I was looking forward to this, but it was a big letdown.
It started quite well with the scenes in Hannay's flat, but the chase was full of nonsense. The pursuers were often close on Hannay's heels for no clear reason, and some of the escapes were ludicrous and would have disgraced Enid Blyton's Famous Five -- in particular the escape from the so-called oubliette.
The scene with the biplane firing a machine gun was simply bolted on. (I read that Rupert Penry-Jones insisted on such a scene being included). In the book, more sensibly, it is merely a spotter plane.
The 39 steps themselves were virtually without any significance, and whoever heard of a flight of stairs with the number of steps inscribed at the top in Roman numerals? The obscure ending in which Hannay sees his beloved at the railway station did not help to redeem the weak plot.
On the good side, the acting was good by all concerned, and Penry-Jones seems tailor made for roles of this type.
It started quite well with the scenes in Hannay's flat, but the chase was full of nonsense. The pursuers were often close on Hannay's heels for no clear reason, and some of the escapes were ludicrous and would have disgraced Enid Blyton's Famous Five -- in particular the escape from the so-called oubliette.
The scene with the biplane firing a machine gun was simply bolted on. (I read that Rupert Penry-Jones insisted on such a scene being included). In the book, more sensibly, it is merely a spotter plane.
The 39 steps themselves were virtually without any significance, and whoever heard of a flight of stairs with the number of steps inscribed at the top in Roman numerals? The obscure ending in which Hannay sees his beloved at the railway station did not help to redeem the weak plot.
On the good side, the acting was good by all concerned, and Penry-Jones seems tailor made for roles of this type.