One of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films, The 39 Steps tells the story of Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), a Canadian visitor to 1930's London. After a disturbance at a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim), a woman running from foreign agents. Hannay takes Smith back to his apartment, but they are followed and later that night Annabella is murdered. Hannay must go on the run so he can break the spy ring in order to prove his innocence.
The 39 Steps is the first in a line of Hitchcock films based upon the idea of an innocent man on the run, including Saboteur (1942) and North by Northwest (1959). Based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film departs substantially from Buchan's novel, introducing a love interest. In this film, 'The 39 Steps' refers to the clandestine organization itself, whereas in the book and in the other film versions, it refers to physical steps.
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