John Buchan - Creator of the modern spy novel.
by alexanderdavies-99382 | created - 02 Dec 2021 | updated - 5 months ago | PublicSpy novels owe a debt to John Buchan's "The Thirty Nine Steps." Its influence on the genre remains just as relevant, over 100 years since the book was published.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The 39 Steps (1935)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle
Votes: 61,565
2. The 39 Steps (1959)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In London, a diplomat accidentally becomes involved in the death of a British agent who's after a spy ring that covets British military secrets.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: Kenneth More, Taina Elg, Brenda de Banzie, Barry Jones
Votes: 2,336
3. The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)
PG | 102 min | Crime, History, Mystery
In March 1914, a mining engineer named Richard Hannay tries to prevent Prussian Agents from executing a political assassination designed to trigger World War I.
Director: Don Sharp | Stars: Robert Powell, David Warner, Eric Porter, Karen Dotrice
Votes: 2,779
The most faithful version to the novel.
4. The 39 Steps
Drama, Thriller | Announced
Follows an ordinary man, who becomes an unwitting pawn in a vast, global conspiracy to reset the world order.
Star: Benedict Cumberbatch
5. The Three Hostages (1977 TV Movie)
85 min | Drama
After World War I, Richard Hannay is married to Mary and living peacefully in the Cotswolds, when he receives a request to help solve the mysterious kidnapping of the children of three prominent people. Given nothing to go on but a few mysterious clues, Hannay, assisted by friends like Sandy Arbuthnot, must track down the dastardly villains behind the plot before it's too late.
Director: Clive Donner | Stars: Barry Foster, Diana Quick, John Castle, Peter Blythe
6. Witch Wood (1964– )
30 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
During the 17th century, a Presbyterian minister struggles against witchcraft being practiced amongst his congregation.
Stars: Donald Douglas, Madeleine Christie, Isobel Black, Campbell Godley
8. BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950–1959)
Drama
Series of television plays performed live.
Stars: Richard Caldicot, George Woodbridge, Robert Brown, Michael Brennan
Votes: 179
9. Hannay (1988–1989)
52 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
Richard Hannay is a man of his times: an Edwardian gentleman and adventurer, a mining engineer from South Africa of Scottish origin, who lives by his own standards and wits, upholding a ... See full summary »
Stars: Robert Powell, Christopher Scoular, Gavin Richards, Jill Meager
Votes: 208
10. The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands (1927)
107 min | Drama, War
Dramatic reconstruction of two 1914 naval battles off Coronel and the Falkland Islands.The first a defeat of the British by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, the second a retaliation by the British under vice Admiral Sturdee.
Director: Walter Summers | Stars: Craighall Sherry, Hans von Slock, Roger Maxwell
Votes: 101
11. Prester John (1920)
Adventure
Director: Dick Cruikshanks | Stars: Ernest Groves, Masoja, Grafton Williams, Adele Fillis
Votes: 10
12. John Macnab (1976– )
45 min | Drama
Adaptation of John Buchan's novel, set in the 1920s, about three members of the English establishment who seek excitement by poaching on the estates of Scottish landowners.
Stars: Susan Wooldridge, James Maxwell, Cavan Kendall, Bernard Horsfall
13. Huntingtower (1927)
72 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A retired grocer and Gorbels boys save a Russian prince from Bolsheviks.
Director: George Pearson | Stars: Harry Lauder, Vera Voronina, Patrick Aherne, Lillian Christine
Votes: 16
14. Huntingtower (1978– )
30 min | Adventure
A motley group of people - a Russian princess, an English poet and a retired Scots grocer among them - are brought together at Huntingtower. But why?
Stars: Paul Curran, Peter Settelen, Stanley Lebor, Andrew Faulds
Votes: 22
15. The Three Hostages (1952– )
30 min | Drama
After World War I, Richard Hannay is married to Mary and living peacefully in the Cotswolds, when he receives a request to help solve the mysterious kidnapping of the children of three prominent people. Given nothing to go on but a few mysterious clues, Hannay, assisted by friends like Sandy Arbuthnot, must track down the dastardly villains behind the plot before it's too late.
Stars: Patrick Barr, Peter Rendall, Jill Melford, Robert Scroggins
16. The 39 Steps (2008 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 90 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
Richard Hannay, a mining engineer on holiday from the African colonies, finds London socialite life terribly dull. Yet it's more than he bargained for when secret agent, Scudder, bursts ... See full summary »
Director: James Hawes | Stars: Rupert Penry-Jones, Lydia Leonard, David Haig, Patrick Malahide
Votes: 2,397
17. The Defence of Canada (1985– )
History
A documentary about the history and contemporary state of Canadian military and foreign policy.
Stars: Gwynne Dyer, Robert Borden, John Buchan, Arthur Currie
18. Adventures for Boys: John Buchan - Master of Suspense (2006 TV Movie)
60 min | Documentary
Director: Alexander Leith | Stars: Alexander Leith, William Buchan, David Stafford, Allan Massie
Tell Your Friends