I'm normally the first to raise Cain when anyone dares imitate The Master. I had to see for myself what damage had been inflicted on one of Hitchcock's greatest films. I will admit that the stage satire of "The 39 Steps" was hilarious, clever and deeply reverential. Still, I approached this effort with a jaundiced eye - BBC productions tend to take themselves way too seriously. It turns out this teleplay was somewhat entertaining. There were lots of liberties taken with the story which didn't hold together very well. The superb locations were all beautifully photographed. Rupert Penry-Jones made an appealing hero as Richard Hannay, though certainly nowhere near Robert Donat's definitive portrayal. Lydia Leonard lacked the smoldering sensuality of Madeleine Carroll, greatly reducing the seductive interplay between the two main characters. Pleasantly diverting without desecrating the original (unlike Gus Van Sant's atrocious "Psycho" remake). Overall, not half bad.
Review of The 39 Steps
