1

SCENE ONE - ARRIVAL IN SCOTLAND

THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS

Station Inspector: Dumfries, sir? Platform One! Better hurry!

Richard: Thank you!
*
Voice: What's happening? Whats happening, sir?
Voice: Nothing at all, sir!
Policeman: Climb down the river bank: see if he's under the bridge!
Voice: Don't get out and panic, Madam, please!
Voice: Well - he's still there!
Voice: He could still be aboard the train!
Voice: Aye- but where?
[Richard is hanging under the bridge and the train is in danger]
Train Driver: Come on! There's another train, Joe! Come on!
Voice: Come back, you two! All back to the train!
Detective: We'll raise the alarm at the next station! Get a search party out!
(train leavesRichard climbs up from the bridge and runs into the fields...)
[Wonderful moment when Richard runs into the Scottish landscape at about
5:00...]
[But at 5:30 he is spotted by a by-plane flying overhead and runs for cover...]
(He notices a line of policemen looking for him...he runs but has been
seen...steals the clothes of an old tramp)
Richard: Good evening! [tramp ignores Richard, drinks whiskey]
[Richard is thinking about what Scudder said before he was killed:
"Mr Hannay, my research is all in this book, Mr Hannay! Mr Hannay: if I have to
disappear, may I find you in Strathallen?"..]

SCENE TWO - TRAMP'S HUT TO SCOTTISH TOWER HOUSE

(Richard leaves in tramp's old coat)

(A beautiful old motor-car containing two Prussian spies arrives and they chase
Richard, eventually firing at him, running after him, and doing other very bad
things Police have spread out across the moor in a fan, looking for Richard,
wanted in connection with the murder of Scudder)

Tramp (to Policeman) And when you get him, mind, I want my hat back!

First Policeman: Keep your eyes open for him sir! He's a dangerous character!
Second Policeman: How will we recognize him?
First Policeman: Ah! - well he's disguised as a tramp! Wearing a long black coat
and an old hat!

(Richard gets shot at car is 'HS 319' - maybe 'High Speed 319'? He runs away,
finally reaching a wood...)

Gamekeeper (shouting): Hi! What are you doing here? This wood is private
property!

(The Gamekeeper tries to chase Richard but then sees the Prussian spies)

Gamekeeper: What the hell's going on here? This is private property, and youre
trespassing!

First Prussian: I am sorry - we are looking for a friend of ours!

Gamekeeper: Mnn...Well...some fool went in there a minute ago!
First Prussian: Well, we'll get him out for you!
Gamekeeper: Aye, you'll do no such thing! I'm responsible!

(First Prussian shoots Gamekeeper dead. Richard continues to run. We

hear shouting from a shooting party, who are shooting grouse, wild
Scottish birds, very tasty at the dinner table...)

(Richard runs towards the shooting party and the Prussians cover him
with their guns, but do not shoot...Richard runs right up to the group of
shooters)

Hamilton: Hold it, everybody!

Lord Rohan: What the devil do you think you're doing, man?
Richard: Lost my way!
Lord Rohan: Lost your way! You're on a private estate, dammit!
Richard: Oh! I'm extremely sorry! Did I startle the birds?
Lord Rohan: What birds? We've only had a brace all day! Anyway, it's not my
shoot, it's Hamilton's!
Hamilton: Running it like that! - you might have been shot!
Richard: Yes - I suppose I might!
Alex (Alex): What are you doing?
Richard: Doing? It's a wager!
Richard: Yes.
Lord Rohan: Wager? What sort of wager?
Richard: I have five hundred guineas on it!
Hamilton: It's going to look pretty strong!
Alex: What's it about?
Richard: Well, I have these two friends, who bet me that, given an hour's start, I
couldn't reach Inverness before they caught me

4
Alex: A manhunt! How marvelous!
Richard: Enormously exhilarating! Sleeping rough, changing clothes with a tramp,
to throw them off the scent...hahah...if you'll forgive the expression!
However - not only do I smell to high heaven: I am extremely hungry.
Alex: Oh David, he must come back for refreshments!
David: What? O yes - yes of course!
David: I'm Hamilton. This is Miss Mackenzie, Lord Rohan
Lord Rohan: Hello there!
Richard: Royce! Dick Royce
David: How d'you do?
David (to the group): All right, everybody - let's get back to the cars!
(Richard is taken back to the country estate in one of four beautiful old cars; the
Prussian spies are left in the road)
*
David (to Richard): After thirty-six hours of living rough, I should think you need a
bath, and a shave!
Lord Rohan: That should throw them off the scent, surely! (laughter)
Alex: And a very civilized dinner!
David: Yes, Royce. They'll never look for you here! Stay to dinner!
*
[Dinner]
Lord Rohan: Have a whiskey! Listen! I read an article in the papers the other
day
Butler (to Alex) Whiskey, madam... [Alex ignores the offer of a whiskey...]
(Lady Nettleship is offered a whiskey...)
Lady Nettleship: Thank you, David!
Alex (seeing Richard come in): Excuse me!
Alex (to Richard) I wouldn't have recognized you! You even smell different!

5
Richard: You look breathtaking! (taking a whiskey) Thank you!
Richard: To the good fortune that sent me! (they clink glasses)
Alex (hesitantly): Come and meet...some of the other guests!
Richard: I can't see any other guests!
Alex: At dinner, will you take Lady Nettleship in?
Richard (after a pause): Who takes you in?
Alex: David. My fianc
Richard (softly): Ahh!
*
(pipes play while they are eating dinner Steward arrives and speaks to the
Butler)
*
Estate Manager: Mr Renfrew, I have to see the Master at once!

(the guests are discussing the political situation of the time in pre-war England)

Lord Rohan: (to Richard) Porton was a damn good man. So was Harkness! No
peace-mongering with those two!
David: Do you believe these rumours about Germany having a hand in the
murders?
Lord Rohan: Mnn, no...We shant know that, shall we? Until this Hannay is caught!
The scoundrel!
Guests (overhead): [He] lost two hundred guineas (laughter)
*
Butler (to David): The Steward wants a word with you, sir. He says it is most
urgent!
David (to Lady Nettleship) I'm sorry - will you excuse me for a moment?
Lady Nettleship: Indeed!

6
Lord Rohan (to Richard): Well, what do you think, Mr Royce? Will there be war?
Richard (sipping his drink) ...yes!

(David is talking with the Steward)

David: Murder?
Steward: Yes. That's what Constable Forbes says.
David: Where?
Steward: Near Duncan's Spinney. He says he'll want statements from anyone who
was in the woods
David: Yes...yes of course
Steward: Sir (leaves)
*
Lady Nettleship: And all because this Greek.um...what's his name?...
er...Karolides...Hes addressing both Houses
Richard: Karolides? In London?
Lord Rohan: Yes.
Richard: When?
Lord Rohan: Fifteenth
Lady Nettleship: A foreigner...addressing the House of Commons...and the Lords
*
[David and Alex]
*
Alex: What's wrong, David?
David: One of my Keepers...has been murdered! Up in the woods.
Alex (going up to him; tenderly) Oh! David!
David: The police will want statements from anyone who was at the shoot. Im
afraid I will have to ask you, Mr Royce, to stay until morning.

7
Richard: Yes, of course.

SCENE THREE LONDON

(We hear Big Ben striking the quarter hour...the polished interior of the
Government War Office)
Doorman: Superintendent Lomas, Sir Walter
Sir Walter (a little condescendingly): Come in!
Lomas: You wanted to see me, sir.
Sir Walter: It seems you've been jumping to conclusions!
Lomas: Hannay was involved... He is involved.
Sir Walter: But only as an innocent bystander...
Lomas: He's not in the clear yet.
Sir Walter: Everything he told you about his life in Africa is confirmed here by
irreproachable authority Good God man, he's been decorated twice for his
services against the Boers!
Lomas: And his years in the German colonies?
Sir Walter: As a mining engineer, and a copper prospector for a British firm, based
in the town.
Lomas: Very well, sir - you have your opinion...
Sir Walter: His story about Scudder's notebook is true: the booking office clerk
confirmed that...! Now...the foreign agents will be out to murder him and get it
back...We should issue a statement that Hannay is innocent...then he can come
into safety, and you can stop looking for him!
Lomas (exasperatedly: No! - sir. And if we stop looking for him, the enemy will
have a clear field! We must find him before they do.

SCENE FOUR: SCOTLAND

(David, Butler, Constable Forbes)
Butler: Constable Forbes to see you, sir.

8
Constable: Im most sorry to be bothering you so late, sir.
David: Ian, come on in...!
Constable: You'll have heard already about poor Donald
David: Aye...aye - I have.
Constable: It's just possible - maybe even more than possible - that it's somehow
connected with this man, Hannay.
David: Hannay? The fellow who escaped from the police in London?
Constable: Theyve established he left the express at Drumbriggs Viaduct; and he
appears to be heading in this general direction...He's said to be a highly
dangerous man...so we're just going the rounds and warning people. We've asked
everybody to let us know if they see any strangers at all...
David: Is there any description?
Constable: No details yet, sir.
David: There is some
Alex (speaking over David): If we see anyone we believe to be the murderer, we'll
let you know immediately. You can be sure of that.
Constable: Aye, fine. Well, thanks, ma'am.
Constable (Taking his leave of David): Sir...!
David: Will you have a dram, before you go?
Constable: Thats very kind, sir, but I'll be away to my bed. It's been a long day.
David: Thank you, lan. Good night.
Constable: Good night!
*
David (to Alex) Why? Why didn't you tell him about Royce?
Alex: Because the idea is ridiculous. He obviously isn't a criminal.
David: You're rather taken with him, aren't you?
Alex: I don't believe he's a murderer.
*

9
(Alex and Richard; Richard is trying on various clothes...)
Alex: The local bobby was here. Looking for Richard Hannay.
Richard: What did you tell him?
Alex: Nothing.
Richard: David?
Alex: He likes you, but he has a strong sense of duty
Richard (after a pause): I don't have much time, then, do I?
Richard: I'm not a murderer. I'm being pursued by a couple of Prussian agents
who seem think I 'm going to put a stop to their plans.
Alex: You mean they'd kill you?
Richard: No, they won't! I've hunted in Africa for 20 years! Quite a time in the
open!
Alex: Can't I help - hide you, perhaps?
Richard: No. By the 15th the police will know I'm innocent....Maybe I'll see you in
London
Alex (firmly): I'm engaged to David...!
Richard: Yes.
Alex: Take care!
(Richard kisses her outstreched, gloved hand...)
*
(At a farm. Sir Harry is ready to drive to a political meeting of the Liberal Party.
His car is not working. Just at this second, Richard, still being pursued by the
plane and the men in the car, runs up...)
Sir Harry (beckoning): I need a push!
House Manager: Heh! Billy, Jimmy! Sir Harry needs a push.
Sir Harry: You there! Are you the Liberal spokesman?
Richard: Yes!!
Sir Harry: Then get in, man, you're half an hour late! I thought you'd never make
it...! I couldn't possibly speak for an hour on my own. Right, push!

10
*
(the Meeting)
Chairman: Friends, neighbours and, er, fellow Liberals,
I should like, on your behalf, to welcome this evening the prospective Liberal
candidate for our borough, Sir Harry McLean. (Applause) We are also gratified to
have on this occasion a notable campaigner for the Liberal cause, Mr...? Mr...?
Richard: Rose.
Chairman: Mr Rose - from Peebles...!
*
Richard: Er, Mr Chairman, Sir Harry McLean, ladies and gentlemen... As I was,
er...being introduced just now...a question occurred to me...
What is a Liberal? What does he believe? Now, can anyone enlighten me?
(to a man at random) - You, sir, what do you believe?
Man: I thought you were supposed to be the expert?
Richard: Well, I know what I believe, but do you? What about the Irish question?
Foreign policy?
Man: when are you going to stop asking us questions and tell us something!
Richard: Very well, I will tell you. You're not awake, the country isn't awake! You
don't think! You've no idea if... You've no idea if those two men who just came in
are fellow Liberals... or agents of a foreign power...!
That's right. Look at them! Ask questions! Are they what they seem to be?
First Prussian: And are you what you seen to be, sir?
Richard: Yes! I'm a true Briton - and I believe that all men should be free and
equal under God!
(murmurs of support...) Do they: or are they impostors?
*
Chairman: Steady on, old chap!
*

11
Richard: We must be on our guard at all times...against those who would draw
Europe into chaos and carnage.
Man: Aye, that's the Tories for ye! (laughter)
Richard: That's right: and if you believe that, there's only one thing to do, isn't
there?
Second Man: What, vote for Sir Harry!?
Richard: Right! Vote for Sir Harry McLean! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sir
Harry McLean! (Richard raises Sir Harry to his feet so that he will himself be able
to escape)

Chairman: A great wee speech, but what the hell did it mean?
Sir Harry: You're due to speak for half an hour...!
Richard: Stomach cramp...
Sir Harry (under his breath): O ridiculous!
(Richard leaves. Alex makes as if to leave but David retrains her...)
*
Chairman: Ladies and gentlemen, please! I'm sure we were all most gratified to
hear Mr, er...Roses fearless denunciation of the Tory party

SCENE FIVE: MEETING OF THE BLACK STONE

Mr Appleton : Hannay is going somewhere specific. We've checked, he goes on

there...always in a north-westerly direction. He's here tonight, so he'll go on to
there....Clanrith. Is there an hotel there?
First Prussian: There's a hydro there. A health resort. Favoured by Scottish
hypochondriacs.
Mr Appleton: We shall take rooms there.
*
(Richard escapes on a bicycle, is chased by a plane and tracked by police dogs.
He ends up in Duncan's Spinney again, where he is accosted by a man

12
brandishing a scythe, who believes that Hannay was responsible for the murder
of Donald, the Keeper)
*
Man: I've caught up with you at last. You killed Donald!
Richard: What the hell are you talking about?!
Man: Donald!
Richard: Oh, no, not again...!
Man: Now see what you can do with a man who's prepared?!

(Richard battles with the man and finally knocks him down with a branch. At this
point Richard comes face to face with the two Prussians. They kill the man who
was attacking Richard, capture Richard and inject him with a drug which makes
him go floppy and helpless)
(An hour or so later they arrive at the hydro (health resort) with Richard in a
wheelchair. They intend to keep Richard prisoner until they can obtain Scudder's
secret notebook from him.)
*
First Prussian (to Richard): Now, try and keep your head up, Mr Murchison.
Second Prussian (to Hotel Receptionist): Mr Murchisons due for another
treatment.
Shall we complete the formalities later?
Receptionist: Certainly, sir.
*
(They find the room where their boss, Mr Appleton isand bring in Richard in the
wheelchair...)
Mr Appleton (to the Prussians): Good afternoon...!
*
(to Richard, aggressively) Can you understand what I'm saying? (Richard can, a
bit...)
*

13
Mr Appleton (to the others): A gentle restorative! (They inject him with another
drug, so that he will become conscious, and they can talk to him)
*
(Appleton discovers that the secret notebook which Richard had with him is
empty...)
*
Mr Appleton (to the others, in frustration): Never underestimate an amateur!
*
(to Richard): Your brain is clear now, you can see perfectly well, and can hear well
enough. Sensation will return to your arms and body, and lastly to your legs.
After dinner you and I will talk. I want the real notebook...!

SCENE SEVEN: THE CONCERT

(This scene contains the celebrated sequence where Richard arrives in front of all
the guests by wheelchair, smashing part of the hotel in the process, and
astonishing everybody Crombie, the House Manager, is welcoming guests to
the concert...the instruments are tuning up...)

Crombie (greeting guests): Dougie! Jim!

Another Guest: Good evening, Mr Hamilton!
Crombie: Miss Mackenzie..! Mr Hamilton, delighted to see you!
David: Evening, Crombie! Good house tonight?
Crombie: Excellent sir! Every seat taken!
*
(Back in the hotel bedroom)
*

14
Appleton: But remember, Hannay, I'm a patriot. I will do my duty, however
distasteful. I will have that real notebook, or I shall kill you.
*
(The other two Prussians arrive)
*
Appleton (to Hannay, showing off):Good! Time for a pink gin before the recital...
*
(Hannay is locked into the room, from the outside, by one of the Prussians)
*
Waiter (to Alex): Liqueur, madam?
Alex: Thank you.

Alex (to David, whispering): There's that same man.

David: What?
Alex: One of the Prussians Mr Hannay was trying to warn us about.
*
(Richard rings room service using his head to press the bell)
*
(The Servant comes.)
*
Servant: Room service...!
*
(the door is locked, Richard can't open it, and the Servant turns back, but the bell
is rung again by Richardand the Servant returns, this time using his own key to
open the door of the room...)
*
Servant (to himself): Oh, blast. Why can't they make up their stupid minds?

15
*
Servant: Good evening, sir. What can I do for you?
*
(Richard makes a croaking sound)
*
Servant: Oh, a foreign gentleman...!
*
(Richard shakes his head. The Servant now makes some suggestions, and Richard
responds by nodding or shaking his head)
*
Servant (very slowly and clearly): A wee bite to eat, sir?
*
(Richard shakes his head)
*
Servant: A dram? [i.e. glass of whiskey]
*
(Richard nods)
Servant: Ah! That's the ticket. And what might be your pleasure, sir, the whiskey?
*
(Richard shakes his head)
*
Servant: Drop of brandy, perhaps? [Note: brandy is commonly used as a medicine
to revive people who are fainting or losing consciousness] (Richard assents...)
*
Servant: Ah! Neat, sir?
*
(Richard shakes his head)

16
*
Servant: Water?
*
(Richard shakes his head)
*
Soda?

(Richard nods)
*
Servant: Ah. Large or small?
(Richard looks insulted by the question)
*
Servant: Sorry, sir. Large! Very good, sir! Large brandy and soda. I'll be with you
in a jiffy.
(under his breath) Thank God for Braille. ..!
*
(The Servant goes out, leaving the door unlocked)
*
(This last remark is probably a joke by the Producer: Braille is a system by which
blind people can read...so a polite Servant would be unlikely to say this so loudly
in the presence of a guest, even one who is as drugged up, as Richard is just
now)
*
(Downstairs, at the pre-concert Reception)
*
(The Prussians nod, to say 'hello', in the direction of David and Alex)
First Prussian: I've been recognized.
*

17
(David and Alex decide on a direct approach, and come across to the Prussians
and Mr Appleton...)
Alex: Good evening. I wonder if you could help us?
Mr Appleton: We'd be delighted.
Alex: We're looking for our cousin, his name's Hannay. Would you know where he
might be?
Mr Appleton: Hannay. I've heard that name somewhere...
*
(Richard manages to escape from the room in his wheelchair)
*
Lady Servant: Out and about, Mr Murchison?

Mr Crombie: Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please.

The...recital, as you know, will begin in fifteen minutes...First, its my privilege to
take a few minutes to [draw your attention] to the activities of the British Red
Cross

(crash as Richard knocks a flower vase down in the corridor)

Guests: Oh! What was that?

Another Lady Servant: There's plenty of time for the soire, sir...!

(Richard appears in the midst of the guests at high speed in his wheel chair, only
finally coming to a stop, exactly near the Prussians, Mr Appleton and Alex, after
demolishing a partition leading to the patio, and perhaps a glass pane as well)

(Mr Appleton gets up, but David, acting quickly, throws his glass of whiskey into
Mr Appleton's face; and also manages to knock the Waiter's tray of glasses to the
ground)

18

David (to Appleton): I'm so sorry!

Alex (to Richard) Good heavens! We were just talking about you.

David (calling the Hotel Manager, who seems to be a friend of his): I'm awfully
sorry! Campbell! Look, this is entirely my fault...! Will you see that this
gentleman's clothes are cleaned and that he and his colleagues have dinner this
evening at my expense?

Mr Appleton (murmuring): It won't be necessary!

David: Nonsense! I insist!

Alex (to David): David - our cousin is having one of his attacks! We must get
him to his doctor!

First Prussian: May I help?

David (physically pushing him out of the way): No, no, no! - no, you're a guest!
Campbell, I'll borrow a couple of your chaps, if I may...
Head Waiter (to Campbell - agreeing): Yes, Mr Campbell...
David (continuing to give instructions to Campbell) ...Will you send the coats
out to the car.?
Campbell: Certainly, sir!
*
Head Waiter (quite aggressively, to Mr Appleton): Sir, may I suggest you change
out of clothes as
soon as possible?
*

19
Mr Appleton: Yes, of course. Tell me, who is that young gentleman? I should like
to return his hospitality... some time.

SCENE EIGHT: MORTON CASTLE RUINS AND STRATHALLEN

[Richard and David are discussing Scudder's death as they change clothes...in
order to put on disguises to outwit the Prussians]

David: Poor fellow! Did he say anything before he died?

Richard: What I think Scudder said, well, it sounded like "host of us"...

David: Doesn't make sense.

Richard: No, it doesn't.
*
Alex: "Host of us"? Coast of us?
David: Most of us?
Richard: Toast of us, roast of us...It's impossible, the man was dying!

David: Ghost of us?

David: You do understand, Hannay, I'd insist on coming with you, but
With poor Donald's funeral today, and I have to take all the servants to it

Richard: No, you've done more than enough. I don't have far to go.

David: Aye, and they won't be looking for you in those clothes.!

20

Alex: Why did he want you to go to... Strathallan?

Richard: If I knew that!!

Alex: Somewhere between leaving your rooms and reaching

St Pancras, Colonel Scudder must have got rid of the real notebook in a safe
place.

Richard: Good thinking. But where? And how?

David: I know what I'd do. Perfectly simple. I'd put it in a pillar box, the first I
could find.

Richard: "Post Office".

*
Richard, David, Alex (exultantly):"Post Office"!!!
*
(Alex and Richard go by horse trap to Strathallen Post Office)
*
(In Strathallen Post Office)
*
Post Office Lady (to Richard): Will you sign there, Mr Scudder?
Richard (signing): Thank you! (He obtains Scudder's envelope containing the
notebook,
Apparently addressed to 'Mr Scudder')

21
*

SCENE NINE: DEATH OF DAVID AND HANNAY'S RESCUE

Alex (to the horse): Whoa! (to Richard): I'll get David's car ready

(Richard is reading the genuine secret notebook)

Richard: Mm.
Alex: Is it all in code?

Richard: Yes, except for this one phrase: Thirty-Nine Steps 11.45 - Ariadne's
Thread".

Alex: Ariadne's thread?

Richard: That's one of the question they asked me at their house.... What did I
know
of the thirty-nine steps?

Alex: Ariadne gave a thread to her lover, so he could escape the labyrinth after
slaying the monster.

Richard: Escape after a slaying.! Karolides? At 11:45?

(dog barking at the front door of the property)

22
Alex: Richard, there's something wrong.

Richard: Of course...! (suddenly realizing that David has walked into a trap)

Richard (to Alex): Wait here.

*
(Richard enters the property cautiously and discovers David's body half way up
the stairs. David has been shot through the temple. But as Richard is examining
the body, the Prussians appear
with guns)

Second Prussian (brandishing gun): Downstairs!

Richard (shouting to Alex in the pony trap): Alex, go!

(Richard knocks the Prussian down the stairs and successfully fights with the
second one before
very luckily escaping in Alex's pony trap.)

(The next shot shows Mr Appleton reading a newspaper headline stating that
Hannay
has been killed. The ruse clearly comes from the British government, who are
trying to get the Black Stone to stop hunting for Richard Hannay)

SCENE TEN: IN MR APPLETON'S LONDON HOUSE

[See note about continuity error on page 27...]
First Spy: Mr Appleton, we've decoded the message from Berlin. "British fleet affirmative.
Karolides - affirmative. Urgent you confirm requirements for Ariadne on 15th."

23
Mr Appleton: What was the last message from Scotland?

First Spy: They're both on their way back, sir.

Mr Appleton: Then reply, "The sleepers will proceed as planned".

SCENE ELEVEN: ON THE TRAIN TO LONDON

(Detective-Inspector Lomas, Richard, Alex. It is not explained how this meeting

has come about after Richard's narrow -escape at David's property, but we can
assume that Lomas has changed his
mind and now sees Richard as innocent of
Scudder's murder. So on this basis he has authorized the false news report and
somehow managed to rendez-vous with Richard and Alex. But after the failed
attempt on Richard's life by the Prussians, Mr Appleton, the ring-leader is aware
that Richard will be returning to London to try and foil the plot against Karolides
and the British government)
*
Lomas: All right Mr Hannay, no need to hold your breath any longer.

Richard: Danke schn.

Lomas: How's the head?

Richard: It's fine. Just a graze.

Richard (giving Lomas the real secret notebook) : Here!

Richard: Where are we?

Alex: Just south of Sheffield.

24
Lomas: My train from London nearly missed the connection. Oh! By the way,
I've brought you
the announcement of your death.

Richard: That should stop our friends looking for the notebook, anyway!
Lomas: But it doesn't give us much time to decipher it. Tomorrow, Karolides
addresses
both House of Parliament at 11:45.
Alex: 11:45?
Richard: That's the time set for the assassination.

Lomas: We're not amateurs, Mr Hannay! Karolides will be guarded every

moment.
And we also have the best code-breaker in the War Office is waiting for this
notebook.
Oh, if that meets with your approval, that is.

SCENE TWELVE: BREAKFAST AT SIR WALTER'S

(Alex, Richard, Sir Walter. Richard is eating a hearty breakfast very hungrily)

Alex: He only eats once a year, Sir Walter...!

Richard: This is the first breakfast I've had in a week!

(knock on the door)

SIR WALTER: Come in!

25
(Lomas and another official arrive)

Sir Walter: Good morning, gentlemen.

Lomas: Morning, sir.

Sir Walter: Care for a cup of coffee?

Lomas: No, thank you, sir.

Official: We have the clothes you wanted, Mr Hannay.

Richard: Thank you.

Sir Walter: How's Tillotson doing with the notebook?

Lomas: It seems it was Scudder's own personal code, sir. But I understand that
Tillotson's cracked
the key to it half an hour ago.

Sir Walter: And when shall we have the details?

Lomas: He wants to see you, Mr Hannay and myself at the War Office at eleven
o'clock.

Richard: But that'll leave us forty-five minutes!

Sir Walter: I have a meeting with the Imperial General Staff at 11:15 - that
usually
takes about, er, an hour.

Richard: Sir Walter, that meeting couldn't have anything to do with what
Scudder called

26
the safety of the British fleet?

Sir Walter: Mr Hannay, we owe a great debt to you for your courage and
resourcefulness.
But you must realize that there are still some matters that are classified as
highly confidential.

Richard: Yes, I do understand that. And you must realize that I'm not
exaggerating
about these three Prussians. They are men of extraordinary courage and
devotion.

Alex: Courage?!
(They have just murdered her prospective husband so she is shocked at
Richard's words.
But Richard takes her hand comfortingly)

Richard: Yes, I know. But they are courageous. And dangerous.

Lomas: We are taking as many precautions

Richard: Lomas! Lines of policemen won't safeguard Karolides! Theyre not
going to rush up and throw a bomb! These men were chosen as sleepers because
they can pass themselves off in any social situation as natives of this country, not
so much by disguise, as by outrageous bluff!

Lomas: Are you suggesting we shouldn't guard Mr Karolides?

Richard: No. I want to remind you both that Scudder's not, so far, been wrong
about anything.
And today at 11.45... (he sighs) ...Karolides will be killed.

27
(Big Ben strikes 09:15)

SCENE TWELVE: THE BLACK STONE STRIKES

(It is 9.15. Answering a knock at the door, Sir Walter is accosted by the two
Prussians who drug
him and his assistant with chloroform, which makes people go very sleepy but
does no permanent
harm to them)

Sir Walter (as he falls): What the devil?!

(Alex appears)

First Prussian: Get the girl!

(Alex is also accosted and drugged)

*
(Lomas, Richard and another Police detective, Martins, arrive at a beautiful old
London mansion
in a lovely green car)

Richard: That's the house where they held me prisoner!*

[This detail does not really match the story...as Richard must have been taken to
a venue in Scotland, not London, when he was captured and drugged by the
Prussians...unless we imagine that the Prussians drove him down to
London...somewhat impossible in their old red motor-car...]
Lomas: Martins - find out who lives there!

28
Martins (returning): Superintendent, it's Edmund Appleton's house.

Lomas: You've got it wrong this time, Mr Hannay. Edmund Appleton is a

successful businessman
and a friend of half the British Cabinet. Edmund Appleton has shot grouse with
King George!
Richard: Scudder did tell me one thing about the man we're looking for he
was standing beside
Porton when he was assassinated.

Lomas: So was Edmund Appleton. ..!

(They examine Edmund Appleton's house and find there evidence that elaborate
preparations
have been made for someone to pass themselves off as Sir Walter Bullivant...)

Hannay! Come here! (showing Richard the evidence of disguise plan)

(Martins finds more shocking evidence of Mr Appleton's plan)

Martins: Superintendent!
Lomas: Yes?
Martins: Somebody's been trying to copy Sir Walter Bullivant's signature.!

SCENE THIRTEEN: AT WESTMINSTER - 1

(Big Ben strikes 09:45)

(Richard, First Sea Lord, other senior government officials, Lomas)

29

First Sea Lord: Superintendent, I repeat, the man who took the minutes of this
meeting
was Sir Walter.

Lomas: He wasn't..!

First Sea Lord: Damn it, he's a member of my club, I've known him for years!

Lomas: He was an imposter, sir. You must answer our questions.

First Sea Lord: Must? Are you insane, Superintendent?

Lomas: You may judge that for yourself when Mr Karolides is assassinated.
Now what was discussed at the meeting?

First Sea Lord: I warn you, your career is in grave danger!

Richard: So is Mr Karolides, sir, and so is the British fleet. Gentlemen, would

you please
just answer three questions?

Richard: Did Sir Walter sign anything?

First Sea Lord: No. No, he didn't.

Richard: Does the phrase, "the thirty-nine steps" signify anything to you?
First Sea Lord: Really, Mr Hannay, these games!

30
Richard: Ariadne's Thread?
Second Sea Lord: Ariadne? It's the name of a ship.
Richard: What ship?
Second Sea Lord: A German cruiser. She's lying off Gravesend. Asked permission
to drop anchor there last night.
Richard: That's how they plan to escape!
*
(A knock on the door. Detective Martins comes in)

Martins (to Lomas): I've been to Sir Walter Bullivant's house, sir. The butler
was
trussed up in a cupboard. He said Sir Walter and Miss Mackenzie were both
abducted.
*
Lomas (to First Sea Lord): Now, sir, will you answer our question?

First Sea Lord (gravely): You haven't a moment to lose. We were discussing the
role of the navy
in the event of war with Germany. The bogus Sir Walter has the battle
dispositions
of the entire fleet...!

SCENE FOURTEEN: APPLETON'S PREPARATIONS

(Mr Appleton checks that Alex and Sir Walter are drugged, and then takes off his
Sir Walter'
disguise, which is very convincing. An assistant arrives. The meaning of this
becomes clearer
at the end of the film...

31

Assistant: Uniform, sir...

SCENE FIFTEEN:

AT WESTMINSTER - 2

(Richard, Lomas and the dreamy and absent-minded (but brilliant) codebreaker, Tilottson)

Tilottson: Scudder unearthed an extraordinary amount of stuff, but... Well

he...
I remember once...
Lomas: Tillotson Tell us what you found out. In forty minutes, The Greek
Prime Minister
may be assassinated...!

Tilotson: Yes, yes, I know that, their timetable is quite remarkable. I mean, the
sheer volume of...
background research these Prussians must have carried out is...

Lomas: Tillotson! Do you know how theyre going to carry out the
assassination?

Tillotson: Ah! Well, Scudder only refers to it as "the thirty-nine steps".

Richard: But what does it mean?
Tillotson: Ah - I don't know.
*
Richard: It isn't in the book?
Tillotson: No.

32
*
Lomas: Do you know how they're going to reach the Ariadne?
Tillotson: No.
*
(There is a knock on the doorIt is Martins...)

Lomas (exasperatedly): Well - this had better be good news!

Martins: I don't know what it is. It doesn't make sense, sir.

Lomas: Well?

Martins: Well, after Sir Walter was abducted from his home, he went to his
office
for twenty minutes before going to that meeting. ..

(Big Ben strikes 11:15)

(Lomas, Martins and Richard leave hastily for another part of Westminster)

SCENE SIXTEEN: AT WESTMINSTER - 3

Official: The man at the Imperial Staff Meeting may not have been the real Sir
Walter,
but the man who came here most certainly was.

Lomas: Tell me, what exactly did he do while he was here?

33
Official: He read the urgent mail I put in front of him, he signed two
memoranda I drafted,
he took a telephone call from his tailor, he signed a Ministry of Works permit,
and
then he went off to his meeting.

Lomas: He signed three papers. Let me see those three papers - quickly!
Please!

SCENE SEVENTEEN: HOUSE OF COMMONS

Speaker: Gentlemen. Gentlemen, please! We would ask you to take your seats
in the house within ten minutes.
Mr Karolides?
Karolides: Yes?
Speaker: You will be escorted to the chamber in ten minutes.
Karolides: Thank you.

(We see one of the Prussians preparing an explosive device inside Big Ben)

SCENE EIGHTEEN: AT WESTMINSTER - 4

[previous scene - continued]

Official: I assure you, the signatures are quite genuine.

Richard: Why would he risk coming here? It doesn't make any sense.

34
Lomas: Because there's something here vitally important to their plans!
*
(Big Ben strikes 11:30)
(we see Mr Appleton disguised as a River policeman on a River Police boat just
outside the
Houses of Parliament...)
*
Lomas: Scudder's let us down. He didn't have the answer.
Richard (at random, to the Official): I don't suppose you know what the thirtynine steps are,
do you?
*
Official: Anyone with any knowledge of Westminster would know that!
Richard: What?!
Official: Well its common knowledge...! The run of steps to the various levels
of Big Ben were all built in multiples of thirteen. There was quite an outcry at the
time...
Richard: But what of the thirty-nine?
Official: Well, thirty-nine steps, leading from Lauderdale door to the belfry of
Big Ben itself.
Richard: Big Ben.
Lomas: Appleton signed a permit for routine work to be carried out on the
clock!
*
(They rush, with a team of police and the keyholders, to Lauderdale Door,
giving access to Big Ben.)
*
Official: Lauderdale Door!
Richard (having counted the steps): Thirty-nine!

35
Lomas: Clever Scudder!

SCENE NINETEEN: BIG BEN

(We see Mr Appleton on the police launch with the drugged Sir Walter and Alex
inside)
(They reach the final door leading to the Belfry, which is locked...)
Richard: They must be up there!
Lomas: Right! Break it down!
(the door is strong and a policeman is injured in trying to break it down with his
foot)
*
Prussian (from inside): We have Sir Walter Bullivant and Miss Mackenzie. D'you
hear?
Lomas (holding pistol to the door): We hear...
Prussian: And send someone in we can talk to. He's to come alone... and
unarmed!
(Richard signals his readiness to negotiate to Lomas and enters the Belfry)
Lomas (still covering the door): He's ready!
(The door is briefly unlocked, and opened only enough for Richard to slip in)
*
Second Prussian: Hannay!
Richard: Yes! One step ahead of you both, as usual. You're really not very
bright, are you?
First Prussian: Listen carefully, we have Sir Walter and the girl, they're our
passports...!
If we reach Bremen safely, they will be released, unharmed. Is that clear?
[There is a moment of shock when the Prussians realize that Richard knows all
their plans...]

36
Richard: Bremen? You won't even get as far as the Ariadne...!
Second Prussian: Hannay, there is one thing that you cannot know. If anything
happens to
us, and we don't reach our rendezvous, they will both be killed.
*
Richard (again showing that he has uncovered the plot): By Appleton!
Second Prussian (suddenly angry): Go back down, Hannay! And if you really
value their two lives,
ask Mr Lomas to call off his men...!

(Richard emerges; a policeman is covering the door)

Richard (quietly and urgently): No interruptions, they've got four minutes left.
They have
some kind of device up there, that's been synchronized to trigger off an
explosion when the minute hand reaches 11:45!
*
Lomas: So?
Richard: It mustn't reach 11:45!
*
Lomas: How the hell d' you think you're going to stop it?
Richard: Stop the hand...! Rifle!
*
(Rifle breaks the glass of the clock with the butt of a rifle so that he can climb
outside the
Belfry and try to stop the clock)
*
(He prepares to climb out, and hands the rifle back...)
*

37
Lomas: Hannay! You're not going to...?
Richard: There's no alternative!
*
Lomas: But they may be able to set that thing off by hand anyway!
*
Richard: That's your problem.
*
(Richard gradually climbs up the clock face of Big Ben. He reaches the minute
hand and swings on
it, preventing it reaching 11:45. Meanwhile Lomas and his men engage in gun
battle with the
Prussians in the belfry...)
*
Lomas (giving instructions to the police in the gallery): Load your rifle! And you!
*
[During the shoot-out, one Prussian, wounded, crashes through the glass casing
of the belfry and falls to his death. The other is finally shot as he attempts - in
spite of the failure of the plot - to set off the dynamite, even so.)
*
(The crowds below watch as Richard succeeds in stopping the clock.
He swings dangerously on the clock hand, but even here is fired at by the
Prussians;
but the clock hand breaks free from the mechanism and the hand slips
suddenly backwards, leaving Richard, clinging to it, in great danger, and likely to
fall to his death. )

(Inside, we see shots of the clock mechanism failing to work, with the result
that the plot
will not succeed, as the dynamite will not be triggered)

38

SCENE TWENTY: RESCUE OF HANNAY AND VICTORY

*
Lomas: Right, Scott, take over here; the rest of you stand by with me!
Lomas: (indicating the door to one of the policemen) Shoot that lock off!
(Gun battle)
Lomas: Right, look after the wounded! And tell Scott to stand by to bring
Hannay in as soon as I
put this thing out of action!
(Lomas succeeds, with difficulty, just in time, in defusing the bomb...)
*
Lomas (to Scott): Bring Hannay in!

*
Policeman1 (to Richard): Give me your hand!
Hannay: Don't be bloody stupid!
*
[Again, a joke from the producer, designed to relieve the tension: a nice touch.)
*
Policeman 1: Get a line to him! Tie that end to the post!
Policeman2: Right!
Policeman (lowering a rope to Richard): I'm lowering a rope to you. Put your foot
through the loop! A little to the left! That's it!
*
(Hannay is rescued, but Lomas discovers a 'River Police' uniform in the Belfry)
*

39
(Lomas goes up some stairs to have a view of Mr Appleton's 'police launch' on
the river
below. It is not explained how Mr Appleton obtained an authentic police launch.
Shot of Alex and Sir Walter, still gagged and bound but no longer quite so
drugged)
*
Lomas (showing the uniform to Hannay, who is still recovering from his
ordeal...): Look!
And there's a police launch down by the pier!
*
(Four of the real River Police converge on Mr Appleton in the false police
launch)

Mr Appleton: Pull out!

(Appleton and his associate are overpowered.)

River Policeman (indicating, by a gesture of his hand, that Mr Appleton must
disembark):
After you, Mr Appleton!

(We see the raised rifles of a half a dozen policemen on the Embankment, all
trained at
Mr Appleton)
END
Titles: "Edmund Appleton was convicted of treason in May 1914. And thanks to
Richard Hannay,
Britain gained valuable time to prepare for the Great War".

40

Film by The Rank Organization, 1978

Robert Powell, Hannay; Karen Dotrice, Alex; Eric Porter, Lomas
Script: Michael Robson Director: Don Sharp
Transcribed with the aid of website www.cswap.com and presented as fair use in
the interests
of peace and international education. Martin Smith, Bolnisi, Georgia, 9 April
2015 martinenglish.co.uk MORE LINKS I encourage all educators to order the
DVD and obtain Real Reads condensed versions of the classics, which include
Shakespeare, Myths, Conan Doyle and more.