The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)

Set in 1914, a mining engineer (Robert Powell) visiting Great Britain takes in a neighbor (John Mills) who is being pursued by German agents. He tells the engineer of a plot to assassinate the Greek prime minister. When he is killed, the engineer is suspected of his murder and goes on the run. Based on the novel by John Buchan and directed by Don Sharp (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE). This is the third film version of Buchan's book. The most famous being the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock version and it was later filmed again in 1959. This version however is the closest to the Buchan book as Hitchcock made numerous plot changes and added a major female character not in the book. The 1959 movie is essentially a remake of the Hitchcock film rather than the original novel. The film is hampered by a colorless leading man (Powell) but on its own terms it's fairly successful. It has a marvelous set piece featuring Big Ben that I'm sure Hitchcock would have approved of, not unlike the finale of NORTH BY NORTHWEST. With David Warner, Karen Dotrice, Eric Porter, George Baker and Andrew Keir.