The year is 1914 and Richard Hannay, Mining Engineer who is visiting Britain for a short time before returning to South Africa, is shocked when one of his neighbours, Colonel Scudder, bursts into his rooms one night and tells him a story that Prussian 'sleeper' agents are planning to pre-start World War I by murdering a visiting foreign minister. However, Scudder is murdered and Hannay is framed for the death by the 'sleepers'. Fleeing to Scotland Hannay attempts to clear his name and to stop the agents with the aid of Alex Mackenzie but not only is he is chased by Chief Supt Lomas for Scudder's death but by the agents who are headed by Appleton who has managed to hide himself in a high-placed position in the British Government...
Practical Effects
That clock face sequence—no green screen, just sheer 1978 nerve
Acting
Robert Powell's jawline carries the entire British Empire
Cinematography
Misty Scottish moors that basically invented moody
Director
Don Sharp
Robert Powell
Richard Hannay
David Warner
Sir Edmund Appleton
Eric Porter
Chief Superintendent Lomas
Karen Dotrice
Alex Mackenzie
John Mills
Scudder
George Baker
Sir Walter Bullivant
Ronald Pickup
Bayliss
Donald Pickering
Marshall
Timothy West
Porton
Miles Anderson
David
Andrew Keir
Lord Rohan
Robert Flemyng
Magistrate
William Squire
Harkness
David Collings
Tillotson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Robert Powell performed the Big Ben stunt himself—no insurance company would touch it, so the producers just... didn't tell them.
This was the third adaptation in sixty years, and the only one where Hannay gets a female sidekick who actually helps instead of just screaming.
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