The Lady Vanishes (2013)

While traveling by train, a young socialite is befriended by a charming yet enigmatic older woman. However, when the woman disappears, the other passengers deny she ever existed.

Director:

Diarmuid Lawrence

Writers:

Fiona Seres (screenplay), Ethel Lina White (novel)

Stars:

Tuppence Middleton, Keeley Hawes, Julian Rhind-Tutt

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tuppence Middleton	...	Iris Carr
Keeley Hawes	...	Mrs. Todhunter / Laura Parmiter
Julian Rhind-Tutt	...	Mr. Todhunter / Sir Peveril
Sandy McDade	...	Mrs. Barnes
Pip Torrens	...	Reverend Kenneth Barnes
Stephanie Cole	...	Evelyn Floodporter
Gemma Jones	...	Rose Floodporter
Benedikte Hansen	...	The Baroness
Jesper Christensen	...	The Doctor
Selina Cadell	...	Miss Froy
Tom Hughes	...	Max Hare
Alex Jennings	...	The Professor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Aitken	...	Charlie
Beatrix Biro	...	Nurse
Marta Bolfan	...	Blonde Woman (as Marta Bolfan Ugljen)

Storyline

Returning home from the Balkans during the 1930s, Iris Carr boards a train. After a blow to the head Iris, is befriended by a Miss Froy - former governess to a family headed by a baroness travelling with her poorly sister and medical staff. When Miss Froy disappears everybody denies ever seeing her,claiming Iris mustve imagined Miss Froy, after the knock to the head. Only language student Max Hare is sympathetic and even he has doubts. When a German woman is produced and passed off as the missing lady, Max unwittingly becomes part of the plot to dissuade Iris from her search for the truth.

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Plot Keywords:

1930s | train conductor | fake identity | nazi spy | old lady | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site - UK Official site - US

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lady Vanishes

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

GBP1,870 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Masterpiece, Pioneer Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

If you look carefully, there are red letters in some of the crew's names. In order, they spell out "The Wheel Spins," the novel by Ethel Lena White on which this movie is based.

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Connections

Version of The Lady Vanishes (1979)

User Reviews

Plodding Sunday night fare

Based on the 1938 Hitchcock thriller of the same name (which I haven't seen), this looked like rather a good whodunnit. The cast if full of young up-comers and old stalwarts, many of whom seem to be doing the rounds in British TV at the moment.

The premise: a beautiful young socialite, Iris Carr, is making her way back to England by train after a Balkans holiday and finds herself befriended by a kind older lady who calls herself Mrs Froy. Disorientated by a fall at the station earlier, Iris drifts off to sleep, only to find on awakening that Mrs Froy has disappeared and nobody else seems to have seen her - in fact they don't believe she existed in the first place. Of course there are only two possible outcomes: the woman isn't real and Iris is barking mad, or she has genuinely disappeared and there's some sort of conspiracy going on.

Unfortunately the final hour dedicated to resolving the mystery is slow-paced, boring and ultimately all a bit predictable. Apart from Sandy McDade and Tuppence Middleton, all the other characters are stereotypes who get to do very little with their screen time. Middleton is superb, tackling Iris's transition from petulant snobbery to concern and brave determination with aplomb, but the plodding script can't keep up with her enthusiasm. It's definitely a Sunday afternoon movie, and one you can watch with Grandma - just don't expect edge-of-your-seat thrills.