THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS
(Rank-Betty Box) G Cert. | DIDN’T see the Hitchcock-Donat-Madeleine Carroll version of this Buchan thriller, so I can’t, alas, compare the two, but the presence of Madeleine Carroll then indicated several additional steps away from the book. This latest version is so far removed that it is difficult to recognise even the skeleton of the original plot, and the thirty-nine steps of the title don’t figure in the story at all, other than as a catch-phrase. Even ignoring Taina Elg (and I admit that requires the stoicism of a Border Covendnter), Kenneth More seems to me the last person to impersonate the sober Hannay. In fact, Barry Jones (whom I hadn’t seen since the atom was a boy) was the only soul in sight who momentarily conveyed the old, original and incomparable flavour.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19591016.2.34.1.4
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1051, 16 October 1959, Page 21
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135THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1051, 16 October 1959, Page 21
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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