Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Cinema Cycle - The Lady Vanishes


CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

The Lady Vanishes.jpg
Screenshot_2015-04-13-06-48-32.jpg

DATE VIEWED: 04/13/2015


FORMAT: VHS

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 35 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 21.7 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 1521.3 miles

SYNOPSIS: A young socialite befriends an older woman on a train who suddenly disappears and none of the passengers recall having ever seen her.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Life is a stage and we are only players.  Suspenseful but somewhat dated in its social and moral concepts.

PROS AND CONS: This seems to be Alfred Hitchcock month, since this is the second of his early works that I have screened in the last two weeks, the other being ‘Jamaica Inn’.

Like Jamaica Inn, the first 30 minutes of this film is all character development, then the action starts.  Once it does start it goes all over the place, all while introducing a romantic comedy relationship between the male and female leads.  

Two things stood out while watching this.  First, you could see the young Hitchcock working his craft.  There are some scenes that are subtly funny, and others that are very intense.  IF you have seen “To Catch A Thief” or “North by Northwest”, you would appreciate Hitchcock’s earlier work.

The second thing that stood out was the dated notions or nationality and race in this film.  The mixed nationalities on the train are all stereo-typical from the British point of view.  While the english speaking actors are all articulate and funny, the non-english speakers are seen as buffoons and elitists that have evil intentions.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

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