The 39 Steps (U)

What are The 39 Steps?

That is the question Richard Hannay must ask himself after rescuing a young woman who alludes to an international plot involving an organisation by that name – only for her to wind up dead in his flat.

Finding himself the prime suspect in a manhunt, Hannay escapes London and travels to rural Scotland and back again, leaving a trail of chaos in his wake, as he desperately tries to discover the true meaning of the woman’s warning.

An early highlight of Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography, The 39 Steps laid the blueprint for many of the thrill rides to follow in the director’s career. It is here where he perfects the wrong man trope – played with unflappable brilliance by Robert Donat – and the MacGuffin plot device for the first time.