The Lady Vanishes - Movie #1

I anguished for at least 16 minutes about what my first new movie of 2012 should be. In our house, particularly on New Year's Eve, it was not uncommon to have an Alfred Hitchcock movie marathon. Perennial favorites include: Rope, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Trouble with Harry, Lifeboat, and Rebecca. These films were staples in my cinematic diet for a very long time, but, for some reason, I never ventured too much past them in terms of my Hitchcock edification. Sure, I've seen The 39 Steps, Psycho, Strangers on a Train, and The Birds. Heck, I'd go so far as to say I've seen most of the Hitchcock oeuvre...but I'd never seen The Lady Vanishes.

Until now.

For some reason, I had it in my mind that The Lady Vanishes would be a dull, slow-moving little thriller, a mix of foreign espionage and static characters. There's some of that here, but it's also witty, comical, and tongue-in-cheek. Lots of typical Hitchcock-isms - an interesting combination of suspense and screwball comedy. it's a love story, sort of, a mystery, in part, and a slice of fluffy cinematic cake at its heart.

The leads are not the typical Hitchcock stereotypes - well, at least not the female leads. I'm better versed in the Grace Kelly, tragic-blond-bombshell/girl next door thing Hitchcock fetishes in his later films. Here, we've got Iris, played by a plucky Margaret Lockwood, who is a wealthy young woman, traveling the far-reaching, fictional corners of the world. Gilbert, as played by Michael Redgrave, has the lank of Jimmy Stewart and the haughty wink of Cary Grant. These two are tasked with carrying the movie, both the disappearance of the adorable Miss Froy (May Whitty) as well as their burgeoning love on the train of foreign terror.

Apparently, these two lovebirds are the precursors for Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed.

It was not, sadly, my favorite Hitchcock but it was highly enjoyable, a nice blend between funny and suspense to keep it engaging. Fairly predictable but worth watching for the McGuffin, the cameo, and these two fellas who carry the bulk of the comic relief and do it admirably: