Spanish Steps novel, "Tender Is the Night". The Steps are featured in Anthony Burgess's 1977 novel, "Abba Abba". Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps () are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The monumental stairway of 174 steps (the slightly elevated drainage system is often mistaken for the first step) was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 "scudi", in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy, and the Trinità dei Monti church
The 39 Steps (2008 film) was "more of a template for me than any version of "The 39 Steps"". Explaining why he took on the part, he said to Tim Oglethorpe of the "Daily Record": Part of the appeal was the cars, I'm a bit of a buff ... And I said – jokingly, of course – that I wouldn't be in "The 39 Steps" unless the action included the famous chase scene in which Hannay is pursued by a biplane. I've always wanted to be chased by a plane like Cary Grant in the movie "North by Northwest" and I was just delighted when