Too much of everything

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes is a transitional film of a director who is soon to go to Hollywood where he will have a bigger budget and more resources.There is an element of propaganda in this film as war is looming in Europe, it is also whimsical as well as being an effective thriller.Margaret Lockwood plays Iris going through Europe on a train who sat with an elderly children's governess Miss Froy who has disappeared. The other passengers on the train ever deny seeing this Miss Froy. Only Michael Redgrave who plays Gilbert and has previously irritated Iris with his folk music half believes her story, so he helps her out. Both of them uncover a conspiracy as Miss Froy holds valuable information that she needs to get to Britain.Alfred Hitchcock portrays a rather nonchalant view of Britain. Iris is a bit of a playgirl due to marry someone wealthy, Gilbert is a bit of a scamp, a musician and a researcher. There are the foreign office duo, Charters and Caldicott who are more interested in catching the cricket score than what is going on in front of them until it is too late and then they take action. Another passenger is a pacifist refusing to engage in a gun battle.The film's finale is rather action packed once the truth is revealed.The standout performance is by Michael Redgrave who plays it fast and loose, a fun packed frothy performance that makes you forget he would become a theatrical knight of the same generation as Olivier and Gielgud.The film does look rather creaky now, some of the characters are irritating. However it is still an important resume of an outstanding director as his own work progressed.

Small wonder that every critic seems to agree that this film is remarkable; it hits the top notes on all aspects of what makes a great film. The wonderful team of Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne make it a masterpiece and probably Hitchock's greatest film.

The Lady Vanishes (Alarma en el Expreso in Spanish) is film made by Alfred Hitchcock. That alone should be more than enough to encourage us to watch it or to influence us into thinking we have come across a great movie. Let0s add another piece of data: it was chosen by the British Film Institute as one of the best Bristis films ever made (number 35 if memory serves). And I agree. Yet, it isn't by far one of Hitchcock's more renowned creations. However, all the ingredients that made up his art and make it so instantly recognizable are still there: irony, sharp sense of humour, John Ford-like environment, mystery, unexpected twists and turns.Going into the details, The Lady Vanishes, tells us the story of and old English lady, Miss Froy, who's traveling by train to London from Bandrika, a made-up country in mid Europe. Another of the passengers, a young English girl takes it upon herself to look into what happened. The trip would turn into a nightmare, where everybody is a potential suspect and has something to conceal.

Before Alfred Hitchcock became the master of American cinema, he also worked his magic across the Atlantic Ocean in Europe. This film was his last overseas before being lured to the U.S., and it shows that, even in such a well-seasoned year as 1938, a solid movie can still be enjoyed in whatever time period it is watched.For a basic plot summary, "The Lady Vanishes" focuses on Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), who (while on a train ride) meets fellow passenger Ms. Froy (Dame May Witty) and strikes up a friendship. Upon waking from a nap, however, Iris can no long find Ms. Froy, and nobody on the train seems to know anything about her existence. Thus, Iris, helped by male companion Gilbert (Michael Redgrave), begins a quest to get to the bottom of the mystery.It really says a lot about Hitch and the quality of the film that, nearly 70 years later, the same basic elements were used in the film Flightplan (starring Jodie Foster). The master director makes this an enjoyable experience by adding enough plot twists and turns to keep the viewer truly guessing as to what exactly is going on. One "clue" may lead to a wild goose chase, while another might lead to viable results.About the only thing that really drags this movie down is the period-style humor. Many (dare I say most) of the jokes were completely lost on me, and I could tell that little "insider" references were flying by me that I could not even comprehend, considering the film was produced so long ago. Thus, being a non-scholar of that period and location (Europe), I was really only sucked in by the main meat of the plot, and didn't catch all the "little things" that Hitch certainly intended the audience to.Overall, though, this is a good Hitchcock flick that, while nowhere near his outright classics, will not leave you completely bored or disappointed (provided you can stomach old films, of course).