The Lady Vanishes (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Description

Product Description In Alfred Hitchcock’s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood (Night Train to Munich), traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster (Dame May Whitty, Suspicion), 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 Browning Version), The Lady Vanishes remains one of the great filmmaker’s purest delights. desertcart.com Alfred Hitchcock had hit his early, near-flawless stride by the time of The Lady Vanishes, the 1938 classic that seems as bright and funny now as the day it was released. After the deliciously comic opening reels at a mittel-European hotel where a train has been snowed in, the plot kicks into gear: a very nice old lady (Dame May Whitty) suddenly disappears in mid-train ride. Worse, the young woman (Margaret Lockwood) who'd befriended her can't find anybody to confirm that the lady ever actually existed. Luckily, suave gadabout Michael Redgrave is at the ready--to say nothing of two English cricket fans, brought to memorable life by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne. The film bops along briskly, borne along on the charm of the players and the witty script by expert craftsman Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat (who also did the delightful Green for Danger and the St. Trinian's films), to say nothing of Hitchcock's healthy sense of humor about the whole thing--indeed, it may be the most "British" of his films. --Robert HortonOn the DVD This two-disc package is the second time Lady has been issued by Criterion, and features a (visually and aurally) improved transfer of the film. It retains a commentary from the earlier release, but adds tasty extras: a half-hour documentary from Leonard Leff (standard stuff, but a nice intro to Hitchcockian ideas), plus a 10-minute audio excerpt from Francois Truffaut's legendary book-length interview with Hitch. This is not only a good way to hear Hitchcock on The Lady Vanishes, it's a fascinating ringside seat at an important moment in film history. And then there's Crook's Tour, a fun 1941 feature comedy vehicle for Charters and Caldicott, the two characters played by Radford and Wayne (they'd been such a hit in The Lady Vanishes that audiences demanded more of them, leading to a long-term teaming in film and radio). All good--but Lady itself is the ride you'll be returning to again and again. --Robert Horton Review: A totally delightful but unsuspecting moral film that entertains in all kinds of ways. - A film does not need to be perfect or have a big budget to be well made, highly entertaining, and morally superior, and Alfred Hitchcock's original 1938 "The Lady Vanishes" is a testament to that fact. It starts out in a light and humorous way but with ingenious skill the film itches at you that something is not quite right in the world -- almost invisibly at the very beginning -- and the mystery and suspense gradually builds to a climax. the humor never really goes away but it eventually takes a back seat to the suspense. The film was made about a year before England declared war on Germany in World War II when there was still a great deal of complacency in the United Kingdom about getting involved in a war. A lot of it had to do with people simply looking after their own concerns, selfishness, or just not wanting to fight for a good cause, and this is why I see "The Lady Vanishes" as something particularly relevent to our present times. The threat we face today is no longer a single naton but rather human ignornace and selfishness itself. It is our own obsession with things that are designed to passify us is the biggest threat to a democratic and free world right now. It's something that only a small handful of us can see while the people around us either deny that there is a real problem or imply that something is wrong with us -- very much like what the main character in the film played by Margaret Lockwood experiences. The resolution of the story is something that all of us can learn from and be inspired by. Perhaps Hitchock did make better films in the United States, but this film, the last of the ones made in England, is not just my favorite Hitch film but my favorite film of all time. The script is almost magical, the acting is sublime, and the direction is nothing short of masterful. You just don't get this quality of content, the tightness of it, in any of the movies made today. This is a must see film. If the black and white film or the low-cost production is something that you have trouble with, my response is that you're a spoiled baby who needs to grow up. Review: DELIGHTFULLY ENGROSSING - During his British filmmaking career, Alfred Hitchcock directed what I consider to be some of his greatest works. These include the first to incorporate his distinctive style: THE LODGER (1927), his last silent: THE MANXMAN (1929), his first talkie: BLACKMAIL (1929), the spy thrillers: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934), THE 39 STEPS (1935), and the witty mystery: THE LADY VANISHES (1938). Based on the novel, "The Wheel Spins", by Ethel Lina White, THE LADY VANISHES has a girl (Margaret Lockwood), who befriends an old woman (Dame May Whitty) on a train. When her new friend mysteriously disappears, the girl is surprised to find that the other people aboard deny ever seeing her. The only one who believes the girl's story is a young folklorist (Michael Redgrave), and the two set out to search for the old woman. One of the passengers is a doctor (Paul Lukas), who turns out to be a key figure in the old woman's disappearance. THE LADY VANISHES is one of Hitchcock's most thoroughly delightful films combining equal parts cheerful romance, comic wit, and thrilling suspense. It all clicks in time to the rhythm of the train speeding along its track. The film also accurately conveys - though not too overtly - the political climate of a pre-war Europe. This balances the lighter tone of the story with an ominous premonition of what was looming on the world's horizon in 1938. Criterion's latest Blu-ray of THE LADY VANISHES is up to par with what we've come to expect from them. Transferred off a 35mm composite fine-grain master positive, the film's density is restored so that details are clear and whites don't burn out. It makes watching this vintage classic a very enjoyable experience - I can't seem to put it back on the shelf. The packaging and extra features are the same as Criterion's DVD from a few years ago. You get a commentary by historian Bruce Eder, a bonus feature, CROOK'S TOUR (1941), excerpts from Francois Truffaut's 1962 audio interview with Hitchcock, a video essay by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff, a stills gallery, and a booklet with essays by Geoffrey O'Brien and Charles Barr. THE LADY VANISHES is an essential title in the Hitchcock canon, and this pristine edition is highly recommended for fans of the director and lovers of classic cinema alike.