The Lady Vanishes (1979)

While travelling in pre-war Nazi Germany, a young couple realize a passenger seems to have been kidnapped off of their train, but, no other passenger aside from themselves, recalls her.

Director:

Anthony Page

Writers:

George Axelrod (screenplay by), Sidney Gilliat (based on the screenplay by)

Stars:

Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, Angela Lansbury

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elliott Gould	...	Robert
Cybill Shepherd	...	Amanda
Angela Lansbury	...	Miss Froy
Herbert Lom	...	Dr. Hartz
Arthur Lowe	...	Charters
Ian Carmichael	...	Caldicott
Gerald Harper	...	Todhunter
Jenny Runacre	...	Mrs. Todhunter
Jean Anderson	...	Baroness
Madlena Nedeva	...	Nun
Madge Ryan	...	Rose Flood Porter
Rosalind Knight	...	Evelyn Barnes
Vladek Sheybal	...	Trainmaster
Wolf Kahler	...	Helmut
Barbara Markham	...	Frau Kummer

Storyline

On a train travelling through pre-World War II Germany, American heiress Amanda Metcalfe Madvani von Hoffstetter Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) befriends Miss Froy (Dame Angela Lansbury), an older nanny. But when Miss Froy disappears, everyone Amanda asks denies ever having seen her. Eventually, Amanda persuades American photographer Robert Condon (Elliott Gould) to help her search the train, during which they discover that Miss Froy wasn't quite what she seemed.

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Plot Keywords:

disappearance | questioning one's sanity | american | international relations | chess | 

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Taglines:

All aboard the train of mysterious events!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second of two late 1970s remakes of Sir Alfred Hitchcock movies from Hitchcock's English black-and-white 1930s period. This movie is a remake of The Lady Vanishes (1938). The first was The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) (a remake of The 39 Steps (1935)).

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie, when the train is backed up to the yard, and Amanda has switched the points, she runs towards the train as it is leaving. The track they pass over passes the locomotive when the camera shows Robert reaching for her, but when the camera shows her running, she has yet to run over the track until the end, when Robert picks her up.

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Quotes

Robert: She's indestructible. She's an English nanny!

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Connections

Remake of The Lady Vanishes (1938)

User Reviews

A Cybill Shepherd comedy, whereas Hitchcock's original was a mystery

Remake of a British 1938 Michael Redgrave film with Dame Mae Witty and Margaret Lockwood. The 1979 version, done as a Cybill Shepherd and Elliott Gould vehicle, pushes mainly its comedic/farcical elements instead of it being s legitimate mystery itself. The political intrigues and treacheries of the years between the First and Second World Wars made a better basis for the 1938 film than the 1979 film had. Alfred Hitchcock had still been in Britain when his 1938 film was made. Hitchcock had a sure hand utilizing the looming dangers and unease of the time, just one year prior to Britain's actual 1939 entry into WWII. The 1979 film isn't rotten but it simply doesn't hold up when weighed against Hitchcock's original. If you watch the 1979 movie, do so expecting a comedy not a mystery, and do so before you ever have seen the Hitchcock version.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

March 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lady Vanishes

Filming Locations:

Austria

Box Office

Budget:

GBP2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation, Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1