Seventy-five years after Alfred Hitchcock made a lightly comedic version of “The Lady Vanishes” from Ethel Lina White’s “The Wheel Spins” (1936), we got a lovely dramatic adaptation from BBC. The 2013 version of “The Lady Vanishes” is my preferred take, as it emphasizes mystery and characterization, and is classy for a TV movie. Either watching it as a comparison piece or a standalone, it’s compelling.
The central question of both versions is what happened to the titular Miss Froy (Selina Cadell), who vanishes from their train compartment upon Iris (Tuppence Middleton) waking from a nap. And both versions ask whether Iris – having been knocked on the head before boarding — perhaps imagined Miss Froy’s existence, as her compartment-mates say she did.
More of a mystery
The possibility that Froy is fictional doesn’t ring true in Hitchcock’s version, because other characters interact with her when Iris isn’t present. But director Diarmuid Lawrence and writer Fiona Seres present “Lady Vanishes” in a “Sixth Sense” manner wherein only Iris directly interacts with her.
“The Lady Vanishes” (2013)
Director: Diarmuid Lawrence
Writers: Fiona Seres (teleplay), Ethel Lina White (novel)
Stars: Tuppence Middleton, Tom Hughes, Selina Cadell
Enough other details are different that we must consider the possibility that the 2013 version will take a different narrative branch of the tracks. At the same time, it’s engaging even when only considering who engineered Froy’s disappearance and why.
Admittedly, there’s not much mystery about who the bad guys are. They are arrogant in their position that they can quash Iris via obfuscation and mild character assassination. Yet “Lady Vanishes” rolls along thanks to Middleton, a beautiful actress who can act. Iris is sweaty and disheveled, and we can sympathize with the desire of Max (Tom Hughes) – likable in a more earnest way than his 1938 counterpart, but no fool – to help her.
Becoming a good person in a bad world
Iris has a subtle arc of becoming a fully formed human being. She starts as a carefree professional vacationer (rather than a snowed-in train stop, it’s a beautiful vacation spot here) with her like-minded (or mindless) gal pals.
Although the sunstroke-afflicted Iris doesn’t treat the helpful Miss Froy all that nicely, she’s driven by the need to search for her, since she’s the only one willing to do so. Middleton retains Iris’ scowling self-centeredness while also infusing her with decency.
Seres combines and rewrites Hitchcock’s supporting characters enough that we believe they could go in new directions. The 2013 film dodges stodginess in this way. Plus, the first-class niceties and a greater emphasis on score music make it a glossy, rose-colored take on the Thirties.
Via moments of absurdist comedy, Hitchcock’s version sought to be an escape from the bad news of the times. Because “The Lady Vanishes” 2013 is looking into the past, we are free from the broader spy-game tensions and can get lost in Iris’ mission. Despite her confusion and obstacles, that’s where I want to be.
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