1938 / 96m - UK
Mystery
1.0*/5.0*
The Lady Vanishes poster

Watches

April 24, 2021

1.0*/5.0*

One of Hitchcock's final pre-Hollywood projects. I can usually stomach them just a little better compared to his USA films, but The Lady Vanishes didn't do it for me at all. It's extremely one-note, setting up a rather simple mystery, then dragging it out for an entire film in typical Hitchcock fashion.

When the Trans Europ Express stops because of bad weather, Iris gets to talking with misses Froy in a small hotel alongside the tracks. Once the train is back on its way, Iris notices Mrs Froy is absent from the train. She sounds alarm, but people pay little attention to her claims that and old lady is missing.

A missing old woman and endless conversations that ponder the mystery of her disappearance. The train isn't a very exciting setting either, not in the least because Hitchcock loves working with cheap projections. There are some twists in the final part, but even that was a given 5 minutes in. I found this incredibly dull, par for the course for my journey through Hitchcock's oeuvre I'm afraid.