The Cool Channel DVD Review: The Lady Vanishes (1938) Posted by J.D. Dunn on 09.21.2006
Another of Hitchcock's most influential thrillers.
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
D:Alfred Hitchcock W:Sidney Gilliat, from a novel by Ethel Lina White Starring:Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Dame May Whitty and Paul Lukas. MPAA: NR Runtime: 97m.
The Film:
"The Lady Vanishes" marks the end of Alfred Hitchcock's fertile British period before David O'Selznick lured him to America where the fun would really begin. It is considered among the finest of Hitchcock's early work. Although World War II was a few years away from escalating, Hitchcock, always attuned to the world of current events, gives us a glimpse of the foreign intrigue that would become synonymous with that conflict without actually naming an enemy country.
Even though Hitchcock rarely made propaganda films, his early pictures, especially during the war years, always seemed to contain some small nod to British and American politics. "The Lady Vanishes" is no different. In fact, it's easy to see this film as a call to arms against Hitler's pernicious regime.
This is the second half of a two-picture deal between Hitchcock and producer Edward Black. The first of which was Hitchcock's favorite of his early films, "Young and Innocent." Originally, Hitchcock wanted to film Daphne DuMaurier's "Rebeccca," but he couldn't afford to purchase the movie rights at the time.
“Hitchcock brings his usual penchant for suspense, droll humor and romance to the table, turning what could have been a routine spy thriller into an instant classic.”
Black had tried to film Ethel Lina White's "The Wheel Spins" once before, but the crew was thrown out of Bucharest when the government found out the movie implied they were sympathetic to Nazis. When Hitchcock signed with Black, Black sent him this screenplay, and the rest is history.
The story itself is based upon a 19th Century French urban legend about a girl and her mother who arrive from India in Paris. The mother falls ill, and a doctor tells the daughter to go to a distant part of the city for medicine. When she returns, she can't find her mother or anyone who will admit to having seen her. As it turns out, the doctor detected traces of the Plague in the mother and hid her body after she died, swearing everyone else to secrecy, lest there be an international incident.
Of course, Hitchcock brings his usual penchant for suspense, droll humor and romance to the table, turning what could have been a routine spy thriller into an instant classic.
Brandrinka is a small, fictional Eastern European mountain country. It is apparently famous for its resorts, as you could tell by the sheer number of tourists who are snowed in at the tiny lodge near the only train depot out of town. Guests include dowdy old Miss Froy (Whitty in the title roll), illicit couple Mr. Todhunter and "Mrs. Todhunter" (Cecil Parker and Linden Travers, respectively), cricket buffs and resident comedy relief Caldicott and Charters (Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford), spoiled American bride-to-be Iris Henderson (Lockwood), and obnoxious musician Gilbert (Redgrave, replacing Robert Donat, who suffered from severe asthma).
Due to an avalanche near the lodge, everyone is shoved into the rooms like sardines. The hapless Caldicott and Chalmers are forced to room with the maid. Iris, however, gets her own room because she's a VIP. That doesn't impress Gilbert the musician, who is composing his masterpiece, a sort of awful waltz/clog dance, just above Iris' and Miss Froy's room. Not only is it bothersome to Iris, it's downright distracting to Miss Froy, who is listening intently to the singer outside.
When Iris bribes the hotel manager to kick Gilbert out of the hotel, Gilbert breaks into her room and says he is going to spend the night with her since there's no other place to stay. Iris, who is on her way to be married to Charles Fatheringale the blue-blooded Czechchaser, relents and bribes the hotel manager to put Gilbert back. Still, Iris is infuriated by his insolence. Of course, we all know where their relationship is going, but in 1937 it was still fresh.
Miss Froy, finally, has heard the song from the minstrel below...who is later strangled by a shadowy figure!
The next day, everyone is able to board the train to London. As Iris is saying goodbye to her girlfriends, she notices that Miss Froy has dropped her glasses. When she takes them over to Froy, a flowerpot pushed from above smashes her over the head, possibly saving Miss Froy's life but knocking Iris silly. Even though she's disoriented with a possible concussion, Iris says she's okay to get on the train.
Miss Froy takes her onto the train and treats her to high tea. Froy tries to introduce herself, but Iris can't hear her because of the train whistle, so Froy writes her name in the dust on the window for Iris to read. Froy also gives the steward a special brand of tea to prepare for her -- a million Mexicans drink it, she tells Iris.
Meanwhile, life goes on for the other passengers. Mr. Todhunter and "Mrs. Todhunter" try desperately not to be seen. You see, he is a barrister, and she is his mistress, not his wife. If they were to be caught together, the scandal would be outrageous and possibly cost him a judgeship. Also, Caldicott and Charters continue their fruitless efforts to discuss cricket and are interrupted at every turn. It all seems relatively innocent.
“Although he often derided the methods that governments used to fight wars, he acknowledged the necessity of fighting evil with this film…”
Froy takes Iris back to their car where Iris falls asleep. When she wakes up, Iris finds that Miss Froy is gone. She asks the other passengers in the car - an Italian man, a German lady, and a Spanish woman - where the English lady has gone. The German lady tells her that there has been no English lady there since they left. Of course, Iris knows that can't be right.
Iris questions the steward who served her and Miss Froy tea. He says that she had tea alone, not with an English lady. Upset, Iris storms back into the steerage class and runs into Gilbert once again. Although he seems content just to make fun of her, he says his father told him never to abandon a woman in trouble. He decides to help her find out what is going on.
And thus begins the effort to find Miss Froy, the sparring romance between Iris and Gilbert, and the push to drag this ragtag group of Brits together against a common foe.
Politics
Long before Hitler started his push to conquer Europe, artists and filmmakers were using their craft as a call to arms. Even DC Comics had Superman capturing Hitler and Stalin and turning them over to the courts for trial. Of course, by the time there was any action, it was too late. But Hitchcock was right there with them. Although he often derided the methods that governments used to fight wars, he acknowledged the necessity of fighting evil with this film, his later American work "Foreign Correspondent," and on into the communist era with "Topaz" and "Torn Curtain."
You might have noticed I mentioned the nationalities of Iris' compartment-mates (Italian, German and Spanish). It wasn't the start of some bad joke. Instead, it was to point out the obviousness of Hitchcock's symbolism. Three people in the same compartment, all from Europe's three most-powerful fascist countries.
The Brits, on the other hand, are not only ignorant to the deadly actions happening all around theme, but they seem to be intentionally ignoring the truth. Mr. and "Mrs." Todhunter are only concerned with avoiding scandal, Chalmers and Caldicott are only concerned with their game of cricket. Because none of the British passengers can see outside of their narrow, self-absorbed sphere of existence, Iris' warnings that "something is really wrong here" fall on deaf ears.
In an aspect of the film-making process that might be filed under "blatant irony," the British censorship board had a very strict policy from 1937-1939 that their film may not, in any way, take sides with regard to German expansion throughout Europe.
Video
Restored by Criterion in the mid-1990's, the film looks as good as it ever will with minimal scratches and pops compared to other recent prints.
Audio
Criterion has done an equally good job with the audio mix. Although it was made only a decade or so after sound became popular, Hitchock uses sound as a device throughout the film -- check out Mr. and "Mrs. Todhunter's" argument in their cabin as well as the scenes after Iris stops the train, and you'll see what I mean.
Special Features
An additional commentary track by film historian Bruce Eder. Although it sounds like Eder is reading from prepared notes throughout the commentary, the track still manages to be a fascinating iteration of just about every aspect from the film, from technical aspects all the way down to the films Caldicott and Charters appeared in years later.
The 411: One of Hitchcock's finest British thrillers still packs a punch even today. Although it's a tremendously entertaining film, it also has a political undercurrent lying just beneath its surface. With Todhunter in the roll of pacifist Chamberlain, hoping the wheels of bureacracy will save him, and Gilbert as Churchill - the man of action - "The Lady Vanishes" serves as a microcosm of pre-Blitzkrieg British society. If you don't want to enjoy it on that level, though, it's okay. There's also a fine romance between Lockwood and Redgrave who play their characters of a spoiled princess and sly musician to the hilt. As with all great Hitchcock thrillers, there truly is something for everyone in "The Lady Vanishes" even after repeated viewings. A
