Three Reasons: The Lady Vanishes
December 13, 2011
Film Info
- United Kingdom
- 1938
- 96 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- English
- Spine #3
In Alfred Hitchcock’s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood, traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster (Dame May Whitty), who then seems to disappear into thin air. The younger woman turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a complex web of mystery and high adventure. Also starring Michael Redgrave, The Lady Vanishes remains one of the great filmmaker’s purest delights.
Cast
| Iris Henderson | Margaret Lockwood |
| Gilbert | Michael Redgrave |
| Dr. Hartz | Paul Lukas |
| Miss Froy | Dame May Whitty |
| Mr. Todhunter | Cecil Parker |
| “Mrs.” Todhunter | Linden Travers |
| Caldicott | Naunton Wayne |
| Charters | Basil Radford |
| Baroness | Mary Clare |
| Hotel manager | Emile Boreo |
| Blanche | Googie Withers |
| Julie | Sally Stewart |
| Signor Doppo | Philip Leaver |
| Signora Doppo | Zelma Vas Dias |
| Nun | Catherine Lacy |
| Madame Kummer | Josephine Wilson |
| Officer | Charles Oliver |
| Anna | Kathleen Tremaine |
Credits
| Director | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Screenplay | Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder |
| Based upon the novel The Wheel Spins by | Ethel Lina White |
| Continuity | Alma Reville |
| Photography | Jack Cox |
| Editing | R. E. Dearing |
| Assistant director | Roy Ward Baker |
| Cutting | Alfred Roome |
| Recording | Sydney Wiles |
| Settings | Alex Vetchinsky |
| Scenic artist | Albert Whitlock |
| Musical director | Louis Levy |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Audio commentary featuring film historian Bruce Eder
- Crook’s Tour, a 1941 feature-length adventure film starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne as Charters and Caldicott, their beloved characters from The Lady Vanishes
- Excerpts from François Truffaut’s legendary 1962 audio interview with director Alfred Hitchcock
- Mystery Train, a video essay about Hitchcock and The Lady Vanishes by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff
- Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and promotional art
- New essays by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and Hitchcock scholar Charles Barr
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Video
Photo Galleries
Film Essays
The Lady Vanishes: Tea and Treachery
By December 06, 2011
“They can’t possibly do anything to us. We’re British subjects.” One of the delights of The . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Lady Vanishes: All Aboard!
By December 06, 2011
The Lady Vanishes (1938) is the film that best exemplifies Alfred Hitchcock’s often-asserted . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Lady Vanishes: Tea and Treachery
By December 06, 2011
“They can’t possibly do anything to us. We’re British subjects.” One of the delights of The . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Lady Vanishes: All Aboard!
By December 06, 2011
The Lady Vanishes (1938) is the film that best exemplifies Alfred Hitchcock’s often-asserted . . . Read more »
Video
Photo Galleries
Chef du Cinema
Chef du Cinema: The Lady Vanishes
By December 08, 2011
Sir Alfred Hitchcock once said, “I’m not a heavy eater. I’m just heavy, and I eat.” Read more »
Film Essays
The Lady Vanishes: Tea and Treachery
By December 06, 2011
“They can’t possibly do anything to us. We’re British subjects.” One of the delights of The . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Lady Vanishes: All Aboard!
By December 06, 2011
The Lady Vanishes (1938) is the film that best exemplifies Alfred Hitchcock’s often-asserted . . . Read more »
News
Robin Wood Series at TIFF Cinematheque
June 18, 2010
Toronto’s TIFF Cinematheque is honoring the irreplaceable film critic and scholar Robin Wood, . . . Read more »
Dispatches
The Lady Vanishes Revisited
By December 29, 2008
If I had not seen The Lady Vanishes at the age of seven, I might never have become a film . . . Read more »
