The 80th Anniversary of The Lady Vanishes (1938)

It was eighty years ago today, on October 7 1938, that The Lady Vanishes released in the United Kingdom. The Lady Vanishes would prove significant for several reasons. First, it was the last film that Alfred Hitchcock would make in Britain until Under Capricorn in 1949. It is also numbered among by many as one of Hitchcock's best films. Second, it would mark the first appearance of Charters and Caldicott (played by Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford), two cricket-obsessed characters who would appear in several subsequent films, as well as radio shows. With different actors in the roles, they would also be featured in their own 1985 BBC TV series, Charters and Caldicott. Third, along with Bank Holiday (1938), the film in which she appeared immediately prior to The Lady Vanishes, The Lady Vanishes propelled Margaret Lockwood to stardom in the United Kingdom. Even Hollywood took notice of Miss Lockwood, although they wasted her on a Shirley Temple film Susannah of the Mounties (1939) and the movie Rulers of the Sea (1939).

I wrote a detailed post on The Lady Vanishes several years ago. Rather than revisit old ground, I then recommend that you read that post.