The Lady Vanishes (1938) Film Review

The Lady Vanishes (1938) Director: Alfred Hitchcock

“People just don’t vanish and so forth.”

A murder mystery, a witty comedy, and a spy thriller all wrapped-up in one, The Lady Vanishes is a triumphant example of Alfred Hitchcock’s wonderful early British films released in the 1930s, joining the likes of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), and Sabotage (1936). One of his final films with Gaumont British, the success of The Lady Vanishes would soon entice David O. Selznick to sign Hitchcock for a seven-year contract, sending the Master of Suspense to Hollywood the following year in 1939.

Based on the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White, The Lady Vanishes is set in the fictional central-European mountainous country of “Bandrika” (an initial attempt at making the movie was aborted when Yugoslavia learned of its portrayal in the script so a fictional country was created instead). A group of mostly British travelers are trapped inside a crowded hotel during a snowstorm which has caused an avalanche on the train tracks. The travelers are played by a group of current or soon-to-be rising stars –Margaret Lockwood plays Iris Henderson, a well-traveled and wealthy young lady who is enjoying one last trip with friends before reluctantly heading home to finally marry her fiancé Charles; Michael Redgrave (in his first major role) plays Gilbert Redman, a musicologist who is writing a book about folk tunes across Europe; Dame May Witty plays a kindly old governess named Miss Froy (reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s “Miss Marple” character, her name “rhymes with joy”); Cecil Parker plays Mr. Todhunter, a lawyer with hopes of a political career provided he can avoid scandal (his mistress “Mrs.” Todhunter is played by Linden Travers); Paul Lukas plays a medical doctor named Dr. Hartz; Philip Leaver plays a magician named Signor Doppo; and Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne play the fan-favorite, delightfully chummy, dapper, Victorian (and subtly homoerotic) pair of cricket fans named Charters and Caldicott (the duo was proven so popular that their roles were reprised in a number of subsequent films and they even inspired a brief television show). The whole group appears in the film almost as if to be a comedy, satirizing various caricatures of silly British stereotypes.  

Notably, Miss Froy listens to a song being sung outside her hotel window, but when it ends, the minstrel is secretly strangled (unbeknownst to anybody). Later, while standing next to Miss Froy, a planter falls on Iris’s head. Strange things are afoot for this group. At any rate, the travelers board the train the next day, and the remainder of the movie prominently features Hitchcock’s desire to boil suspense by enclosing the audience inside a confined space –indeed, the constant rumble of the train and the regular shrieking noise of the train whistle leaves us with a pervasively unsettling sense of dread (the whistle almost sounds like a woman screaming). Miss Froy is a friendly, trusting voice who speaks at length with Iris as they grab tea together, but when Iris awakens in her room later, she is disturbed to find that Miss Froy has disappeared! Where did she go? None of the other characters seem to remember her –Dr. Hartz suggests Iris is suffering from delusions, perhaps owing to her recent accident with the planter. Only Gilbert seems to implicitly trust Iris, though this may be owing to his romantic inclinations more than anything else.

“It’s just British diplomacy, doctor. ‘Never climb a fence if you can sit on it.’
It’s an old Foreign Office proverb.”

Iris and Gilbert appear crazy at first. They claim Miss Froy has gone missing, but none of the other passengers seem to believe it (a different woman named Madame Kummer has suddenly appeared instead of Miss Froy) however clues continue to emerge. Why is Dr. Hartz following them around? Has Miss Froy been hidden inside Signor Doppo’s “the lady vanishes” magic act? Will Mr. Todhunter show some courage and support Iris’s story about seeing Miss Froy? Why does everyone seem so suspicious? Eventually, Gilbert and Iris stumble upon Dr. Hartz’s heavily bandaged patient, guarded by a mysterious high-heel-wearing nun, and when they lift the bandages, it is revealed that Miss Froy has indeed been kidnapped by Dr. Hartz! This leads to a complex international crisis –a runaway train, an attempted poisoning, a shootout, and the big reveal that Miss Froy is secretly a British spy. She is carrying the Hitchcock “MacGuffin” which is actually a musical tune (the same tune she heard outside her window at the hotel), a code detailing the clause of a vital pact between two European powers. She quickly hums the tune to Gilbert and then flees out a window, hoping to escape across the border. In the event that she does not survive, Gilbert pledges to memorize the tune and deliver it in-person to Mr. Callendar at the Foreign Office in London. In the end, the group manages to escape from Dr. Hartz and his enemy compatriots (no thanks to the cowardly Mr. Todhunter). Back in London, Gilbert and Iris finally kiss and they visit the Foreign Office to discover that Miss Froy has survived! She smiles as she plays the coded tune on a piano. Also, we are given a laugh as Charters and Caldicott read a newspaper headline announcing that their prized cricket match has been canceled due to flooding.   

“I never think you should judge any country by its politics.
After all, we English are quite honest by nature aren’t we?”           

At the outset of the movie, all the different British characters are portrayed as mostly narrow-minded and naïve, but by the end of the film, they are compelled to band together, overcome their doubts (their reasons not to fight include “they can’t do anything to us, we’re British subjects!” or “I’m not going to fight, its madness!”) and instead they begin to realize that free citizens can no longer remain neutral aboard a moving train. Released in 1938, with the march of fascism on the rise, Hitchcock chooses to portray the most Neville Chamberlain-esque pro-appeasement character (Mr. Todhunter) in a most unsympathetic light –he dies amidst a hail of bullet fire while waving the white flag of surrender:

“You idiots, you’re just inviting death. I’ve had enough. Just because I have the sense to try and avoid being murdered, I’m accused of being a pacifist. Alright, I’d rather be called a rat than die like one. Think for a moment will you. If we give ourselves up, they daren’t murdered us in cold blood, they’re bound to give us a trial.”

In The Lady Vanishes, the child-like silliness of the British people is contrasted with the rising threat of fascism secretly lurking in plain sight. In many respects this film is a satire of the phony British gentlemanly rules which are often prone toward passivity, neutrality, and aloofness. In bidding farewell to England, Hitchcock pokes fun at his native country, while also advising the British that they must learn to acknowledge the threats rising all around them –they must finally see that the lady has, in effect, vanished. Once they do, all the characters (save for Mr. Todhunter) shed their moral indifference and begin to display acts of courage. With World War II soon to explode across the globe, Hitchcock offers some strong advice. Interestingly enough, the full details of international espionage in this film don’t really seem to matter –what does the song actually mean? Which countries are at stake in the pact? Answers are never given. Instead, all that truly matters is a display of unity and strength by the characters –a ragtag band of ordinary people caught up in an extraordinary situation (this is a classic Hitchcock plot device we have seen many times over in movies like North by Northwest or The 39 Steps). And for us ordinary viewers, it is all-too easy to be swept up in this whimsical comedy as it transforms into a dark international conspiracy. Even François Truffaut once said as much. Each time he attempted to analyze the mechanics of The Lady Vanishes, he simply became too captivated by the story and could not focus on analyzing the fine craftsmanship of the film –high praise from a fellow master! The Lady Vanishes is so mesmerizing –as with all Hitchcock movies– I just had to immediately watch it over again.

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Credits:

• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Screenplay by: Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder
• Based on: The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
• Produced by: Edward Black (uncredited)
• Starring:
  • Margaret Lockwood…..Iris Henderson
  • Michael Redgrave…..Gilbert
  • Paul Lukas…..Dr. Hartz
  • Dame May Whitty…..Miss Froy
• Cinematography: Jack E. Cox
• Edited by: R. E. Dearing
• Music by: Louis Levy (uncredited) and Charles Williams (uncredited)
• Production Company: Gainsborough Pictures
• Distributed by: Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

Other Notes:

• Hitchcock Cameo: About an hour and a half into the film, Hitchcock can be seen in Victoria Station, wearing a black coat, smoking a cigarette, and making a strange movement with his head.