The 39 Steps

Presents the first in the long line of classic Hitchcock stories. Shows an ordinary person who is, by chance, put in an extraordinary situation in which he must run from both the police and the criminals while finding the real perpetrators to the crime that he is accused of committing. Shows how the hero, in a quest for the meaning of the clue of the "39 Steps," becomes involved in a murderous chase across the British Isles--while handcuffed to a woman who believes him to be a murderer. Stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is watching a demonstration of the superlative powers of recall of "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson) at a London music hall theatre. Hannay finds himself holding a seemingly frightened Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) who talks him into taking her back to his flat. She tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins, and that she has uncovered a plot to steal vital British military information. He sneaks out of his flat disguised as a milkman to avoid the assassins waiting outside. He then boards the Flying Scotsman express train to Scotland