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"A willing suspension of disbelief should get most viewers across the line."
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The Lady Vanishes (DVD)
Year: 1938
Rating: PG
Cast: Alfred Hitchcock, Margaret Lockwood, Paul Lukas, Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty
Release Date: March 16, 2011
Distributor: Director's Suite
The Film: 4.0
The Disc: 3.0
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5“...an intelligent screenplay that beautifully modulates the tone from comedy to chilling thriller.”
The inspiration for Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing and - shudder - Flight Plan, The Lady Vanishes is a key early film in Alfred Hitchcock's canon. Iris (Lockwood) meets a former-governess (Whitty) on a train, but is shocked when the older woman disappears and nobody seems to remember her. With the help of a musician (Redgrave), Iris attempts to unmask a conspiracy which involves the former-governess and the other passengers.
Unlike the tightness of his late constructions, The Lady Vanishes is a little slow-moving, with an overly long first act that focuses too heavily on broad comedy to set up its characters (these early scenes involving slapstick and ensemble humour would be unrecognisable from a traditional Hitchcockian thriller if not for the lively visual design).
Despite these first act blues, the rest of the film is exciting and involving, with an intelligent screenplay that beautifully modulates the tone from comedy to chilling thriller. The director is also nicely served by his actors: Lockwood is a strong and vulnerable in the lead, Redgrave gives an appealing and funny performance and the rest of the train's passengers make for a chilling gallery of rogues.
The DVD includes a trailer, an essay from author Ken Mogg and a commentary from Monash University's Brian McFarlane.
