MovieChat Forums > The Lady Vanishes (1938) Discussion > I am still in shock - of how boring this...

I am still in shock - of how boring this movie is

posted 20 years ago by PiranianRose
110 replies | jump to latest

Alright folks. I am a great admirer of Hitch. I have seen quite a few of his classics and all but one have been at least satisfying (most of them were fantastic indeed). Most recently, I tried to watch "Lady Vanishes" because some hail it as his best from the British period, and the premise of a disappearing lady sounded promising. Unfortunately--and I really tried--I couldn't get past the first 30 minutes or so. I tried very hard to not turn it off, but it was impossible. What happened? nothing, absolutely nothing. The plot probably moved an inch forward. The only intriguing thing is that the musician on the street got murdered. Also, I had trouble understanding the English. I turned the volume as loud as my speakers had, but I still couldn't understand what they were saying, and the DVD apparently assumes just because there is English dialog, everyone that understands English should understand it. They forgot how different English from Britain can sound to a Midwestern American brought up in the Orient.

Anyway, I still don't want to completely disregard this film from one of my favorite auteurs. So I am asking you: if I absolutely hated the first 30 minutes of this movie, thinking it is boring as heck, does it get more interesting?

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dalmain 11 years ago

The beginning was a little dull, but not bad at all. Myself coming from the Southeast U.S.A. had no problems with the English. Maybe watching a lot of old films and reading books helped me.

[–] deathtoallbutmetal 15 years ago

I've never seen this movie but I've watched a few movies for 20 minutes and hated them. A year later I try again and love it. With old movies like this if I'm bored after 30 minutes I try to finish it the next day, then it's like a tv show.

Anyway, that's how Ima approach this movie, when it finishes downloading :).

[–] beteigeuse 15 years ago

I completely disagree about the first 30 minutes. First of all, they're pure comedy with the two British fellows, the folklore scene etc. 2nd, they make the contrast with the dynamic development of the story look great. I just thought: "Wow, what happened here..."

I had previously seen only later Hitchcock movies, Vertigo being my favorite, and I was disappointed with the earlier ones I had seen (I certainly expected more from Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt and Notorious), so I was blown away by this masterpiece.

[–] silverkid 15 years ago

The first 20 minutes of the film is completely unnecessary. It has nothing to do with the plot... this movie was very boring and uninteresting as is the case with most of Hitchcock's British films from the 30s like Man who knew too much, young and innocent and lady vanishes. I liked the 39 steps but he didn't hit his stride till he hit america with Rebecca in 1940. Anyway, yeah, this movie put me to sleep. If someone could explain the high imdb rating, and general overall love for it otherwise, I'd appreciate it.

http://most-underrated-movies.blogspot.com/

[–] megatosspot 15 years ago

You're a kid and so usually half-asleep anyway, and the film was made for grownups unfamiliar with the concept of instant gratification, so yeah not much chance of you liking it. Never mind.

[–] PillowRock 15 years ago

The first 20 minutes of the film is completely unnecessary. It has nothing to do with the plot

Quite the contrary.

The first 20 minutes was completely *necessary* to set up who the characters were before the extraordinary circumstances of passengers disappearing and such started impacting them.

I really miss the days when character development was actually standard practice in movie making.

[–] JellyFish19 14 years ago

Well I didn't like the first 30 minutes either, but trust me, it gets a lot better.

[–] billgh4 14 years ago

The first part of the movie, in my opinion, is somewhat boring and unmemorable the FIRST time you watch it.

After having seen the whole film now,
ie the plot and all the important characters,
the first part, despite its slowness, is now a hundred times funner in repeat viewings.

Once you KNOW the characters,
(especially Charters & Caldecott hahaha O man)
it's really fun to watch them in the first segment of the movie. There are jokes you wouldn't even have caught the first time. It's just so much better.

So while I agree with what a lot of people are saying here,
that the movie grabs your attention later in the plot,
I think the first part is really fun too,
once you know all the cast and you know the action that will take place.

[–] TheEnigmaticRonin 13 years ago

Being a huge Hitch fan, I had the same problem, the first 30 minutes are god awful, but then it gets better, as soon as the lady disappears, but still , its extremely overrated.

" Look, there's two women fuc*ing a polar bear!" - Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas 1998

[–] Nemesis7293-1 12 years ago

I do so enjoy threads of this type, where drooling, mouth-breathing, single helix cretins parade their ignorance and profound lack of taste in childishly whining about how "bad" a genuinely great film is. These are generally the kind of people who have made legitimate stars of Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Jim Carrey, and Pauly Shore. The kind of people who would instantly choose any Adam Sandler movie over any Orson Welles movie. I often wonder why these people bother to try their taste and intelligence, or lack thereof, by attempting films that are so obviously above them. Learning and the development of basic tastes are wonderful things for those truly open to them. Sadly, for most, the ability to appreciate something like "Citizen Kane" or even something as beautifully accessible as "Casablanca" is merely pearls before swine.

[–] Bree_33 12 years ago

Hitchcock knew that part of keeping an audience interested was a colorful cast of characters. The plot of TLV is the McGuffin of the film and the main plot is the relationship between the main characters.

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[–] jsmjpc 12 years ago

in my opinion, the movie doesn't get much better...this is my first hitchcock film (i've seen his tv show and usually enjoy it) but i was extremely disappointed in this...i wonder how many people would be praising this so much if it was made by some obscure director instead of hitchcock...i gave it a 4/10...