The Lady Vanishes review

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Hitchcock’s penultimate British film before he left for Hollywood, The Lady Vanishes comes up as fresh and witty as ever. By this stage in his career Hitch had perfected his trademark teasing mix of comedy and thrills, and Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat’s rollicking spies-on-a-train yarn furnished him with ideal material. As the dauntless young leads, Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood set up good bantering chemistry, and there’s not a weak link in the supporting cast: Dame May Whitty as the vanishing old lady, Paul Lukas a suave proto-Nazi heavy, Cecil Parker as a pompous adulterer, and of course Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne inaugurating their double-act as Charters and Caldicott, cricket-mad silly-ass Brits who still turn up trumps in a fight. Sheer stylish entertainment and – despite some dodgy model-work - a joy from start to finish.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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