3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Hitchcock Double Bill, June 11, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The 39 Steps/ The Lady Vanishes [VHS] (VHS Tape)
It would be hard to beat this video package for value for money - two Hitchcock British classics for a very low price. Thankfully, in spite of the bargain price and the age of the films, the sound and visual quality are very good.
The 39 Steps is perhaps not very faithful to the John Buchan book it is based on, but it is rather more enjoyable. Hitchcock maintains all the mystery of the Buchan original, but he adds his own brand of suspense and humour. With the obligatory added love interest, Hitchcock maintains the humour of the film and adds a degree of salaciousness and even sado-masochistim in the plight of the potential lovers handcuffed together. Of course they can't stand each other, but their experiences lead them to fall in love. The 2 travelling lingerie salesmen who share the train carriage with the fleeing Hannay are wonderfully funny, but also menacing, as they hold the newspaper that declares his "crime" on the front page. The film has several great set pieces which are justifiably famous in cinema history - including Hannay hanging from the Forth railway bridge, the evening at the mean Scottish crofter's house and the Music Hall finale.
The Lady Vanishes also blends mystery and suspense with romance and humour, based around a paper thin plot of "spies". The story is a classic journey on a train in "middle Europe" at some point where Europe is on the brink of war and the vanishing governess who is really a spy. Of course noone believes her companion that she was on the train, but we and she know that she was and that she will be found and rescued. The plot is engaging and some of the clues tantalizing, but the real joy comes from the eccentric cast of British characters.
As the main coup takes place at 5 in the afternoon in the refreshment car, the British are all trapped together having tea. They behave with typical British phlegm and courage for the most part, apart from the cowardly adulterous barrister, who tries to surrender to the enemy rather than fight to protect his mistress and fellow characters. He is, of course, shot.
Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave are entertaining as the sparring lovers who start off hating each other and end up in love. And Dame May Witty is so delicious as the spinster spy you really could eat her.
But y favourite characters are Charters and Caldecott two dim-witted Englishmen abroad whose only interest in life is cricket. Their cameo performance was so popular they later appeared in other British films, not directed by Hitchcock.
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