THE LADY VANISHES

It may open with possibly the worst model shots in all of cinema but in every other respect Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" isn't just one of his enduring masterpieces but possibly the greatest comedy-thriller ever made. It feels almost superfluous reviewing it now but here goes. For anyone who may have been living on Mars these past eighty years this is the one set, for the most part, on a train and dealing with the sweet old lady who disappears and who isn't all she first appears to be. Hitchcock made it in 1938, the setting was a Europe heading into war and naturally there are villains and spies.


It also comes as close to perfection as movies possibly can with a ridiculously good script by Launder and Gilliat and the kind of cast that only comes along once in a lifetime. Margaret Lockwood was already a star in Britain when the film was made but she was never better than she is here. Michael Redgrave, a star on stage, was making his screen debut and his is a lovely, dashing comic performance while the supporting cast are sublime. Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne are Charters and Caldicott, the cricket-mad Englishmen abroad; they made such an impression they were to reprise their roles in "Night Train to Munich" and "Millions Like Us".

May Whitty, or to give her her full title, Dame May Whitty is Miss Froy, the lady who vanishes while potential villains, spies and adulterers include future Oscar winner Paul Lukas, Mary Clare, Cecil Parker, Linden Travers and the great Catherine Lacey as the nun in high heels. In 1979 it was remade by Anthony Page in full colour but none of the subtlety, suspense or comic timing of the original. That version was watchable but this is absolutely essential.