Before he became a huge Hollywood director, Alfred Hitchcock caught Tinseltown’s attention with 1938’s The Lady Vanishes.
Prior to this critically acclaimed hit, the filmmaker’s previous three films had performed poorly at the box office.
Based on Ethel Lina White’s 1936 novel The Wheel Spins, The Lady Vanishes follows an English tourist travelling by train across continental Europe who discovers that the old woman travelling with her has disappeared.
Asking around, other passengers have no memory of ever seeing the elderly lady. Teaming up with a young musicologist, the pair search the train for clues.
According to the British Film Institute, The Lady Vanishes is the 35th best British film of the 20th century. Meanwhile, in 2017 a polls 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and film critics ranked it 31st in Time Out. Starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave, there have been two remakes since their original. There’s the 1979 version starring Cybill Shepherd and the 2013 film starring Tuppence Middleton.
The Lady Vanishes is on BBC Two this Sunday at 12:10pm and will be streaming on BBC iPlayer for a limited time afterwards.
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