The Lady Vanishes

1938 black comedy/mystery

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Following an avalanche, travellers are forced to stay the night in a hotel in a small town constructed from toy train miniatures and toy cars. They enjoy a wild night filled with puppetry, perverse sex acts, and perverse sex acts with puppets. The next day, they hop on board a phallic symbol. Iris, an American broad abroad, befriends a frumpy older woman, but after some clumsy flirting and a nap, the older woman winds up missing. Iris frantically searches the train, but not only does nobody know the passenger's current whereabouts, they all deny that she existed in the first place. It's puzzling. A man with a thin moustache decides to help investigate, but it's only because he didn't get a chance to sleep with Iris the night before and thinks this will increase his chances. It does, and nine months later, Iris becomes the first woman in history to birth a puppet.

Below the surface, there's a lot to be frustrated with here. The spy stuff is filled with holes, the special effects are silly, some of the comedy is dated, there isn't enough of some characters and too much of others, and the pacing doesn't always make a great deal of sense. However, some of what seems like flaws when you think about the movie later ultimately work to make the movie more fun. Hitchcock takes his time getting to the actual story, introducing the odd assortment of peripheral characters and setting up what looks to be a straightforward comedy. It sets the rest of the movie (i.e. the real story) up as a charming and whimsical English excursion rather than a tension-filled or action-packed suspense thriller. I like that Hitchcock's tongue is in his cheek here. Not that there isn't some tension and action. Once we get to the woman's vanishing, Iris's dream-like mysterious experience is a treat, and once the mystery is actually solved (sort of), there are some good action scenes including a claustrophobic bit of fisticuffs and, later, a shoot-out. Hitchcock really does pan over a toy city with toy people and toy cars after the credits, seemingly deliberately, but he makes up for it later with some deft camera movements in the closed-in spaces of the train corridors and a nifty effect that looks like a stunt involving passing trains. This is a cool early Hitchcock flick that combines humor and thrills very smoothly.