The Lady Vanishes (1938)

While traveling in continental Europe, a young British couple realize that a passenger seems to have been kidnapped from their train. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Written By: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder, Alma Reville, Ethel Lina White
Starring: Paul Lukas, Cecil Parker, Michael Redgrave, Basil Radford, Margaret Lockwood, Googie Withers, Mary Clare, May Whitty, Naunton Wayne, Linden Travers, Catherine Lacey
Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Mystery
Country: UK
Where to Stream
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The Lady Vanishes belongs to 81 collections
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Stars | User | Rating | |
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Jeb | 97 90th |
Full of significance and elegance, The Lady Vanishes is a runner-up candidate for best Hitchcockian thriller ever made, and it must be tooken into heavy consideration. With a handful of unspeakably quotable lines of penetrating dialogue, illustrious outcome and mentally keen form of pace, The Lady Vanishes has cemented its spot in the long beginnings and ends of precious cinema.
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MartinTeller | 90 94th |
A ripping good thriller that gets better every time I see it. Tense and witty and beautifully constructed, with memorable performances from everyone. I don't care much for the lengthy opening sequence, but otherwise a damn good time.
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Nathan S | 4 74th |
Hitchcock strikes a perfect balance between suspense and comedy. At first the movie takes its time developing characters, and it does it in a very comedic fashion. When the train gets moving, it picks up and becomes a really fun thriller without losing any of its quick wit. The characters are memorable, and the acting is consistently good.
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twincinema | 80 75th |
A light-hearted, nearly jaunty, thriller. Hitchcock flexes his cinematic might, and delivers a sold film with great performances. HOWEVER, it puts a bee in my bonnet that there's a rather large plot hole towards the end of the film. I am not usually one to care about these things, but to not give any spoilers, something happens and is forgotten about only a few moments later. I am currently writing a strongly worded letter to my MP.
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TedDedon | 86 76th |
The Lady Vanishes is Hitchcock's first great movie and even to this day it stands with his best.
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CCLZA | 85 89th |
Clever and entertaining. One of Hitchcock's early true gems.
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Farzan | 85 83rd |
The story in this is excellent. I was a really big fan of the characters as well. The plot kept me guessing constantly. I am sure if I were to watch it again, not only would I like it more, but I would also appreciate it more.
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AFlickering | 4 58th |
act 2 is surprisingly unnerving and meta--viewed from an unreliable perspective with a host of amusing international caricatures as audience stand-ins--flaunting and probing its movie-ness. a pertinent approach, given the film's acknowledged proximity to WW2 and the third reich's manipulation of images for propagandistic purposes. the power of cinema's artifices and illusions is highlighted throughout, esp. during a comic set piece in a magician's funhouse, a gleeful nod to trick film tradition.
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frederic_g54 | 9 90th |
It felt like watching a student film, with the great director employing scale models, the absence of a score,... Those aren't necessarily bad aspects, "The Lady Vanishes" is in fact an intriguing, lovely thriller and one of his best films.
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stanthecaddy | 85 76th |
A great movie. It was a bit slow to start but, once the first plot turn hits, Hitchock ratchets up the tension at a steady pace. Lockwood and Redgrave are great as the leads, and Radford and Wayne are memorable as the comic relief.
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Noblet | 84 81st |
Great mix of humor, suspense, mystery and even action. I loved every character on that train.
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Ununnilium | 65 48th |
The latter half of the movie is a strong, well-paced thriller. Unfortunately, the first twenty minutes or so are incredibly annoying comedy, and the distance from there to the midway point just marks off the expected beats until the male lead finally acknowledges that the plot's happening. It still averages out to positive, but the script really could've been tightened up. (And is it just me, or is it a really bad idea to start an 'is she crazy' plot with an onscreen murder?)
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Insan3 | 78 60th |
Starts off really well, with the development of the characters and the scenes between Lockwood and Redgrave are great. But, then the film jumps the shark with ridiculous fight scenes and forced romance. Didn't find this to be as great as I expected.
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IsItSafe? | 79 79th |
The Lady Vanishes is a compellingly distinguished hour and a half. The extent in which you become engrossed is testament to the script in its entirety, the way in which the pace slowly builds throughout, never increasing too much too quickly, makes it most palatable and never tedious. The acting I think is mostly of a satisfactory quality, however there was a few scenes where I felt the emotional stress of the situations was not efficiently portrayed. A few loose ends are also never resolved.
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Average Percentile 67.86% from 1958 Ratings | ![]() |