 When it comes to Alfred Hitchcock's earliest work, it would be difficult to find a title more worthy of the Criterion Collection treatment than The Lady Vanishes. Hitch's spy thriller The 39 Steps certainly deserves its place among the collection, and this reviewer believes The Lodger is in dire need of restoration, commentary and otherwise deluxe treatment ... but I am an unabashed fan of The Lady Vanishes, the last good film Hitchcock would make as a British director, and hence I am glad it received Criterion's loving treatment.
In The Lady Vanishes, Hitch brings together three genres to create one classic that displays some of the
best filmmaking that the post-silent era Hitchcock has to
offer. Here we have the story of Iris Henderson (Margaret
Lockwood), a train passenger who befriends an older woman
named Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) after taking a bump on the
head. When Miss Froy goes missing, Iris becomes obsessed with
finding her, first to prove that she isn’t crazy - none
of the other passengers believe Miss Froy exists, you see
- and then because she finds herself pulled into a much larger
mystery.
Hitchcock manages to open with a highly comedic first act, pulls the audience into a slow-burning suspense story for the second act, and catapults us into an action-filled third act, all in just under 100 minutes. Through it all, Hitch populates his train with a cast of varied and interesting characters, all of them quite memorable. From playful humor to witty banter to mounting suspense to thrilling action, The Lady Vanishes is in many ways a showcase of all that made Hitchcock’s British period so entertaining.
 The
three-act structure is really enjoyable here, in part because
it gives you so many “flavors” of Hitchcock filmmaking
in one film. Because the tone is so different between them,
the three acts should clash, but don't, largely because
Hitch knows exactly which elements to carry over from the
previous act.
In act one, Hitchcock’s playful side is on display.
The humor is abundant, both in the kind of witty wordplay
Hitch does so well and in the slapstick physical humor little
recognized as one of his strengths (but which he actually
did quite well). He uses that humor to ease the audience into
a sense of comfort. All is well with the world. But at the
end of the first act we're reminded that we’re watching
a Hitchcock film when, with no warning, a street singer is
mysteriously strangled.
 This
is when the true suspense comes into play. It is also the
real start of a damn excellent piece of filmmaking that ranks
among the best of Hitchcock’s career. Through a series
of subtle clues and clever setups, in the second act we're
handed a mystery that is as baffling to us as it is for Iris
when her friend appears to simply vanish. What happened
to Ms. Froy? The Master Of Suspense teases us with the question
over and over throughout this stretch of the film, and to
great effect. This is one of the very best sustained stretches
of suspense in Hitch’s career. It’s a real treat
watching as one after another he trots out the clues he so
carefully planted earlier on. A stumble into a cabin on the
train. Miss Froy asking for sugar. A packet of tea. A name
written on a window. All seemed so innocent a short
while ago. Now they are nothing short of vital.
But naturally, this is an Alfred Hitchcock film - and that
means wrapping things up with a rousing climax: Guns, spies,
trains, and all the good stuff Hitchcock fans know and love.
It's a great capper to what is a suspenseful, enjoyable train
ride with a group of memorable and charismatic characters.
Disc Presentation
The quality of Criterion's work is near legendary in DVD circles.
Here is a pretty good example of why. Like the other British
Hitchcock films, The Lady Vanishes is widely
available as a public domain release. And those releases generally
stink. Not so here, though. Criterion restored both the image
quality and the sound, breathing new life to this almost 70-year-old
film. For a film made in 1938, this looks great. The heavy
film flaws present in all the public domain prints - scratches,
dust, saturation and faded blacks - are all  but
gone here. With rare exceptions, we have a clean, largely
scratch-free print
with fine balance, deep shadows and excellent clarity throughout.
I've watched three different prints of this film, and Criterion's
is far and away the best of the bunch. The other two aren't
even close.
The audio fares even better. The very common Laserlight release
(same print as a release by Brentwood Home Video) is passable
but far from good, while a release from Vintage Home Entertainment
is downright unwatchable. In a dialogue-driven film, not being
able to hear is unforgivable. Thankfully that's not an issue
here. Free of most static and hiss, all the talk in this talkative
film is crisp, clear and right up front in Criterion's restored
edition. A HUGE step up.
Disc Extras
Criterion all but pioneered DVD commentaries as a standard
part of any decent release, so it's no surprise to find that
an audio commentary is the centerpiece extra here.
At times the commentary offerings from the Collection can
be a bit on the dry side, with some commentators clearly reading
aloud rather than speaking naturally. Thankfully, that's not
the case here with film historian Bruce Eder. He comes across
as generally personable and engaging, without ever losing
the scholarly edge that sets Criterion commentaries apart.
This is one of the more sparse Criterion Collection releases,
so as far as extras go, that's it. There is a fine three-page
essay on the film by Michael Wilmington.
But with this print so far and away better than the others commonly found on the budget rack at your local DVD shop, it's hard to complain about sparse extra features.
The Bottom
Line
The Lady Vanishes is one of only two films
still in print from Criterion's fantastic Hitchcock set, Wrong
Men & Notorious Women (the other being The
39 Steps). It's also fun from start to finish. In
this reviewer's eyes, The Lady Vanishes is
the best of Hitchcock's British era, encapsulating all that
made him a great director in one neat, clean and highly entertaining
package. But when you get it - and you should - settle for
nothing but the Criterion Collection release.
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