La signora scompare

For what turned out to be his last masterpiece in the United Kingdom before leaving for Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock went back to a familiar theme of someone being innocently caught up in intrigue.

The someone here is the beautiful Margaret Lockwood who is being gaslighted while on a train in Eastern Europe. She's made the acquaintance of Dame May Witty who disappears from the moving train and no one but Lockwood remembers she even exists.

Lockwood gains a sympathetic if skeptical ally in Michael Redgrave and they search the train for Witty. Of course as it is in Hitchcock films, the train's passengers and crew are not all they seem to be either and in the end the passengers have to fight for their lives.

Although Lockwood is a striking dark beauty, not the cool blondes that Hitchcock normally favored, she's a fine Hitchcock heroine. Best in the supporting cast are Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford who seem like a pair of silly English twits whose only concern is getting back for a big cricket match. They actually come through when the chips are down.

Viewers should also take note of Cecil Parker who plays a barrister on holiday with his mistress whose main concern is staying uninvolved lest news of a scandal kill a judicial appointment he wants. He is one absolute horse's patoot and his death must have been cheered by film audiences in the theaters.

Alfred Hitchcock was about to leave his homeland and the less expensive British film industry for Hollywood and bigger budgets. The Lady Vanishes however is a great example of what can be done even on a skimpy budget by a master craftsman.