Review of The Lady Vanishes (1938) by Jim E — 25 Oct 2010

8.2.

Showing the lighter side of Hitchcock, in one of his final British films before his Hollywood studio love affair began, this film features a comic element that stands the test of time, though virtually everything else is dated.

The dialogue between 2 British Cricket fanatics provides the bulk of the comedy, though it subsides appropriately when the suspense kicks in. As is often the case, Hitch masters the transition between characters, and shifts the focus without you noticing, and once you know you've been fooled, even you're new found alertness and attention won't prepare you for the twist.

Though not a favorite of mine, everything he misses at here, he corrects over a decade later in one of his best films, Strangers on a Train. You really get to see his technique develop here, though, in certain scenes such as the one where the girl receives a bump on the head and is recovering from a concussion. Hitch uses the Kaleidoscope lens effect. He also uses the transparency effect to superimpose the "vanished" lady's face over the faces of fellow train passengers. These effects were groundbreaking for 1938.

Not to mention his simple nothing-to-it eye trick shots that came to be a trademark for Hitchcock. One involving writing the name of the "vanished" lady in condensation on the window of the train car. As simple of an effect as it would seem to be, the impact of it's simplicity on camera indicates its translation to complexity. Hence the Genius of his art just beginning to take shape. And this was nearly 20 years after his career began.