The 39 Steps: Rupert Penry-Jones
The BBC has made a new adaptation of The 39 Steps, John Buchan's 1915 novella about Richard Hannay, a man who finds himself in the frame for a murder he didn't commit, goes on the run to Scotland, and gets involved with a nasty German spy ring. This much is still in scriptwriter Lizzie Mickery's new version, which boasts ex-Spooks charmer Rupert Penry-Jones as its hero, but Mickery's put in a great deal else besides, including a suffragette, a German U-boat and a plot with so many twists and turns you almost need a degree in espionage to follow it.
"There have been so many reinventions of The 39 Steps," says Lydia Leonard, who plays the suffragette and Hannay's love interest, Victoria Sinclair. "It's a licence to have fun with the story."
All three prior film versions, including Alfred Hitchcock's from 1935, have meddled with Buchan's original too. With good reason, reckons Penry-Jones. "The book needs a bit of tweaking to be honest. It's quite anti-semitic for a start, and very misogynistic."
The new Hannay is a bit of a male chauvinist too but, with the feisty Victoria to put him in his place, he's not too good at getting his own way. Except in one scene where he finds himself having to impersonate a politician at a public meeting and Victoria stands up and demands grumpily, "Where do you stand on women?" To which Hannay replies, with withering charm, "As a rule, I try not to stand on women."
Lynn Horsford, the film's producer, says Penry-Jones was cast because he's so like Hannay. "Rupert has all Hannay's attributes. He's good-looking, very debonair." "And he's great at rolling around with guns," adds Leonard...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
"There have been so many reinventions of The 39 Steps," says Lydia Leonard, who plays the suffragette and Hannay's love interest, Victoria Sinclair. "It's a licence to have fun with the story."
All three prior film versions, including Alfred Hitchcock's from 1935, have meddled with Buchan's original too. With good reason, reckons Penry-Jones. "The book needs a bit of tweaking to be honest. It's quite anti-semitic for a start, and very misogynistic."
The new Hannay is a bit of a male chauvinist too but, with the feisty Victoria to put him in his place, he's not too good at getting his own way. Except in one scene where he finds himself having to impersonate a politician at a public meeting and Victoria stands up and demands grumpily, "Where do you stand on women?" To which Hannay replies, with withering charm, "As a rule, I try not to stand on women."
Lynn Horsford, the film's producer, says Penry-Jones was cast because he's so like Hannay. "Rupert has all Hannay's attributes. He's good-looking, very debonair." "And he's great at rolling around with guns," adds Leonard...