Alfred Hitchcock directed this film in 1935. It's one of his greatest successes. The film is based on a novel by John Buchan, also known as Lord Tweedsmuir. The story has a Canadian mining engineer, Richard Hannay, unwillingly drawn into a spy chase when a woman unknown to him latches onto him as he's leaving a London theatre. She tells him she's a spy and that she needs his help. He's skeptical of her story, but he goes back to his London flat with her. Hannay is brilliantly played by actor Robert Donat. He turns out to be quite an interesting character, and a resourceful one at that. When the woman he returned home with turns up dead in his flat, Hannay flees London for Scotland, hoping to find a man he believes can clear him. The newspapers accuse Hannay of murder, so he knows he's a wanted man. During a chase through Scotland, Hannay finds he's not only pursued by the police for the murder he didn't commit, but by members of the spy ring the woman warned him about. Watch how he manages to deal with police, spies and a beautiful young woman played by Madeleine Carroll.
Review of The 39 Steps
