The Lady Vanishes

( 16 )

Overview

The Lady Vanishes, Alfred Hitchcock's comedy-thriller, came at the end of his British period; this film's success brought Hitchcock to the attention of Hollywood. He would complete only one other British production, Jamaica Inn, before crossing the Atlantic to working for David O. Selznick on Rebecca. The film concerns the young Iris Henderson Margaret Lockwood, heading home on a train after spending the holidays in the Balkans. Iris becomes friends with a kindly old lady, Miss Froy Dame May Whitty after Iris ...
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Blu-ray (B&W / Pan & Scan)
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Overview

The Lady Vanishes, Alfred Hitchcock's comedy-thriller, came at the end of his British period; this film's success brought Hitchcock to the attention of Hollywood. He would complete only one other British production, Jamaica Inn, before crossing the Atlantic to working for David O. Selznick on Rebecca. The film concerns the young Iris Henderson Margaret Lockwood, heading home on a train after spending the holidays in the Balkans. Iris becomes friends with a kindly old lady, Miss Froy Dame May Whitty after Iris gets hit in the head with a flowerpot meant for Miss Froy. On the train, recovering from the blow, Iris falls asleep. When she awakens, Miss Froy has vanished, replaced by someone else in Miss Froy's clothing. Iris talks to the other passengers, a bizarre collection of eccentrics who think that Iris is crazy for insisting on there even being a Miss Froy -- everyone denies having ever seen the old woman. Finally, Iris finds a young musician, Gilbert Michael Redgrave, who believes her and the two proceed to search the train for clues to Miss Froy's disappearance.
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Special Features

Audio commentary featuring film historian Bruce Eder; Crook's Tour, a 1941 feature-length adventure film starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne as Charters and Caldicott, their beloved characters from The Lady Vanishes; Excerpts from François Truffaut's legendary 1962 audio interview with director Alfred Hichcock; Mystery Train, a video essay about Hitchcock and The Lady Vanishes by Hichcock scholar Leonard Leff; Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and promotional art
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide
It's easy to forget, with all his successes, that Alfred Hitchcock's career suffered quite a few periods of commercial decline. Following his two international breakthroughs, The Man Who Knew Too Much 1934 and The 39 Steps 1935, the director produced three films with relatively disappointing box-office returns. In 1938, he broke out of this slump with the popular and entertaining The Lady Vanishes. The director's penultimate movie before leaving England, it's a very light picture, more dependent on comedy than almost any of his previous films. A good deal of the humor comes from the interplay between the definitively British tourists Charters and Caldicott, played indelibly by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, that the actors would reprise in several other films. Despite or perhaps because of its "Englishness," The Lady Vanishes made quite a splash in America, securing Hitchcock a place in Hollywood. The charming script by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat was based on the popular Ethel Lina White novel, The Wheel Spins. Brendon Hanley
All Movie Guide
It's easy to forget, with all his successes, that Alfred Hitchcock's career suffered quite a few periods of commercial decline. Following his two international breakthroughs, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and The 39 Steps (1935), the director produced three films with relatively disappointing box-office returns. In 1938, he broke out of this slump with the popular and entertaining The Lady Vanishes. The director's penultimate movie before leaving England, it's a very light picture, more dependent on comedy than almost any of his previous films. A good deal of the humor comes from the interplay between the definitively British tourists Charters and Caldicott, played indelibly by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, that the actors would reprise in several other films. Despite (or perhaps because of) its "Englishness," The Lady Vanishes made quite a splash in America, securing Hitchcock a place in Hollywood. The charming script by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat was based on the popular Ethel Lina White novel, The Wheel Spins.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 12/6/2011
  • UPC: 715515090315
  • Original Release: 1938

    • Rating:

  • Source: Criterion
  • Region Code: A
  • Presentation: B&W / Pan & Scan
  • Language: English
  • Time: 1:36:00
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • Sales rank: 24,700

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Margaret Lockwood Iris Henderson
Michael Redgrave Gilbert Redman
Paul Lukas Dr. Hartz
Dame May Whitty Miss Froy
Cecil Parker Eric Todhunter
Linden Travers Margaret Todhunter
Mary Clare The Baroness
Naunton Wayne Caldicott
Basil Radford Charter
Emile Boreo Hotel Manager
Philip Leaver Signor Doppo
Catherine Lacey The Nun
Josephine Wilson Mme. Kummer
Googie Withers Blanche
Sally Stewart Julie
Zelma Vas Dias Signora Doppo
Alfred Hitchcock
Charles Oliver Officer
Basil Redford
Kathleen Tremaine , Anna
Technical Credits
Alfred Hitchcock Director
Edward Black Producer
Maurice Carter Set Decoration/Design
Jack Cox Cinematographer
R.E. Dearing Editor
Sidney Gilliat Screenwriter
Albert Jullion Set Decoration/Design
Frank Launder Screenwriter
Louis Levy Score Composer, Musical Direction/Supervision
Alma Reville Screenwriter
Alfred Roome Editor
Alexander Vetchinsky Art Director, Set Decoration/Design
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 16 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(8)

4 Star

(4)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(2)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 16 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    ''Play it again, Miss Froy!''

    I saw this movie when I was a child in the late '60's. The excitement of the chase stayed with me my entire life. Good movie! The train whistle still startles me! My children sit through the entire movie for fear of missing something. I think they love this one because Hitchcock smears this one with humor they can grasp. We love it. You will too!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Vanishing Suspense

    Not the best of Hitchcock's efforts, this one still satisfies. If the movie suffers, it's because the sustained suspense that one expects from Hitchcock goes on holiday at times to service the budding romance between the lead actors. Sure, there are a few sparks there, but there's also more than the film's share of the annoying female hysteria you find in many early romantic comedies. Nonetheless, the pair of will-be lovers do share some chemistry, and when you add memorable supporting characters, and an at least serviceable plot, this movie is (when the tracks are clear) full steam ahead.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    5 Stars To The Lady Vanishes

    This early Hitchcock mystery is a wonderful, engaging film set on a European train in the 1930's. Truly one of Hitchcock's thoughtful, showpiece pictures, it combines the director's legendary aura of mystery and intrigue with a mostly English ensemble cast that, it seems, are always eager to play their part in doing justice to this film. Margaret Lockwood is the protagonist Iris, a young women coming back to England after a vacation with friends. While waiting overnight in a hotel in central Europe for her train the next morning, she meets an older woman, also waiting for the train. Hitchcock also uses the hotel as a means for introducing many of the other characters, some of who will be bound on the train. But the next day something subversive and mysterious is going on throughout the train ride, and Iris, along with delightful actor Michael Redgrave by her side, is bound to find out if the Lady really has Vanished.

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    Posted July 10, 2010

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    Posted September 5, 2009

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    Posted July 23, 2009

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    Posted December 11, 2009

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    Posted December 10, 2010

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    Posted November 11, 2009

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    Posted January 24, 2009

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    Posted June 30, 2010

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    Posted November 16, 2009

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    Posted January 15, 2010

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Sort by: Showing all of 16 Customer Reviews