Movie Monday Nov. 15: The Lady Vanishes

Another week, another mystery movie as my pick. I promise I like other genres. Recently I went home for a long weekend and instead of flying, since COVID and everything else going on, I took the train from New York down to Virginia. I’m a big fan of train travel, so I decided to pick a movie that mostly takes place on a train. Arguably the most famous of train mysteries is of course Murder on the Orient Express, but I decided on another equally classic if albeit less known mystery: The Lady Vanishes.

**Warning, mild spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t watched the movie yet, what are you doing?**

Now there have been several versions of this film, including the cinema classic directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but this week I watched the 2013 BBC version. There’s a great ensemble cast, historic setting, and thrilling mystery that keeps the audience guessing. We end up doubting everything we think we know throughout the film. The first time I watched it, I was convinced it wouldn’t have a happy ending. Like any good psychological thriller, you never know what’s real and what’s imaginary until the very end.

Iris Carr (Tuppence Middleton), an English socialite traveling alone in 1930s Europe, stumbles across a perplexing mystery involving an English governess, the rise of fascism, and her own supposedly crumbling sanity. She encounters the governess, Miss Froy (Selina Cadell) on a train from Croatia to Trieste, Italy. The journey begins strangely, with Iris almost missing her train after passing out at the station. Her condition continues to get worse after she boards the train. Miss Froy takes the girl under her wing, until Miss Froy suddenly disappears. Iris takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her.

Other passengers either aren’t convinced that the governess was real or are actively trying to deceive Iris. Everyone has their own reasons for lying, but only Max (Tom Hughes) and his professor friend (Alex Jennings) are willing to help. They try to solve the mysterious disappearance before the train reaches Trieste, but the story doesn’t add up. Iris’s new companions begin to doubt her sanity. She is threatened with being committed to an asylum, but she doesn’t back down.

This psychological thriller is a great homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1938 version, though it sticks closer to the source material. Both movies, and the 1979 version, are all based on The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White. While Hitchcock takes some liberties with the ending, making it more of a spy thriller, the BBC version uses the novel’s ending. I prefer this; the ending feels more in line with the tone of the rest of the film.

As I’ve said before, I love a good mystery. The twists and turns in The Lady Vanishes always keeps me on the edge of my seat. I’ve watched it a few times, but like all good movie mysteries should be, I don’t anticipate the plot. As a period piece, this movie also hits the mark. The costumes and atmosphere of pre WWII Europe makes the world of the film so realistic. The old fashioned train is also a lovely set piece. It makes me long for the elegant train travel of the 1920s and 1930s.

My own train experience wasn’t as glamorous as in The Lady Vanishes, but I also got to my destination without being involved in an international scandal.