfolds, we see a series of people who assist Hannay, whether they do so unwillingly, willingly and unknowingly. In The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, the police are close to capturing him. But he escapes into the hands of the killer,

“those eyes, cold, malignant, unearthly, and most hellishly clever. They fascinated me like the bright eyes of a snake.”

While locked away in a cold storeroom, Hannay devises his escape by relying on his skills. He is fearful, but doesn’t allow his fear crippling him. Hannay finds some Lentonite in the storeroom. But he cannot remember how much to use to blow up the room. He has fought in wars and has also worked in a role as an engineer. The reader cannot help but admire Hannay, because he thinks things through, then decides. Inaction is not a part of his fabric.

One person who is helpful to Hannay is Sir Harry, who sends a letter of introduction to his godfather, Sir Walter Bullivant. When Hannay finally gets to Sir Walter, because of the introduction, the way has been paved and he can tell the man all that has transpired. He shows him the little black book.

During their conversation, Hannay learns he is no longer a suspect because Scudder had written to Sir Walter to protect Hannay in the event of his demise. Sir Walter is not convinced of what he reads in the little black book because Scudder is prone to exaggeration. However, he receives a call and learns that Constantine Karolides has indeed been assassinated and realizes that he has to take what is written in the little black book as the truth.

What I like about John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps is Richard Hannay’s ability to work through problems by reasoning. He is also a leader, who can lead those more senior than he is. As a reader, we learn things are not always as they seem.

And we shouldn’t overthink things too much and get off the correct track because we doubt the decisions that we have made. The book is short, but is filled with mystery, and allows us to test our problem-solving skills. Buchan’s use of language allows him to get his point across to the reader in a minimum number of words.

Should You Buy The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan?

• The book is filled with mystery and intrigue.
• If you want to hone your problem-solving skills, this book is for you.
• If you love a good mystery, this book is for you!

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The Thirty Nine Steps

40 pages • 1 hour read

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Summary and Study Guide

The Thirty-Nine Steps , an early spy thriller, was published by Scottish author John Buchan in 1915. It was the first of five books to feature protagonist Richard Hannay . Alfred Hitchcock adapted the story to film in 1935, emphasizing the thriller elements and changing most of the secondary characters. A theatrical version, which drew from Hitchcock’s movie but restored the comedic tone of Buchan’s novel, ran in London’s West End for 10 years. Buchan’s story of a young man who does his best to serve his country while caught up in intrigues beyond his control has proved enduringly popular.

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Plot Summary

Thirty-seven-year-old mining engineer Richard Hannay has recently returned to London from the British colony of Rhodesia in southern Africa. Just as he is feeling bored by the monotony of life in town, he is approached by an upstairs neighbor, Franklin P. Scudder , who tells him about a plot to send the world into war by assassinating Greek politician Constantine Karolides and stealing British naval plans. Though Scudder expresses antisemitic views and eccentric theories, Hannay feels inclined to believe him.

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A few days later, Scudder is murdered inside Hannay’s apartment. Fearing both that the people responsible for the murder will come after him and that British authorities might blame him for the murder, Hannay flees to Scotland. For three weeks, he is pursued by the police as well as the German spies who killed Scudder. Along his journey, he deciphers Scudder’s encoded notebook, which contains details about an espionage group called the Black Stone and repeated mentions of “39 steps.”

The stakes begin to rise when Hannay meets a key member of the Black Stone whom Scudder had warned him about. The man traps Hannay in a storeroom, but he uses knowledge from his work as a mining engineer to blast his way out. Hannay is injured in the explosion, but he escapes.

Hannay then finds Scudder’s ally Sir Walter at his country home. They discuss Hannay’s recent experiences and the Black Stone’s involvement. Sir Walter thinks Scudder’s fears were exaggerated. He is proven wrong, however, when Karolides is assassinated. Knowing this will destabilize geopolitical relations and that the Black Stone also want to steal British naval secrets, Sir Walter and Hannay return to London.

Sir Walter meets with a French spy and a few other British officials. Hannay realizes their meeting was infiltrated by a disguised member of the Black Stone. Their only hope to stop the plans from getting out is to find the port where the Black Stone members will try to depart England. Hannay realizes he had the answer in Scudder’s notebook from the beginning, a coastal landing in Kent accessible by 39 steps.

Hannay and a Scotland Yard deputy go to the location. As they scout and infiltrate a seemingly normal English summer house, Hannay worries he has the wrong men. He remembers, though, that they are masters of disguise. In a climactic moment, Hannay blows a whistle, and reinforcements arrive. The youngest member of Black Stone seems to escape, but when the old man thinks he is victorious, Hannay reveals that their getaway yacht has been under English control for several hours. The story quickly concludes with Hannay taking pride in his service and stating that he joined the British army when World War I started a few weeks later.

by John Buchan

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Written by Polly Barbour and other people who wish to remain anonymous

There is talk of war in Europe; it is May, 1914, and Richard Hannay , a Scot, is starting afresh in London after time spent in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He is gregarious and talks to strangers in passing, but one seems to attach himself more than the average casual acquaintance. Franklin P. Scudder is an American who is convinced that the world is about to erupt into war. He tells Hannay that he is actually dead, which of course intrigues Hannay, because it is not often one finds oneself talking to a dead man. Scudder elaborates and tells Hannay that he is a freelance spy and has faked his own death in order to be able to conduct his investigations more safely. He tells of a group of Germans chasing him, and Hannay offers to allow him to stay at his flat for a little while. Unfortunately this does not seem to throw the Germans off the scent; one evening, a man who lives in Hannay's building is murdered, and a couple of days after that, Hannay returns home to his flat to find that Hannay too has been murdered, stabbed in he heart.

This worries Hannay. What if the murderers come back for him or think he is somehow working with Scudder? He is also worried because he realizes he will be the prime suspect in the murder of a man staying in his flat. All things considered he decides it will be safer to head back to his native Scotland. He is convinced that the German spies are now watching him, and because of this he talks the milkman into letting him borrow his uniform so that he can sneak out of the building without being noticed. It works, and he manages to get to the train station to leave town. He is already thinking like a spy, and although he is going to a remote town called Galloway, he tells the ticket clerk that he is going to the small town of Newton Stewart. Once in Galloway, he finds a shepherd's cottage that is deserted and decides to stay there. However, he learns from reading the newspaper the next day that he is indeed a wanted man, and the police are looking for him in connection with the deaths of two men in his apartment building. He decides to keep moving; the police will probably believe him to have gone to the west coast, so the most logical thing for him to do is go to the east instead. Part way across the country by rail he jumps the train, and finds an inn to stay at for the night. When two men arrive at the inn looking for him, he steals their car whilst they are inside asking questions about him.

While he has been "on the run", Hannay has been reading Scudder's notebooks and he is struggling to solve most of the codes contained within it, but he does manage to solve a substitution cipher, which is making him question the stories that Scudder told him when they first met. The general suspicion that Britain is about to be invaded by Germany does seem to appear in the notebooks, though, and Hannay still believes that the men following him are German spies.

He hides in the countryside but it is getting more and more difficult to evade capture, especially when there are planes looking for him as well as the pursuers on foot. He meets a man mending the road, and the workman willingly trades clothes with him, and goes home, leaving Hannay working on the roadway in his place. His pursuers are fooled; they see him but do not notice him, and pass him by. Another change of clothes occurs when he randomly runs into someone he knows from London; they swap outfits and the Londoner drives him across the moorland, enabling him to pull off another miraculous escape. Hannay continues to stay a step ahead of his pursuers, always coming upon people who are willling to help him out However, his luck runs out when he engages the help of an elderly man who allows him to stay overnight at his cottage; the man is one of his enemies and locks Hannay into a store-room. Clearly the man did not think ahead; there is bomb-making equipment stored in the room and Hannay uses this to break out of the cottage, although he is injured during the escape.

The workman mending the road has been looking after his belongings since their encounter on the moors; he also allows Hannay to stay at his home to recuperate after escaping from the store-room. A few days later, feeling stronger again, Hannay takes a train back to England, but changes trains several times along the way in hopes of making it harder to trail him. Whilst in Scotland he had made acquaintance with a would-be politician named Sir Harry, and upon his arrival in Berkshire, in the south of England, seeks out Sir Harry's relative Sir Walter Bulivant, who works at the Foreign Office. Whilst the men are talking Sir Walter receives a telephone call and learns that the Greek Prime Minister Karolides has been assassinated during his official diplomatic visit to London; this is exactly what Scudder had predicted when he and Hannay first met. Sir Walter shares some military secrets with Hannay, and invites him to stay with him at his London home. As he leaves, he sees Sir Walter meeting with some important officials, one of whom, ostensibly a Chief of Staff with the Royal Navy, he recognizes as one of the men pursuing him. He tells Sir Walter that the man is not who he claims to be; he is a spy and is about to return to Europe with knowledge of British defense plans. He has deciphered the phrase "the thirty nine steps" several times in Scudder's notes, and now believes it might refer to the landing point on England's coast that the spy is planning on sailing home from.

Sir Walter, Hannay and the remaining team of strategists from the War Office brainstorm through the night and come to the conclusion that the location is a coastal town in Kent, where there is a path down from the cliff top that has thirty nine steps. They notice a yacht offshore and they disguise themselves as fishermen so that they have reason to approach. At least a couple of the yacht crew seem to be German. The people on the shore seem English, but they also match the descriptions that Scudder wrote in his notebook of the people who have been conspiring to invade Britain. Hannay is left alone on shore and decides to take the people on himself. Two of the men are captured but one runs away to the yacht, but he does not get far because British authorities seize it. The plot to steal British war strategy has been thwarted and as World War One breaks out, the secrets of the defense of the realm are kept. Hannay joins the army as soon as war is declared, and is immediately made a commissioned officer.

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The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel) Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel) is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Anyone looking for ambiguity in the dividing line between good and evil within the milieu of international espionage should look elsewhere. The Thirty-Nine Steps is an old-fashioned tale of the good guys against the bad guys and except for a few...

What did he find in Scudder's black book?

This book, written in a code that Hannay must decipher, contains everything that Scudder has uncovered in regards to the Black Stone's espionage plot. Some of it is very cryptic. Hannay uses the book to both uncover the identity of the "old...

How does the writer use language to create a sense of Hannay's discomfort?

Buchan uses simile and descriptive language to describe the narrator's thirst and the physical effects of hiding on the roof.

All that long blistering afternoon I lay baking on the rooftop. Thirst was my chief torment. My tongue was like a stick,...

Study Guide for The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel)

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel) study guide contains a biography of John Buchan, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel)
• Character List

Essays for The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel)

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel) essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel) by John Buchan.

• The Thirty-Nine Steps: Chapter Five Close Reading

Wikipedia Entries for The Thirty-Nine Steps (Novel)

• Introduction
• Principal characters

Book Review: The 39 Steps

It’s weird to think that stories like The 39 Steps have only been around for 100 years. Perhaps their ubiquity in modern action thrillers has made me numb to their “man on the run” plotline, but I didn’t find this book to be as interesting as I had expected. Sure, it’s short, but how many of its twists and turns were merely repeating the same way of escaping the main character’s pursuers time and again? And perhaps that’s the main issue I have with this book: the main character seemed to be too skilled at eluding capture for it to be believable.

I know the “wrong man” trope that thrusts an ordinary person into these kinds of circumstances isn’t as realistic as it could be, but when Richard Hannay just happens to know exactly what to do at each instance, I wonder how “ordinary” he really is. Don’t get me wrong, the chase is exciting, it’s just oddly convenient for the protagonist. Of course, maybe I was already ruined by having seen Alfred Hitchcock’s version of this story in The 39 Steps (1935), which added in elements of romance and changed some key plot points.

In the end, The 39 Steps still stands as one of the originators of its genre. Even if the style has morphed and evolved over time, it’s essential to recognize where it came from and what its early influences were. If you’re interested in the history associated with the genre, then this book for you. Heck, if you have a few hours to kill in an airport or waiting room, this book might be the ticket. Just don’t expect much out of it other than some slightly-entertaining distraction.

A basic, if perhaps unbelievable story, in the early action-thriller genre, I give The 39 Steps 3.0 stars out of 5.

The 39 Steps

• Blu-ray edition reviewed by Chris Galloway
• June 24 2012

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A heart-racing spy story by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) as he stumbles upon a conspiracy that thrusts him into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors—a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued—as well as into an unexpected romance with the cool Pamela (Madeline Carroll). Adapted from a novel by John Buchan, this classic wrong-man thriller from the Master of Suspense anticipates the director’s most famous works (especially North by Northwest ), and remains one of his cleverest and most entertaining films.

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Theater Review | 'Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps'

Spies, Blonde and a Guy Go North by Northwest

By Ben Brantley

• Jan. 16, 2008

It’s all too easy to identify with Richard Hannay as he first appears in “The 39 Steps,” the absurdly enjoyable, gleefully theatrical riff on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film. True, the odds are that you’re not as deeply, fatuously handsome as Richard (Charles Edwards), or as square of jaw, clipped of diction or cocked of eyebrow.

Still, there’s something about Richard’s restless ennui in the first scene of this production, which opened on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Theater, that rings loud and true with New Yorkers sinking into the gray oatmeal of January in the city.

Bored with the tedium of his life, Richard is also fed up with newspapers bearing tales of “elections and wars and rumors of wars.” He longs for “something mindless and trivial. Something utterly pointless.” His jaw unclenches for a “Eureka!” moment. “I know!” he says. “I’ll go to the theater!”

On the evidence of “The 39 Steps,” directed by Maria Aitken and performed by a cast of four that seems like a cast of thousands, this is very sound advice. Adapted by Patrick Barlow from both the classic spy movie and the John Buchan novel of 1915, this fast, frothy exercise in legerdemain is throwaway theater at its finest. And that’s no backhanded compliment.

A perfect soufflé, after all, requires a precise and confident chef. While the small, heavy-duty ensemble — rounded out by Arnie Burton, Jennifer Ferrin and Cliff Saunders — exudes a breezy effortlessness, its words and movements are governed by an intricate master plan that the plot’s hapless double agents and policemen would do well to emulate.

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Cinema essentials.

• 1930s films
• British films
• Madeleine Carroll
• Miles Malleson
• Peggy Ashcroft
• Robert Donat

The 39 Steps (1935)

Thanks so much for taking part. This is such a great film. Donat is perfect as the suave man caught up in something out of his control. I'm surprised he never again worked with Hitch. Saboteur is the film that most reminds me of this one. Maddy

I read that Hitch wanted Donat for Sabotage but there were contractual issues. I can easily imagine him in the Redgrave part in The Lady Vanishes.

I've watched this film so many times over my life that I'm in danger of taking it for granted. Your article pulled me up short and helped stop that.

Hi Caftan Woman Have you seen any of the remakes? I'm fond of both the 1959 and 1978 versions. The '59 one is almost a total failure as a thriller, but it still has a lot of charm as a star vehicle for Kenneth More. Jay

Wonderful review! I had, indeed, forgotten the MacGuffin! I agree with you that this is the first film with all the "Hitchcock touches". And, contrary to Charles Bennett, I don't think the original story in the book was so bad! Don't forget to read my contribution to the blogathon! :) Cheers! Le http://www.criticaretro.blogspot.com

Thanks Le. I agree with you that Bennett was too harsh on the book, it's quite decent really, although the film improves on it in some ways, especially the addition of Pamela and the other female characters. Jay

What an excellent review! It really made me want to watch the film again. You really manage to capture all the essence of the film.

Thanks, Virginie, for your kind words, it's much appreciated. Jay

Again, thanks for taking part in the blogathon! Of Hitchcock's early films, The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes are my favourites. I do think you summarised the film quite well. It really was in many ways the first true Hitchcock film. All of the elements are there, and Madeleine Carroll is not only the first Hitchcock blonde, but for me one of the best!

I can't choose between this one and The Lady Vanishes, they are both so good. But I like Young and Innocent a lot too, it's pretty underrated. And Madeleine Carroll is great, she's definitely one of my favourites too. Jay

Agreed – this has all the best elements of a Hitchcock film, and they're put together beautifully. This film never gets old, does it?

No it doesn't, and I think a lot of it has to do with Donat, he's such an appealing hero. Jay

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The 39 Steps review – ‘It is rare to see an Oxford play take itself as seriously as this 39 Steps – that is, not a jot’

I would not be leaking sensitive information if I were to reveal that I like comedies. Look at my files and you can see that I have gone on record claiming that comedy is the perfect antidote to the tribulations of Oxford life. Antonia Hansen’s adaptation of the Alfred Hitchcock spy satire The 39 Steps covertly promised to defy seriousness and deliver a light-hearted experience: suffice to say, this placed it firmly on my radar. Much like these spy puns, The 39 Steps expertly parodies a tired genre with a solid knowledge of its fundamentals, but sometimes ends up inheriting the weaknesses of its source material.

Taking our seats to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, the mellow yellow lighting against which the actors dissolve into silhouettes, Benedict Turvell knocking back enough apple juice to keep a nursery buzzing for hours; the stage designers nail the thriller, film-noir aesthetic. “Who the bloody hell cares, actually?” about wars, everyman Richard Hannay (Benedict Turvell) questions as he slouches in his armchair, solemnly recounting the events of his life. The 39 Steps has all the mystery tropes: an innocent man on the run, framed for the murder of an international spy; questionable, misogynistic flirtation; an eccentric spy-ring leader.

Except, The 39 Steps subverts all of that in favour of conjuring up a world of absurd unreality. Our hero, Richard, is both acutely aware of the artificiality of the world he inhabits and ridiculously unfit for the role into which he is thrust. Turvell embodies his character’s mannerisms perfectly, his eccentric tilting of the head, his awkwardness, his lanky, puppet-like run during the Scooby Doo chase sequences. Although loveable, his character can feel a little strained and confused: how can a character break the fourth wall so much, yet still get caught out by predictable thriller conventions?

Luckily, his reason serves as a great foil to the caricatures of the other actors. From Richard’s first meeting with intelligence agent Annabella Schmidt (Miranda Mackay), the play erupts into a series of ‘Allo ‘Allo! -style accent exchanges. Carlo QC and Jon Berry, the plays aptly named ‘clowns’ perform an impressive range of characters, from two perverted Englishmen on a train, to the innkeepers Mr and Mrs McCarrigle. Their attention to conveying idiosyncrasies diversifies each of their characters, even if they both share a Scottish accent, for example. Berry’s maniacal Professor Jordan even challenges Richard’s motivations as being romanticised, something akin to a spy novel, before growing a stereotypical German accent mid-sentence. The accents are hilarious, for sure, but they can drift towards over-the-top caricature, especially as the script becomes more repetitive in the second half.

Elsewhere, the producers successfully utilise the amateurish feel and low budgets typical of student theatre to further destroy any shred of realism. A fan appears during a train chase sequence while Richard and his pursuers flap their coats with their hands. That same train is composed of a few boxes arranged in a grid and the characters bouncing up and down in their chairs. Clever uses of lighting and sound are not always synchronised with the actors’ movements. Cheeky chappy Richard knowingly winks at the lighting and sound technicians as he opens and closes the doors to a party at the villain’s mansion, lights and jazz music cutting in and out whenever it feels like it. Such moments were so brilliantly timed that I could not decipher whether they were intentional or not, but they added to the sense that the world of The 39 Steps plays by different rules to its characters. Professor Jordan threatens Richard to join him and the cheesy party music cuts in for a split second. One of the villainous henchmen (also played by Berry) remarks on the sudden appearance of thick fog, but it is a solid five seconds before a fog machine is wheeled into the corner. Intentional or not, the actors adapt to the situations, and the result is comedy gold.

Without a doubt, the strongest aspect of the acting is physical theatre, an element often overlooked in comedy. The 39 Steps has an almost cinematic quality in its visual humour: Annabella (also Miranda Mackay) is careful not to reveal the knife in her back until she flops onto Richard, who exclaims “golly!”. Rather than simply moving the body, Richard instead decides to wriggle out of his armchair. This ingenious moment, and moments of a similar nature, had me in fits.

Annabella’s was not the only corpse onstage, however: some accents were so cartoony that not even the actors themselves could resist laughing. What is more, the marathon running time combined with the declining quality of the script and originality in the second half meant that, by the play’s conclusion, the actors were some of the only people still laughing. The play loses its steam after the interval, as characters incessantly repeat their, and each other’s, lines. For the actors to stay in character for such a long production was commendable, but they appeared drained of all vivacity by the end.

A word must be said about irony. The 39 Steps is steeped in so many layers of self-parody that identifying intentionality is futile. The ‘battle between the sexes’ has long been a staple of comedy, but especially in spy films. The 39 Steps has faith in its audience to interpret for themselves what is satire and what is serious, and some of these gags are genuinely funny: whenever a pink light is switched on, the characters are obliged to get lovey-dovey, reflecting the contrived and unrealistic relationships depicted in spy flicks. That said, the play never progresses beyond nostalgia, beyond pointing and laughing at tropes, and I quickly tired of the same “your non-existent husband is a lucky man” jokes and cringeworthy 60’s Bond humour.

The 39 Steps is rough around the edges, surely, but it acknowledges this and transforms it into a veritable parodic strategy. It is rare to see an Oxford play take itself as seriously as this 39 Steps – that is, not a jot – and difficult to get bogged down in negativity for too long over a play that so whimsically defies generic convention for the sake of putting a smile on one’s face. If Inspired Productions wanted to convince us that there is a place for light-hearted and nostalgic comedy in Oxford, then they certainly succeeded there.

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Retro review: The 39 Steps (1935)

I enjoy watching films which inspired beloved tropes and genres for decades afterwards. Alfred Hitchcock invented the conventions of spy thrillers, based on John Buchan’s book of the same name from 1915.

What Metropolis (1927) did for science fiction and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1922) for horror, The 39 Steps does for high-tech action-adventure; everything has its roots here. It’s a short film – only 82 minutes – so this will be a short review.

The film deviates from the plot of the book in a significant number of ways. The book is a pre-war thriller about a plot to assassinate a Greek leader (thus sparking war in Europe). The film concerns a conspiracy to steal plans for a British aviation engine by un-named foreign powers.

“Well Mr Hannay, I’ve been guilty of leading you down the garden path… or should it be up? I can never remember.” “It seems to be the wrong garden, all right.”

The capable hero Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is the precursor to Roger O Thornhill in North By Northwest (1959): the unsuspecting everyman caught up in international espionage, and forced to go on the run, completely out of his depth. He’s a dapper fellow: handsome, good hair, thin moustache, and well-scripted with dry, witty one-liners decades before action heroes like James Bond and his successors (and the relentless tension-defusing gags ushered in by Joss Whedon characters and overdone by Marvel films).

Hannay is propelled into the story by a woman called Annabella on the run from the conspirators – she stays with him long enough to pass on a few cryptic clues before being assassinated (and Hannay is framed for her murder, leading him to flee London). The character is gender-swapped from ‘Scudder’ in the book – oh no! It’s Hollywood woke gone mad!!!

Avoiding the authorities is another popular trope, as seen in The Fugitive (1993), Enemy Of The State (1998), and the Bourne Identity series (starting in 2002, based on Robert Ludlum’s 1980 novel). In this film, the beginning of the chase – in which Hannay disguises himself as a milk delivery man – comes from the book.

Following Annabella’s clues, Hannay boards the first train to Scotland, prompting the first of many chases through railway carriages in cinema: it was repeated in North By Northwest (if anything, this film is almost like a trial run of Hitchcock’s later production); cropped up several times in Bond films (starting with 1963’s From Russia With Love ); The First Great Train Robbery (1978, starring Sean Connery and based on a 1975 Michael Crichton novel); Under Siege 2 (1995); Mission: Impossible (1996); and so on. A particular highlight is a special effects stunt sequence on the Forth Rail Bridge (replicated in the 1978 adaptation of the book).

On the train, Hannay ends up in the carriage compartment of Pamela (Madeleine Carroll). As the police search for him, he kisses her to avoid detection. But Pamela’s a woman who can look after herself and won’t take any crap from a sex pest, even in pre-#MeToo days: when the police arrive she tells them he is the man they’re after and, well, he’s screwed.

Even so, their paths cross again when the baddies capture them both and handcuff them together. Hannay goes on the run again, handcuffed to Pamela, and must somehow persuade her that he’s an innocent man . He helps her dry her stockings after a rainstorm; and when she frees herself (showing that that she’s resourceful and independent) she learns truth of situation on her own terms. She’s a thoroughly modern woman who’ll steal the bedsheets ( oh no! It’s Hollywood woke gone mad!!! ).

Another aspect of modern films that, frankly, isn’t so modern is in the use of new or nearly-to-be-released technology. Bearing in mind this was made in 1935, the idea of using radio to try capturing Richard Hannay was pretty modern; but the special effect model of a police helicopter searching for him nudges the film into the realm of high-tech, plausibly near-future thrillers (along the lines of F-35 jets appearing in 2007’s Live Free Or Die Hard – aka Die Hard 4.0 ).

Travel to exotic, foreign locales where the culture is very different is also a feature of slick spy thrillers. In this case… (sigh) okay, Scotland… but the Highlands make a dramatic backdrop, and they popped up in Bond films from From Russia With Love to Skyfall .

It’s in the Highlands that the film takes a bit of time to make use of local flavour. Among the help Hannay receives, there’s the lonely and repressed Glasgow wife with an older, religious husband, who’s obviously taken with Hannay, and wishes her brush with excitement could last a little longer. For scenery, there’s a sped-up film of the foot chase through highland hills and waterfalls; and there’s a clever trick shot of a conversation in the back of car; the camera moves out back window and tracks the car driving off through Scottish hills in a seamless transition (predating the camera trickery of 1941’s Citizen Kane ).

It’s also in the Scottish Highlands we meet the suave, high-status villain with connections to police (again bearing similarities to North By Northwest ). This was still an era of gentlemanly conduct, and even the baddies would never stoop to crude murder (at least, not without a civil conversation beforehand). And during Hannay’s chase, he must improvise his way through a local political gathering pretending to be a political candidate. (I got echoes of this moment in films like 1998’s A Life Less Ordinary , in which Ewan McGregor’s fugitive protagonist has to pretend to be a pop star lying low and is thrust on stage to sing a song).

I’m skimping a lot of specific plot details because I’m recommending this film. Suffice to say, nothing goes to waste (as you’d expect in such a short film). It balances tension and humour as adeptly as any 21st-century blockbuster (perhaps more so). Incidental characters are written to have, well, character – you get a vivid sense that they each have their own lives beyond the story.

When it comes to films like this – which seem to be the origin of so many beloved tropes – do we say they’re ahead of their time? Or do we say that almost everything that follows is derivative? At the very least, we can appreciate them despite their age.

Regardless of these questions, we’re simply left with the question: does this film still entertain?

For me, someone who wants to take films on their own terms, the answer is “yes”; it may be damn near 90 years old, but a good film is still a good film. Try it; you might like it!

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2 responses to “ retro review: the 39 steps (1935) ”.

I’m sometimes surprised by the movies I *haven’t* seen o.O

Oh, tell me about it! But when I get the chance and the mood takes me… 🙂

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The 39 Steps (Classics Illustrated) Hardcover – January 19, 2016

• Reading age Baby - 11 years
• Print length 52 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 2 - 3
• Dimensions 6.75 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
• Publisher Classics Illustrated Comics
• Publication date January 19, 2016
• ISBN-10 1910619868
• ISBN-13 978-1910619865
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Classics Illustrated Comics (January 19, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 52 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1910619868
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1910619865
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ Baby - 11 years
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 2 - 3
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
• #416 in Children's Classic Adaptation Comics & Graphic Novels
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Review: THE 39 STEPS, Richmond Theatre

After nearly a decade in the West End, the fun and madness of The 39 Steps is back on a UK tour

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Tom Byrne takes on the role of Richard Hannay , a bored man with a boring life who meets a woman claiming to be a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, the safety of the nation is at stake. A mysterious organisation called "The 39 Steps" is in pursuit of Hannay in a manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying and anarchic chase across the country, handcuffed to a woman named Pamela.

Byrne is hugely likeable as the affable Hannay, with more than a touch of Bertie Wooster-esque mannerisms. Safeena Ladha takes on the role of the three main female characters. As spy Annabella Schmidt , her cod-German accent could be ramped up to get more laughs, but she excels as the prim and proper Pamela.

Barlow’s adaptation often succeeds or fails on its two clowns. In a first for the production, one of the clown roles is taken on by a woman, Maddie Rice. Eugene McCoy and Rice have brilliant chemistry and bounce off each other throughout. Their scene on the train is particularly well executed, with deft movement and fluid banter. They are also great as the witless Scottish hoteliers, kitted out in kilts and sock suspenders.

This show remains an incredible challenge for the four actors, playing 139 roles in 100 minutes. They all demonstrate wit, energy and great dexterity in the physical tasks they must get through. Slapstick and farce is one of the most difficult genres to pull off and it is clear that the cast has worked very hard to achieve a very funny performance.

Tour director Nicola Samer deftly finds order in the mayhem, although a couple of scene changes could be speedier. The cast, in turn, support one another even though there often barely seems time to blink. Huge credit for this must also go to movement director Toby Sedgwick .

John Wright , the famous clowning practitioner, writes about complicity as an act of being an accomplice in his book  Why Is That So Funny . He writes “Complicity is the art behind everything…In theatre, complicity is a creative force in its own right” . This production is something of a feat in complicity. Individually the performers are all strong, but they are also tight as an ensemble; it is pretty joyful theatre to watch.

As always, Hitchcock’s influence is ever-present with many spoken, visual and musical references. He even makes an amusing cameo appearance, as he did in all his films.

There is a warmly old-fashioned, gently self-mocking feel about this production. Like putting on an old pair of slippers, it is not challenging or groundbreaking, but feels reassuring and very comforting to have it back.

The 39 Steps runs at Richmond Theatre until 6 April, then touring until 3 August

Photo Credits: Mark Senior

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