The 39 Steps

Richard Hannay intervenes when a nanny is nearly killed in a bungled hit-and-run. He discovers there is no baby in her pram, which hints at something sinister. Curious, he meets her at the Palace Music Hall where she has gone to see the act of Mr Memory.

She explains she is working for British Intelligence as part of a group called The Thirty-Nine Steps, and their leader is missing the tip of a finger. They possess top-secret Boomerang plans that could shift power in Europe. Before Hannay can react, two hitmen murder her while he is momentarily out of the room.

Determined to continue the mission, Hannay boards an ex-LNER Class A4 hauled train to Scotland from King's Cross, having escaped the killers outside his flat by disguising himself as a milkman.

On the journey, Hannay meets Miss Fisher, a netball coach at a girls' boarding school. To avoid Edinburgh detectives, they pretend to be lovers, which complicates their growing involvement.

Miss Fisher betrays Hannay, exposing his disguise, and he is forced to jump from the stationary train on the Forth Bridge to escape capture.

Hannay is steered to The Gallows inn by Percy Baker, an ex-convict driver. There, Nelly Lumsden helps him pass police patrols by disguising him in a cycle party and arranging a diversion with her husband.

Hannay tracks down a house he believes belongs to Professor Logan, only to find the resident is the spy ring's leader in disguise. He escapes, tries to warn the police, but they do not believe him.

Unable to convince the authorities, Hannay jumps out the police station window and hides in the back of a passing sheep transporter as he escapes.

Hannay poses as a lecturer at a Highland girls' boarding school where Miss Fisher works, delivering a bizarre lecture on the woods and the wayside in August. Miss Fisher recognizes him and he is recaptured by two assassins posing as detectives.

Hannay is handcuffed to Miss Fisher in a Ford Zephyr as the hitmen drive them back toward London. A burst tire gives him a chance to escape, but with one usable hand to drive, he crashes the car.

After the crash, they wander the bleak Scottish Highlands handcuffed together until they find a bed-and-breakfast run by Mrs MacDougal. Hannay hides their cuffed condition and pretends they are a runaway couple.

While Hannay sleeps, Miss Fisher frees herself but overhears pursuers asking about The Thirty-Nine Steps. Realising her error, she returns to help Hannay and tells him the final rendezvous location.

Back at the Palace Music Hall, Hannay coaxes Mr Memory into revealing the location of The Thirty-Nine Steps. Memory uses his extraordinary recall to memorise the Boomerang plans, but before he can reveal, the ringleader shoots Memory, keeping the secret safe.

With Memory dead and the Boomerang plans still sealed, the police arrest Hannay at the Palace Music Hall as the finale closes.