The 39 Steps – The Alexandra
“What are the 39 Steps?” is the key line on which the entire narrative pivots in Hitchcock’s 1935 adaptation (featuring the engaging Robert Donat) of John Buchan’s 1915 tale of daring-do, high-jinks and military secrets. Mr Memory, of whom the question is asked, happily reveals his answer before meeting a very unhappy end. (Ooops, plot spoiler. Though I think that only happens in that version.) It’s a story riddled with twists, turns and near misses making it ideal fodder for cinema where it’s evolved into no less than four incarnations plus innumerable TV versions and uncountable radio dramatisations. Clearly a hot title which has kept us intrigued for 90 years. I first saw Patrick Barlow’s version (which evasively credits Simon Corble & Nobby Dimon as “From an original concept by” -...