The Lady Vanishes

This is the best of the early Hitchcock films. The plot is absorbing, the dialogue clever and the cast great. Whether or not this was the first of the director's films to place its principal action on a moving train I cannot say, but it's a theme that would come back again in his later work, most notably in "Strangers on a Train."

The film gets off to a somewhat rocky start with the camera panning over an Alpine inn and a train halted mid-journey by an avalanche. I agree with the review who observes that we've become spoilt by more sophisticated special effects. A Lionel half buried in a heap of bleached wheat flower just doesn't cut it nowadays. Think also of the stick figure engulfed in the munitions factory explosion in "Saboteur." I suppose directors of that era had to do with whatever was available.

But after this point the film really takes off, and one scarcely recalls the unpromising opening. Viewers always look for the chemistry or lack thereof between actors. Well, Lockwood and Redgrave definitely have it. One cannot help but enjoy seeing how the initial sparks flying between their clashing characters develop into true love by movie's end. As the two are making their way through the train trying to locate Whitty, they move from one barely plausible predicament to another. But we love it, as one witty exchange turns quickly into another. (For example, Lockwood is asked to describe the missing Whitty and launches into an extremely detailed portrait that leaves not a single button unaccounted for. Then she ends by saying, "That's all I can remember." Counters Redgrave dryly: "Well, you can't have been paying attention.")

Much of the film's action occurs in the fictional country of Bandrika, which seems to be a thinly disguised stand-in for nazi-controlled Austria, so recently annexed by Hitler's Germany. As an amateur linguist, I found myself trying to make sense of the made-up "Bandrikan" spoken by the natives, but of course was unable to do so. (What could it be? A Finno-Ugric language? :) Most of the time the identity of Hitchcock's villains remains deliberately vague, except in "Notorious" and "Torn Curtain," where they are nazis and communists respectively. It works better when he leaves us guessing.

As an amateur musician I loved Hitch's "macguffin," namely, the secret formula encoded in a song which the protagonists had to memorize and carry to the Foreign Office in London. (I should think, however, that a genuine secret message might translate into something more like Schoenberg's twelve-tone music than a central European folk song, but of course that would hardly work in a film. :)

The early Hitchcock seemed to like shootouts, as seen also in the first version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much." But shootouts are an ineffective way to convey suspense, and this is perhaps the one thing that dims what is otherwise a masterpiece.

It's too bad the director lived long enough to see this film remade in 1979. Cybil Shepherd is no Margaret Lockwood, and it's pretty unpleasant-almost embarrassing-to see her shrieking her way through each scene. Couldn't they have waited a few years until he had passed on? They ought to have let him die in peace.

From 1938, The Lady Vanishes is clearly where Hitch was getting comfortable in his trade. Starting slowly, it soon revs up with mystery and intrigue. But I think that was the whole point. A seemingly innocuous day can lead itself into adventure.

Starting in some remote European village, a woman meets a little old lady. Getting on the train the next day, the old lady vanishes without a trace while she is asleep. When she asks about the lady, people say that there was no old lady. The mystery then ensues as our leading lady tries to uncover the plot behind a woman she knows was there.

The main aspect of this movie is the everyday humor that is applied. The two English fellows who are only looking for the latest cricket scores, score themselves some remarkable laughs. Our hero that comes to the leading woman's assistance is funny and charming himself. The time spent at the beginning in the hotel may seem to be off topic, making a viewer wonder where the mystery is, but the point is that the viewer becomes acquainted with the characters and are much more believable to the viewer. Again, I think Hitch was showing us our next door neighbors and how they can rise up against unusually dangerous circumstances. I think my analysis of Hitch would be his championing the moral fiber of everyman. I think that is why Hitchcock films still stand today as some of the best ever made.

This movie receives my major recommendation. Not done yet. I got more to view and review. What fun!

"Well, anyway, I refuse to be discouraged. Faint heart never found old lady."

Ah, this was a great movie! One of Hitch's best, and certainly one of his most entertaining. It was funny, thrilling, and just plain old fun to watch.

The story is quite simple. A sweet old lady disappears on a train, and the only person who admits ever seeing her, is a young woman who met her the night before. As she searches for the old lady, she's helped by a roguish young man, and they soon begin to wonder just who this lady is, where she went, and why on earth would so many people go through so much trouble to make it seem like she never existed. It all makes for a very compelling mystery. 

The Lady Vanishes features some of the best characters I've ever seen in a Hitchcock film. Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave were great as the two main protagonists, and the witty banter between the two was equaled only by the two dry, cricket-obsessed Englishmen who provided so much of the humor of the film. I found this movie to be similar to Rear Window (no wonder I enjoyed it so much), as there are many subplots among the minor characters that are almost as interesting as the main story. 

I firmly believe that this is the best I've seen of Hitchcock's early movies. It has everything from shootouts to nuns in high heels. The Lady Vanishes will convert you to being a fan of Alfred, if you're somehow (drugs?) not already.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

A Hitchcock movie filled with mystery but lacking suspense. Which is quite fine, turning "The Lady Vanishes" into a fun movie with lots of wry jokes and clever twists. You can't take it any more seriously than Hitchcock did, and he famously had fun with his ideas. That's one reason why they are recognizably Hitch.

This is a transitional movie for the director in many ways. For one thing it was hugely successful in Britain, and then later in the U.S., and Hitchcock soon moved to Hollywood where his stellar string of successes for over 20 years began. But that said, this is a film filled with provincial humor (that was a joke, in case you are British)--that is, you need to have a feel for British humor, and for the style of joking and making witty remarks (constantly) of the time. It's a hilarious movie. When you aren't laughing you're still tickled.

Which is what disappoints some viewers expecting "Psycho" or something. Nope. But you'll recognize the director's hand here, mixing regular people who are misunderstood (if not quite accused of something they didn't do) and who end up having to solve the problem themselves. And so it goes, and they do rather well for a couple of ordinary folk.

When I say there is no suspense I mean it, even when there is uncertainty. The biggest twist of the whole plot (not to be mentioned here!) is only kept from the viewer for a short while. Then the actors tell you! Yes, you are let in on the secret, and yet the movie goes on from there. That is--it's not about worrying and trying to figure it out. It's about watching the main characters work together and piece together their way out of a sticky situation. And of course eventually fall in love.

You forget sometimes that the key element in nearly every Hitchcock movie is a love story. After all, that's what matters to most of us (or all of us?) day after day, so he zeroes in on that even as the world is threatened by uranium 235 ("Notorious"), a murderer in the apartment complex ("Rear Window"), the ghost of a previous wife ("Rebecca") and so on. (Of these, "Psycho" is an interesting exception.) So watch what is actually a romantic comedy with a dash of international intrigue in the ominous year leading up to WWII, which hasn't happened at the time of filming. Great stuff.

"The Lady Vanishes" is one of Director Alfred Hitchcock's best British made films, in fact I think it's one of his all time best.

Set in pre-WWII somewhere in Europe, A group of people board a train bound for England after having spent the previous night in an overcrowded hotel. Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) befriends a kindly old governess/teacher, Miss Froy (Dame May Witty). When Iris is struck by a falling flowerpot, Miss Froy promises to take care of her as they board the train.

After having tea together, the two women return to their compartment where Iris falls asleep. When she awakes, Miss Froy is gone, totally vanished. The people sharing the compartment, "The Baroness" (Mary Clare), Signor and Signora Doppo (Philip Leaver, Selma Van Dias) deny ever having seen Miss Froy. Doctor Hartz (Paul Lukas) comes to her aid and is convinced that the bump Iris received to her head may have caused a memory lapse.

Iris then meets Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave) whom she had met the previous evening at the hotel. He offers his help. Skeptical at first, he soon comes to believe Iris' story. Eric Todhunter (Cecil Parker) and "Mrs." Todhunter (Linden Travers) deny seeing Miss Froy because they are in the midst of an extra marital affair. Two British "gentlemen", Caldicott (Naughton Wayne) and Charters (Basil Radford) though having seen Miss Froy with Iris, don't wish to become involved.

When Dr. Hartz brings a patient aboard the train, Gilbert and Iris become suspicious and.......................................

As was his custom, Hitchcock pits his heroine against all odds in her quest to find Miss Froy. The suspense builds as the situation becomes more hopeless. This would be a theme that the master of suspense would use throughout his career. He also liked to work trains into many of his plots, including this film of which three quarters takes place on board a train.

The scene in the hotel showing Caldicott and Charters sharing a bed (and a pair of pajamas) never would have gotten by the American censors. The relationship between the Todhunters as well, was quite obvious and rare for the American cinema of the day.

This is one of Hitchcock's best films and hasn't suffered because of age. Highly recommended.