The 39 Steps

In London the diplomat Richard Hannay witnesses a woman knocked down and killed by a car in the street. In the pram she was pushing there is no baby but a gun. The woman was a British agent, on the trail of an organisation trying to sell the secret of a British missile. The police hold Hannay responsible for the death. Hannay heads for Scotland, running from both the police and the organisation, without knowing who anyone is. This is a remake of Hitchcock's 1935 film; the distant source of both is John Buchan's novel of 1915. Ralph Thomas directed and Kenneth More plays Hannay. The film stays scene by scene close to the 1935 version, which makes comparison unavoidable; most critics wrote that Thomas did the job properly but could not catch Hitchcock's pace and sense of humour. The exteriors shot in Scotland are in colour and are the best thing in it.