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Wonderful character development!

Sadly Over-hyped

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The Lady Vanishes is often imitated but never equalled. Many movies have done the "person vanishes but their accomplice finds out they apparently never existed" plot; but never has it been done as immaculately as The Lady Vanishes. Likewise train is the perfect cinematic device; there are an infinite amount of possibilities for scenarios based on trains and Hitchcock sure took advantage of this throughout his career.The Lady Vanishes is a movie with a great sense of adventure to it, travelling through the picturesque mountains of a politically unstable Europe. It's never identified what country the movie is set in, only that is "one of Europe's few undiscovered corners", letting the viewer's imagination fill in the blanks. I also love the charming miniature of the train station and hotel in the opening, making no attempt to disguise that is it just that, complete with little moving figures and a car driving with no one in it.Once the lady vanishes, is it a head scratcher, leaving me to hope this better have a dam good outcome and not cop out. The intensity ramps up to crazy levels as the mystery deepens with the atmosphere created by the train sound effects and the impending claustrophobia increases. On further viewings all the elements of the mystery make sense; the couple lying to avoid scandal, the cricket fans lying so they won't be late and the relevance of the serenading man, genius! My favourite scene in the move is the sequence in the cargo bay in which Redgrave and Lockwood investigate magic props and start doing impressions; it's such a fun scene to watch.The film's first act in the hotel could be a movie by itself; a sort of screwball comedy set in a hotel full of characters slightly off their rocker. Michael Redgrave reminds me and even looks like Errol Flynn here. Playing an adventurous free spirit and a character who could have come right out of a screwball comedy as evident by the manner in which he infiltrates Margaret Lockwood's room, creating a ruckus in order to "put on record for the benefit of mankind one of the lost folk dances of central Europe". Lockwood herself also plays an adventurous, free spirit ("been everywhere and done everything"), yet it takes the two of them some time to realise they have more in common with each other than they think./The two English gentlemen who talk about nothing but cricket on the other hand showcase the British turning a blind eye to the spread of fascism in Europe. They are the only two who would stand to another country's so called national anthem and dismiss a newspaper article on England being on the brink of war as sensationalism. On a lighter hearted note they even discuss how baseball is referred to as rounders in the UK in a still relevant joke ("Nothing but baseball you know. We used to call it rounders, children play it with a rubber ball and a stick"). Of course it wouldn't be an unashamedly British movie if someone did mention tea ("What you need if a good strong cup of tea").

Watching "The Lady Vanishes" on a cozy and lazy Sunday afternoon sadly led to a minor argument between me and my beloved wife… When the young leading lady wakes up after a nap on the train, she discovers that an elderly befriended lady went missing, but for some mysterious and unknown reason all the other passengers claim there never even was an elderly lady aboard the train. During these events, my wife said something like: "Hey, they took the exact same plot as in that movie Flightplan with Jodie Foster". Well, actually, no my dearest … "Flightplan" with Jodie Foster, as well as dozens of other movies, copied the plot from this movie and not the other way around. She got slightly agitated for correcting her and told me that 78-year-old movies are simply not very exciting. And that, of course, was the end of a lovely afternoon. Everybody always hails the movies that Alfred Hitchcock made in Hollywood starting with "Rebecca" in 1940 and onwards – and righteously so, of course – but all the movies that he released in his motherland England are undeniably brilliant as well and often even unjustly neglected. Take "The Lady Vanishes", for instance. Contrary to what my wife might say, this movie is still as refreshingly mysterious, suspenseful and absorbing as it must have been around the time of its release. And, moreover, the screenplay is also genuinely funny! It remains strange and almost unnatural to associate Alfred – the Master of Suspense – Hitchcock with comedy, and of course this is not a laugh-out-loud slapstick movie. The humor comes from the sharp and witty dialogues as well as from several delightfully stereotypical characters (notably the irresistible British chaps Caldicott & Charters). At the beginning of the film, a whole bunch of people are snowed in and trapped in a small (Tyrolian?) mountain hotel, including the young Iris Henderson, recovering from a bachelorette weekend, the cocky musician Gilbert and the friendly elderly Miss Froy. The next day, Iris and Miss Froy aboard the train together, but when Iris wakes up after a nap Miss Froy mysteriously vanished. She slowly persuades the skeptical Gilbert to take her concerns seriously and he helps to find her. "The Lady Vanishes" is an intelligently structured and non-stop fascinating mystery, chock-full of contrast. The tone is definitely light-headed, but simultaneously there's lots of political tension and unsettling atmosphere. The performances are more than stellar and it's needless to say that the direction is surefooted and impeccable. Shortly after "The Lady Vanishes", Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and altered suspense cinema forevermore, but his earliest UK movies should never be neglected!

for a long time, it was for me the film of Dame May Witty. not surprising, because her presence/absence remains same fascinating. than, the performances of Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave was the axis for admire this special gem. not the least, the story. and , sure, the art of Hitchcock in his early period. as one of my favorite film from childhood, it is easy to define The Lady Vanishes as a remarkable film. its power of seduction remains the same. the mystery is source of fascination. the incredible parts gives to it a special charm. its innocence, the ball of political implications, the fight between parts, the art of looks as significant ingredient are, in same measure, good points. a lovely film. and useful introduction to the universe of Alfred Hitchcock.

Good Hitchcock thriller. A young woman is travelling through continental Europe on a train when she realises that an elderly lady appears to have vanished from the train.Intriguing plot, though gets too convoluted towards the end, and the final scene is rather tame and trite. Perfectly paced, Hitchcock gives you a thorough introduction to the main characters before spinning his web of intrigue. For a thriller, the mood is actually quite light and humorous, rather than dark and edgy, which helps the movie speed along.Good performances all round. Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood are excellent in the lead roles.