The Lady Vanishes

"The Lady Vanishes"
Alfred Hitchcock, 1938

"The Lady Vanishes" opens with a playful tracking shot through a town, which is obviously a model, that finally leads us into a hotel, where we meet all of our characters. There are two men who are anxiously waiting for a train to get back to England, where they are to see a high-stakes croquet game. There is a rowdy musician named Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) and the inevitable soon-to-be love interest, Iris (Margaret Lockwood). And finally, there is a pair of unhappy lovers who are on vacation, one of whom is a stodgy judge.

This is not one of Hitchcock's better films; its situations are humorous, it has a fairly weak premise - something concerning an international conspiracy that must be stopped - and it has a surprisingly paltry quality. What "The Lady Vanishes" does offer, however, are nearly all of the themes that Hitchcock was so fascinated with, such as his fear of authority figures, and how people's identities always seem to shift from situation to situation. Most of all, Hitchcock uses the weak plot - also known as a "McGuff" - as an excuse to explore how love can be found in the strangest and most intense situations.

The two croquet-loving men, for example, are most likely gay, and when they find out that they have to share a small room with a maid, they are absolutely petrified. The main narrative, though, focuses on the relationship that develops between Iris and Gilbert, when she discovers that a kind, old lady who boarded the train has mysteriously disappeared. No one on the train believes Iris; a brain doctor claims that the old lady is a figment of Iris' imagination. Hitchcock presents this theory as a possibility, because Iris was accidentally hit on the head before she boarded the train. But all throughout her frustrating efforts to convince others about the missing person, Gilbert is by her side supporting her.

It turns out that most people don't remember the old lady because they choose not to: the two men are afraid that they'll miss their connection, the horrible judge doesn't want to get mixed up in other people's affairs, and the brain doctor has more nefarious plans at play. With "The Lady Vanishes," Hitchcock presents a slice of humanity that is all too familiar - people are so selfish that they don't give a damn about others. Alternately, we witness those who try to help Iris, or those who gradually grow convinced about her predicament. What emerges, then, is a relatively light-weight film that reveals Hitchcock's unique and nuanced understanding of the way people work. It is this level of richness that makes this film, in spite of its paltry plot and its surprisingly pedestrian ending, all the more memorable.

Rating: 7.5

First Viewed: 10/1/08, on DVD - IMDb