The Lady Vanishes (1938)

At first glance The Lady Vanishes appears to be a frothy, lightweight treat, a testament to Alfred Hitchcock's nimble touch. This snappy, sophisticated romantic thriller begins innocently enough, as a contingent of eccentric tourists spend the night in a picture-postcard village inn nestled in the Swiss Alps before setting off on the train the next morning. In a wonderfully Hitchcockian twist on "meeting cute," attractive young Iris (Margaret Lockwood) clashes with brash music student Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) when his nocturnal concerts give her no peace. She gets him kicked out of his room, so he barges in on hers: True love is inevitable, but not before they are both plunged into an international conspiracy. The next day on the train, kindly old Mrs. Froy (Dame May Whitty) vanishes from her train car without a trace and the once quarrelsome couple unite to search the train and uncover a dastardly plot. No one is as he or she seems, but sorting out the villains from the merely mysterious is a challenge in itself, as our innocents abroad face resistance from the entire passenger list. Hitchcock effortlessly navigates this vivid thriller from light comedy to high tension and back again, creating one of his most enchanting and entertaining mysteries. Though this wasn't his final British film before departing for Hollywood (that honor goes to Jamaica Inn), many critics prefer to think of this as his fond farewell to the British Film Industry. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com essential video

The Most Fun Train Ride You'll Ever Take

Margaret Lockwood is simply fabulous in what many consider to be Hitchcock's finest British film. While Young and Innocent is my personal favorite from his British period, The Lady Vanishes is undeniably a fun and enchanting spy thriller with many comic touches, and one of the finest of its kind ever made. Screenwriters Sidney Gilliatt and Frank Launder, the same team from the equally stellar Seven Sinners, and Alma Reville peppered the story with romance and humor, giving the background of danger a sense of good movie fun for the viewer. It is one of the most utterly enjoyable mysteries with a train setting in the history of film.

Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) and her girlfriends are rooming at a bustling and overcrowded hotel in the mountains before she heads out by train to marry. There is an odd assortment of guests there, including a clarinet playing Michael Redgrave (Gilbert), a couple of very British pals whose only interest is making the cricket match in Manchester on time, Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford, and a seemingly harmless older lady (Dame May Whitty) who someone has it in for. After some sparks over Gilbert's loud clarinet practice, it is Iris who gets a pot in the head meant for Mrs. Froy (Whitty), however, and when they board the train together, the fun really begins.

Though many of the devices used here by Hitchcock have been emulated over the years, it must have been a real treat for filmgoers seeing this for the first time on the big screen. When Iris dozes off in the train compartment and finds Mrs. Froy gone, suddenly everyone who had seen her denies her ever having been onboard! Hitchcock uses a confluence of circumstance to make plausible some of the denials, while others are shrouded in a sinister mystery. It is this mix of sheer fun and danger which makes this such a pleasant film experience. The inevitable romance that develops between Iris and Gilbert, who falls for her immediately, also adds enjoyment for the viewer.

A mysterious doctor offers possible explanations for the mind of Iris creating Mrs. froy out of thin air after her knock on the head, but the viewer has seen Mrs. Froy also, and knows something bad is afoot. A frosty window where Mrs. Froy wrote her name will convince Iris she isn't going bugs, but it will be a tea bag which, according to Mrs. Froy, a million Mexicans drink, that will finally put Gilbert fully into her corner. Finding themselves cut off from the rest of the train, a battle in the woods ensues for stakes greater than Mrs. Froy's life. The droll humor of Wayne and Radford was a big hit with audiences. Though not often mentioned, Catherine Lacy has a nice turn as the Nun in high heels who switches sides to help our heroes save Britain.

Lockwood and Redgrave made a fabulous team, and if this film sounds like fun, that's because it is. If you have a combo player, as I do, and just want to see it, I highly recommend the Home Vision version on vhs. It uses the excellent Criterion Collection master print, and can be picked up for a very inexpensive price. If you have yet to see this fabulously fun film, you really should do so. It's a film no real movie buff can live without. December 30, 2008

First Class Mystery

Very entertaining, good acting and character portrayal. Had some predictable circumstances but for the 1930's outstanding. December 21, 2008

Screwball comedy + Thriller + Romance = Great Fun

This is a very funny, totally enjoyable movie, that's sure to please almost anyone. The cast is first rate. Michael Redgrave is handsome, funny, and totally charming in his first major film role. Margaret Lockwood is more than just a beautiful screwball comedian; she displays a subtlety that many actresses of this genre lack. Together they make a great team. Dame Mae Whitty plays an English governess type that everyone will want to hug. Some of the others---the excitable hotel manager, the smiling buxom maid, the Italian magician, his spooky wife, as well as the two cricket-mad English tourists, are all hilarious. The dancers who accompany the eccentric musicologist are wonderful---especially when stopped in mid-action.

The plot starts slowly, with plenty of comedy and then gradually the difficulty presents itself. We know, from the title, that some lady will vanish but it takes a while before we know who it will be. Tension mounts and eventually things get real serious before it all settles down.

Considering the time and place in which the film was made, there are pertinent themes which deepen its value---the initial reluctance of some of the English train passengers to recognize the danger they are in and then to do something about it, the idea of saving one's self vs sacrifice. The ultimate guy-you-want-to-hate is a pompous lawyer, on an adulterous trip with his married girlfriend, who values his own reputation over everything. Several times people comment about having a sense of proportion. This is a very smart film, which can be enjoyed on many levels.

September 19, 2007

The Lady Vanishes

Hitchcock's timeless classic begins on a high comic note, then quickly transforms into a suspense film with political overtones. As in "The 39 Steps," the priceless banter between the heroine and her unlikely ally elevates what is already a nifty nail-biter into something infinitely more special: a romantic mystery. The cast of eccentrics--especially two English tourists played by Basil Radford and Naughton Wayne--give this "Lady" extra punch, and Dame May Whitty is adorable as the elusive old lady who causes all the fuss. June 21, 2007

1 more star?

This is a good movie and I liked it, especially the very likable protagonists. I would like it more if someone would be so kind as to explain why the 'Germans' don't just arrest Miss Froy? Why go through the trouble of 'disappearing' her? Yes, if they had done so the story wouldn't exist. Why does the villain never just kill the hero but instead leaves an unintended escape... sure, we suspend disbelief up to a point, but here with this movie, I wonder if I had just missed a key dialog or something of that sort. January 27, 2007

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