SOHK.TV notes on...
Alfred Hitchcock
THE LADY VANISHES
Words... Adam Scovell Design... Avalon Lyndon
When watching the first half hour of The Lady Vanishes, you might be surprised to find no ladies whatsoever vanishing from the screen. But it’s this air of mystery which allows the film to throw a host of surprises over the viewer – in the typical Hitchcock manner. The film opens on the disgruntled happenings of a hotel somewhere around Switzerland. We’re thrust into the world of stiff-upper-lip British tourists Caldicott and Charter (played superbly by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne.) While at first their conversations appear to revolve around worry of the impending war, a hijacked call to London soon reveals that what they’re really worried about is the cricket. They refuse to believe the man on the end of the line is British when he doesn’t know anything about cricket, setting the tone for the sort of cosy humour that comes slotted between the dramatic scenes. Caldicott and Charter ooze British class and humour, keeping calm in even the direst of situations to come. The narrative properly starts on the train journey home when Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) is hit on the head by a stray plant pot, and Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) takes her to tea in the dining carriage. But when Iris wakes up from a nap, she finds that not only has Miss Froy disappeared, her fellow passengers and eye witnesses deny she even existed. Together with musician Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave), they try to get to the bottom of this mystery disappearance.
“a glorious Blitz Britain timepiece”
Like most Hitchcocks, the film tells the viewer more than it does its characters. It creates suspense and intrigue at the same time, making us question why this is happening rather than how. It’s clear that something is afoot simply by looking around at Iris’ fellow passengers. Gilbert’s comment that the train is “very cosmopolitan” speaks of the suspicion of foreign national spies, an ever-present worry during the Second World War. In many ways this is a propaganda film. (After all, the only English character who refuses to help them in the end is the pacifist lawyer.) However, in the beginning, even the likable English characters lie about never having seen Miss Froy. Our loveable duo, Caldicott and Charter, are worried that an inquiry as to the whereabouts of the missing passenger will delay the train and make them miss their beloved cricket match in Manchester. Later on, the two handle a stand-off with some marvellously British calm. Despite being shot in the hand, Charter doesn’t even blink. This strength in the face of war must have seemed inspiring at the time, but today seems a little more comedic. The Lady Vanishes was Hitchcock’s penultimate British film before he left for the glamour and excitement of David O. Selznick’s studio. It’s sad that these typically British characters would be rarely found in his future films. The Lady Vanishes acts as a glorious Blitz Britain timepiece showcasing an era when the stiff upper lip could only be quivered by something really serious. In this case, it’s the cancelling of the cricket, which Charter and Caldicott discover upon arriving home. Rotten luck old chums.
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