The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Lady Vanishes
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder based on a story by Ethel Lina White
1938/UK
Gainsborough Pictures
Repeat viewing
#127 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Miss Froy: I never think you should judge any country by its politics. After all, we English are quite honest by nature, aren’t we?[/box]

I simply love this movie and would rank it in Hitchcock’s top five pictures.

The story opens at a mountain inn in 1938 Mandrika, a fictitious European country where a varied group of tourists is stranded following an avalanche.  Iris Henderson i(Margaret Lockwood) is a spoiled young woman who feels she has done everything and so might as well get married to a “blue-blooded check chaser” back home in England.  Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) is an itinerant musicologist who irritates Iris mightily by conducting loud folk music sessions directly overhead.

The elderly Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty), a governess and music teacher, is also returning to England.  Before the train departs the next day, Iris returns Miss Froy’s glasses to her and is struck on the head by a falling planter.  Dazed, Iris gets on the train assisted by the kindly old lady.  When she awakens from her sleep, Miss Froy is gone and no one will admit she was ever on the train.  Iris’s only ally is Gilbert, who is willing to play along even if he doesn’t believe her.  Before long, the two are enmeshed in a dangerous game of hide and seek.  With Naughton Wayne and Basil Radford as cricket enthusiasts, Cecil Parker and Linden Travers as an adulterous couple, and Paul Lukas as a sinister brain surgeon.

This film has a delightfully tight script that enchants me every time with its naughty humor and sly political commentary on the appeasement policies of the British government.  I also love Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood together.  They equal Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll (The 39 Steps) as playful antagonists.  The supporting cast is also great.  Hitchcock perfectly captures the setting of a moving train on a small budget.   Highly recommended.

The Criterion Collection DVD comes with an excellent commentary by film historian Bruce Eder.

Three Reasons to Watch – The Criterion Collection