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The Lady Vanishes

  • 19381938
  • 1414
  • 1h 36min
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
50K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,137
5,075
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Margaret Lockwood in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Trailer for The Lady Vanishes
Play trailer1:22
1 Video
60 Photos
MysteryThriller

While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.

IMDb RATING
7.8/10
50K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,137
5,075
  • Director
    • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Writers
    • Ethel Lina White(based upon the story by: "The Wheel Spins")
    • Sidney Gilliat(screen play)
    • Frank Launder(screen play)
  • Stars
    • Margaret Lockwood
    • Michael Redgrave
    • Paul Lukas
Top credits
  • Director
    • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Writers
    • Ethel Lina White(based upon the story by: "The Wheel Spins")
    • Sidney Gilliat(screen play)
    • Frank Launder(screen play)
  • Stars
    • Margaret Lockwood
    • Michael Redgrave
    • Paul Lukas
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 251User reviews
    • 111Critic reviews
    • 98Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    The Lady Vanishes: The Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]
    Trailer 1:22
    The Lady Vanishes: The Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]

    Photos60

    Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, and May Whitty in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Basil Radford, Linden Travers, and Naunton Wayne in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Catherine Lacey, Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Naunton Wayne, and May Whitty in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Margaret Lockwood in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Margaret Lockwood, Cecil Parker, Basil Radford, Michael Redgrave, Linden Travers, Naunton Wayne, and May Whitty in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Margaret Lockwood, Basil Radford, Michael Redgrave, Linden Travers, and Naunton Wayne in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Paul Lukas, Margaret Lockwood, and Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Mary Clare, Paul Lukas, Margaret Lockwood, and Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Alfred Hitchcock, Catherine Lacey, Margaret Lockwood, and Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    The Lady Vanishes (1938)
    Paul Lukas, Margaret Lockwood, Basil Radford, Michael Redgrave, Naunton Wayne, and May Whitty in The Lady Vanishes (1938)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Margaret Lockwood
    Margaret Lockwood
    • Iris Matilda Hendersonas Iris Matilda Henderson
    Michael Redgrave
    Michael Redgrave
    • Gilbert Redmanas Gilbert Redman
    Paul Lukas
    Paul Lukas
    • Dr. Egon Hartzas Dr. Egon Hartz
    May Whitty
    May Whitty
    • Miss Froyas Miss Froy
    Cecil Parker
    Cecil Parker
    • Mr. Todhunteras Mr. Todhunter
    Linden Travers
    Linden Travers
    • 'Mrs.' Todhunteras 'Mrs.' Todhunter
    Naunton Wayne
    Naunton Wayne
    • Caldicottas Caldicott
    Basil Radford
    Basil Radford
    • Chartersas Charters
    Mary Clare
    Mary Clare
    • Baroness Athonaas Baroness Athona
    Emile Boreo
    • Hotel Manageras Hotel Manager
    Googie Withers
    Googie Withers
    • Blancheas Blanche
    Sally Stewart
    • Julieas Julie
    Philip Leaver
    Philip Leaver
    • Signor Doppoas Signor Doppo
    Selma Vaz Dias
    • Signora Doppoas Signora Doppo
    • (as Zelma Vas Dias)
    Catherine Lacey
    Catherine Lacey
    • The Nunas The Nun
    • (as Catherine Lacy)
    Josephine Wilson
    • Madame Kummeras Madame Kummer
    Charles Oliver
    Charles Oliver
    • The Officeras The Officer
    Kathleen Tremaine
    • Annaas Anna
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • Ethel Lina White(based upon the story by: "The Wheel Spins")
      • Sidney Gilliat(screen play)
      • Frank Launder(screen play)
    • All cast & crew
    See production, box office, & company info

    Storyline

    Edit
    Passengers on a scheduled train out of the mountainous European country of Mandrika are delayed by a day due to an avalanche, and thus get up close and personal with each other out of necessity in the only and what becomes an overcrowded inn in the area. Once the train departs, the one person who it is uncertain is on the train is a middle aged English governess named Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty). Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), who was vacationing in Mandrika with girlfriends before heading back to England to get married, is certain that Miss Froy was on the train as they were in the same compartment and they had tea together in the dining car, but all those people who can corroborate her story don't seem to want to do so. Iris' thoughts are easily dismissed as a possible concussion as Iris was hit over the head just before boarding the train. Iris will take anyone's help in finding Miss Froy, even that of an Englishman named Gilbert (Sir Michael Redgrave), a musicologist with whom she had a not so pleasant encounter at the inn the evening before. As Iris and Gilbert go on their quest throughout the train, they believe there is a conspiracy amongst many of the passengers against the validity of there being a Miss Froy. But if there is a conspiracy, Iris and Gilbert still have to find Miss Froy and find out why anyone would want to kidnap a middle aged English governess. —Huggo
    missing womantrain movietraindisappearancepsychological manipulation241 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Comedy! Chills! Chuckles! in a Mystery Express!
    • Genres
      • Mystery
      • Thriller
    • Certificate
      • 14
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich, Alfred Hitchcock revealed that this movie was inspired by a legend of an Englishwoman who went with her daughter to the Palace Hotel in Paris in the 1880s, at the time of the Great Exposition: "The woman was taken sick and they sent the girl across Paris to get some medicine in a horse-vehicle, so it took about four hours. When she came back she asked, 'How's my mother?' 'What mother?' 'My mother. She's here, she's in her room. Room 22.' They go up there. Different room, different wallpaper, everything. And the payoff of the whole story is, so the legend goes, that the woman had bubonic plague and they dared not let anybody know she died, otherwise all of Paris would have emptied." The urban legend, known as the Vanishing Hotel Room, also formed the basis of one segment of the German portmanteau movie Unheimliche Geschichten (1919), So Long at the Fair (1950) (in which the missing person was the young woman's brother as opposed to her mother) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) season one, episode five, "Into Thin Air", starring Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hitchcock.
    • Goofs
      In the noisy dancing scene above Lockwood's hotel room, the clarinet is shown with the mouthpiece turned with the reed upwards. Normally the mouthpiece is turned so that the reed is downwards, but in some European folk traditions the clarinet was played with the mouthpiece "upside-down".
    • Quotes

      Gilbert: Can I help?

      Iris Henderson: Only by going away.

      Gilbert: No, no, no, no. My father always taught me, never desert a lady in trouble. He even carried that as far as marrying Mother.

    • Crazy credits
      Closing credits: The Characters in "THE LADY VANISHES" were played by:
    • Alternate versions
      A brief segment where a hotel maid bends down to pick up a hat from under a hotel bed is missing from most US releases, including Criterion's first official DVD and all bootlegs. It's intact in all official non-US releases and has been restored for Criterion's 2-disc remastered DVD.
    • Connections
      Edited from Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937)
    • Soundtracks
      Colonel Bogey March
      (1914) (uncredited)

      Music by Kenneth Alford

      Hummed by Michael Redgrave

    User reviews251

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Classic Movies just don't get any better than this!
    A cracking plot, sparkling dialogue, great characters and sublime direction make The Lady Vanishes an all-time must see.

    Marking the peak of Hitchcock's British period, it is an exquisitely crafted, finely wrought, cinematic treasure, boasting a cast which reads like a veritable Who's who of British acting talent from the Golden Age of British Cinema.

    While the director, writers and supporting cast all deserve credit, the film very much belongs to its leading lady, the lovely Margaret Lockwood, who, as feisty heroine Iris Henderson, somehow manages to be heart-stoppingly beautiful, supremely sexy, spirited, cute and adorably vulnerable all at the same time! Now where can I meet a girl like that?

    The Lady Vanishes is, for every reason, but especially because of Miss Lockwood, the very best of the very best; a landmark movie which is truly unmissable! Buy it, rent it, steal it if you must, but make damn sure you see it
    helpful•72
    26
    • Translation-1
    • Feb 7, 2005

    FAQ17

    • Is this film in the public domain?
    • Every copy I've seen has been terrible. Which is the best version to buy?
    • Who erases the name "Froy" written in the train's window fog after the train goes in a tunnel?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 1, 1939 (Netherlands)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • French
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Een vrouw wist te veel
    • Filming locations
      • Longmoor Military Railway, Longmoor Military Camp, Hampshire, England, UK
    • Production company
      • Gainsborough Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $39,776
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 36min
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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