MovieChat Forums > The Lady Vanishes (1938) Discussion > Surprising little twist ***Spoiler***

Surprising little twist Spoiler

posted 9 years ago by djrosenblatt
2 replies | jump to latest

I just love this.

Dr. Hartz is the central villain in the plot to kidnap and murder Miss Froy. He has demonstrated a willingness to let nothing stand in his way, including murdering innocent British citizens on the train.

So what does he do when he sees the good guys are finally getting away? He turns to his co-conspirator the baroness, shrugs his shoulders, and says, "Jolly good luck to them".

Has there ever been another film where such a nefarious villain, upon seeing his scheme thwarted, basically says, "Oh well, you win some, you lose some"?

And any thoughts on why Hitchcock chose to put that in the film?

Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers! But if you could show us something in a nice possum…

[–] Rex16 8 years ago

May be the idea was to show that the villains were actually quite sporting in their own way and similar to the English upper-class? Hitchcock might have been tired with the cliché of villains howling with frustration as the heroes escape, and wanted to make their reaction a bit less expected.

[–] djrosenblatt 8 years ago

I agree it could well have been something like that. It's so understated, though, and so brief, that you wonder if it didn't escape most viewers' attention. I'd love to know if he was ever asked about that.

Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers! But if you could show us something in a nice possum…