The 39 Steps (2008) on Netflix
NR20081h 30mAdventureMysteryThriller
On the eve of World War I, mining engineer Richard Hannay is handed a coded notebook by a British agent in his London flat. German spies and the police give chase.
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- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.4/102,577 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
In London in June 1914, Richard Hannay, a mining engineer recently returned from Africa, finds English society cliquey, class-bound and dull. A freelance British agent named Scudder forces his way into Hannay's flat, saying he has been betrayed and is hunted. He has been tracking a German espionage ring based in Scotland and has heard of a plan to kill a European royal, which could mean war. He gives Hannay a notebook meant for Captain Kell. While Hannay answers the door, a German spy shoots Scudder. The police arrest Hannay for murder, and he escapes. Unable to reach Kell, Hannay opens the notebook: its pages are written in Roman numerals code, with a map at the back. He boards a train for Scotland, working at the cipher as he goes.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The 39 Steps (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Rupert Penry-Jones said Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest was more of a template for him than any version of The 39 Steps, and jokingly told the Daily Record's Tim Oglethorpe he would not appear unless the drama included the chase in which Hannay is pursued by a biplane.
- Set in 1914, the production used a Philips 78 gramophone even though the company was not established until 1950, placed Hannay's flat in a 1920s-style Art Deco building, and had the biplane that chases him be a 1916 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a.
- Director James Hawes shot the adaptation on 35mm film instead of high-definition cameras, because the HD cameras available on their budget were vulnerable in difficult weather conditions and the project's scale and big exterior locations still challenged HD.
