#26 The Lady Vanishes - and it's probably a conspiracy

1938. dir. Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty.

Seen it before? No.

The first of eleven Hitchcock films, and it was REALLY terrific!

The first fifteen minutes were just weird for me. Everyone is stuck at a hotel due to an avalanche and the hotel puts two cricket fans in a room that is actually the maid's closet. Then a troubadour's performance gets interrupted by an annoying clarinetist. The maid changes a few times...and doesn't speak a lick of English. The hotel runs out of food in the restaurant. Let's just say it wasn't shaping up to be a good movie for me. Although, hindsight being 20-20 it was a clever way of introducing the characters!

The first part of the train scene didn't seem too interesting but I'm glad I paid attention because the rest of the movie wouldn't have made sense otherwise!

This movie had the perfect balance of mystery, excitement, a-ha moments, and actors with good screen chemistry. There was no way you could fall asleep to this movie once it finally started making you think.

Margaret Lockwood is just so beautiful. The two cricket fans were just plain weird. Dame May Whitty was interesting as the eccentric nanny...considering there was more than met the eye with her. I didn't like Gilbert at first and truthfully I felt like for 95% of the movie he wasn't really taking Iris seriously. The doctor was creepy and his role in the movie just made me wonder if there are really people out there in our world today who are like him...and not in a good way!

Would I see it again? Yes, for surely I missed something.
Would I add it to my collection? Yes
Reason I didn't like Gilbert?

Gilbert: Come on, sit down, take it easy. What's the trouble?
Iris Henderson: If you must know, something fell on my head.
Gilbert: When, infancy?

Reason I did like Gilbert?

Gilbert: Can I help?
Iris Henderson: Only by going away.
Gilbert: No, no, no, no. My father always taught me, never desert a lady in trouble. He even carried that as far as marrying Mother.

In other words, he reminds me of someone I know....

#26 The Lady Vanishes: People just don't vanish and so forth.

1938. dir. Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty.

Seen it before? No.

I counted the other day, and the director with the most movies on the list is the great Alfred Hitchcock, with eleven. Second most is Stanley Kubrick with nine, then Martin Scorsese with six. I don't think anybody else has more than four or five. It occurred to me that we were 25 movies in without having made a dent in the Hitchcock pile, so we decided to start at the beginning. (well, the beginning for the ones on the list; he had a few older ones like The Thirty-Nine Steps.)

This one is like a play in three acts. Act One is a farcical comedy at a hotel that has become overcrowded due to an avalanche. We meet the main characters: a young American woman on vacation (Margaret Lockwood), this smarmy annoying guy who plays the clarinet (Michael Redgrave), two British guys who are WAY too into cricket (Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford), a couple cheating on their respective spouses (Cecil Parker and Linden Travers), and a slightly senile-acting governess (Dame May Whitty). A few key plot points are dropped here, and a musician gets strangled - we don't find out why until much later.

Act Two: The movie becomes a psychological mystery story. The avalanche is cleared and everybody gets on the train. The heiress is sharing a compartment with the governess, and they become friendly. She takes a nap and when she wakes up, the governess has disappeared. Everybody says she was by herself the whole time. She suspects something is up - spoiler: she's right - and clarinet guy is the only one who believes her story.

Act Three: well, I won't ruin it.

This is really an excellent movie, and very innovative for the time it was made. Alfred Hitchcock delivers his usual blend of suspense, intelligent plotting, and dry British humor. Highly recommended.

Position on the list: 235
Hitchcock's cameo: In the train station at the end