2 days later Scudder is killed at Hannay's flat, with a knife plunged through his heart. Scudder explains he is in grave danger and has faked his own death to ensure this information gets into the correct hands. Richard Hannay arrives home at his London flat, bored with life and encounters his neighbour, Franklin Scudder who is waiting for him with the most extraordinary tale of a potential assassination plot of a key figure in the Balkan crisis. Something was afoot here! Why is the novel so different to the films? Honestly, I have no idea! The novel is, and remains a classic spy fiction, short and perfectly formed. By the time the Robert Powell film was on general release, things had gotten frankly ridiculous and at no point does Richard Hannay hang off the clock face of Big Ben.
What is very odd is that the film bears little resemblance to the novel and is in fact a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock's 39 Steps involving dangerous women,a professor and a memory man, none of which feature in the novel by John Buchan. I have very hazy memories of The 39 Steps being a black and white film starring Kenneth More and involving him pursued through Scotland while handcuffed to a glamorous lady.
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