The 39 Steps - August 1, 1938 - 01:02:52 - 14.3 MB On August 1, 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater On The Air present The 39 Steps by John Buchan on the CBS radio network with Welles playing Richard Hannay. At the end of the broadcast, Welles remarks that listeners expecting Madeleine Carroll or the version of The 39 Steps presented by Alfred Hitchcock in his 1935 film adaptation might be surprised at the plot. Welles based his script on Buchan's 1915 novel, not the Hitchcock film. (The Hitchcock version was written by Charles Bennett, Hitchcock and Ian Hay.) A 1937 radio play of the Hitchcock version on Lux Radio Theater starred Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery. The 2005 West End and Broadway play The 39 Steps was adapted from both the Buchan novel and the Hitchcock film. The 2008 BBC TV version (currently playing on Amazon Prime) with Rupert Penry-Jones, Lydia Leonard, Patrick Malahide and Eddie Marsan depended more on the Buchan novel. My Favorite Blonde (1942), starring Bob Hope, was loosely based on the Hitchcock film. Reportedly, Hope saw Madeleine Carroll in The 39 Steps and asked his writers (Melvin Frank and Norman Panama) to come up with a vehicle with Carroll as his co-star.