Classic Cinema Spotlight: The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Lady Vanishes (1938) stars Margaret Lockwood as Iris Henderson, a wealthy English tourist who who is enjoying time with her girlfriends on the slopes of the fictional countryside of Bandrika. Iris is about to get married because she figures she has done everything in life and she should just settle down. In the midst of all this an avalanche happens and those who were traveling through by train are stranded. Everyone clamors to get a room in the only hotel around and that is where you will slowly get introduced to the other characters in this film.

Upstairs from Iris's room is a young ethnomusicologist named Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave) who disturbs Iris with his loud clarinet, Miss Froy (Dame Mae Whitty) who is a a former governess, Caldicott (Naunton Wayne) and Charters (Basil Radford) who are cricket enthusiasts trying to get to some last games, and a lawyer named Eric Todhunter (Cecil Parker) who is traveling with his mistress (Linden Travers). The next day everyone boards the train to head to their separate destinations without a hitch.

That is until Iris faints after having her head hit with an object and eventually joining Miss Froy and several strangers in a compartment to rest. When Iris begins to feel better she joins Miss Froy in the dining car for tea. They have a good chat and Miss Froy writes her name (Froy) in the dew on the window next to them. Soon after, they return to their compartment, where Iris falls asleep. When Iris wakes up, Miss Froy has vanished, and the other passengers in the compartment and some of the train staff begin to deny having seen her.

The film begins really slow but picks up the pace once the sweet Miss Froy goes missing. Iris refuses to believe that Miss Froy didn't exist. Only Gilbert, the ethnomusicologist who disturbed her sleep the night before in the hotel would be the one who believed her claims. After some time Iris began to doubt herself after a man named Dr. Hartz (Paul Lukas) told her that the injury on her head most likely distorted her memories. It didn't help that where Miss Froy was sitting in the compartment now sits a lady dressed in similar clothes but looking nothing like the real Miss Froy.

As all this confusion ensues you might begin to ask yourself if it was all of Iris's imagination or why everyone around her seems to not remember the nice old lady she was having tea with before. Iris and Gilbert decide to figure this mystery out which leads them down a an unexpected path. The Lady Vanishes (1938) isn't just a typical Hitchcock whodunit but it blends humor, action, and even a little romance.

While you try to figure out where Miss Froy is and who she is, keep your eye on the rest of the cast. Everyone from the hotel manager to the cricket obsessed Caldicott and Charters give unforgettable performances. Fun movie fact is that the hilarious characters of Caldicott (Naunton Wayne) and Charters (Basil Radford) went on to do three more films after this one; Night Train to Munich (1940), Crook's Tour (1941), and Millions Like Us (1943).