Hitchcock worked with screenwriter Charles Bennett a number of times, and the two collaborated on some of Hitchcock’s most popular 1930s and 1940s projects including The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Sabotage (1936), and Foreign Correspondent (1940). The 39 Steps only runs 87 minutes, and it’s a credit to Charles Bennett’s economical screenplay, and Hitchcock’s measured execution, that the film zips along but without losing character moments and dry British humor. But it’s through them that Hannay learns he’s wanted for murder.

For example, on a train, Hannay sits across two lingerie salesmen who prattle on about nothing. Hitchcock lets each episode breathe, adding in seemingly random bits of humor that do pay off with the story. The 39 Steps is quite episodic, as Hannay moves from location to location uncovering clues to the mystery. On the way he meets Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), and drags her along with him. When Smith is murdered, Hannay gets falsely accused of the crime, and has to evade the police as he tries to complete her mission. Hannay takes her to his apartment, where admits she fired the gun and she tells him about “the 39 steps,” and her mission to stop a spy ring from stealing British military secrets. Hannay encounters the secret agent Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) outside a music hall, after after a gunshot rings out inside. Very loosely based on the John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps, the film stars Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, a Canadian visiting London for a few months. The most famous version is the sprawling, iconic North by Northwest in 1959, but The 39 Steps is useful for showing Hitchcock’s minimalist technique when it comes to suspense. Then in 1935, Hitchcock released The 39 Steps, which is an early prototype for Hitchcock’s signature “wrong man” spy thriller that mixes in comedic elements and a winking, risqué romance. The first iteration of this theme is Hitchcock’s silent film The Lodger from 1927. Throughout his career, Alfred Hitchcock made a number of “wrong man” thrillers, usually featuring average civilians getting caught up in murder and/or espionage, on the run from the police, and out to prove their innocence. He began with Rear Windowand in his second installment, he highlights a classic 'wrong man' Hitchcock thriller. Manish breaks down the essential Hitchcock in his Beginner's Guide series.

The 39 steps john buchan summary