Monday 25 January 2010

(500) Films of Empire - Day 132

268 - The Lady Vanishes - 3 stars
Ever wanted to see Flightplan set on a train? Well you are in luck.
One of Alfred Hitchcock's early films that he directed back before he was tempted away to Hollywood, this is the obvious blueprint for what became Flightplan, even using the 'something drawn on the fogged up window trick'.
If you saw the Jodie Foster film you'll have a fair idea of the plot. A young woman about to get a train journey gets a knock on the head and is helped onboard by a kind old woman. Upon waking the old woman has vanished and the rest of the people on the train deny her existence. Is she mad or is there a conspiracy afoot?
Wonderful interplay between the two leads Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave, who of course hate each other at the beginning but fall in love while solving the mystery, with comic reief from a pair of stiff upper lip Brits who are more concerned with getting back for the cricket!
A cracking little mystery with an unexpetedly action packed finale. Well worth a look.

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