People may ask “what, another version?” but the basic story is so strong you can always come up with a fresh twist. This one shoves in a lot more Buchan but still makes a fair few changes.
Instead of smooth talking a milkman he smooth-talks a nurse (without doing the set up to the gag of first saying “people are trying to kill me”). There’s no brassiere salesman and the film uses narration, which doesn’t quite work (especially as it’s dropped after a while) – nor does the plane scene (a bit too close to North by Northwest) and political meeting.
However there is a bit with a ventriloquist and a dummy on a train which is quite effective, worthy of Hitchcock himself. Also it’s a bright idea to have the female lead as a suffragette who gets offended by Hannay’s speech at the political meeting – it gives them a reason to squabble without the dodgy undercurrents of Hannay abducting her. Also, when she joins in the action, Rupert Penry-Jones’s performance as Hannay (a little stiff) takes on an extra energy and the film becomes a lot more enjoyable.
Hannay doesn’t stumble into the baddy’s den he is caught and taken there – but he does blast his way out like he does in the book. Although the direction lacks energy or flair, and (like the 1978 film) it lacks a sense of humour, the final fight is quite good and the Scottish locations are enjoyable.
Watching all these versions of 39 Steps it's clear that when something really works they all have the same thing in common - the filmmakers own it. Whether its adapting Buchan or Hitchcock or coming up with something new - they're in with a chance provided they back themselves and make their own version of it. Eg The 1959 version worked best when it used Rank style comedy, and let its stars do their thing - but when they tried to copy Hitchcock shot structure it didn't work.
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