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The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes

Mystery · Thriller · Comedy · 1979

On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady, who suddenly vanishes. Distraught, she questions her fellow passengers who claim that the woman was never there. Unsure if it's all in her mind or if there's a more sinister plot afoot, Amanda teams up with photographer Robert Condon to discover the truth.

Movie details

The Lady Vanishes

“Had she vanished into thin air...Or was she never really there?”

1979 Mystery · Thriller · Comedy 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady, who suddenly vanishes. Distraught, she questions her fellow passengers who claim that the woman was never there. Unsure if it's all in her mind or if there's a more sinister plot afoot, Amanda teams up with photographer Robert Condon to discover the truth.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Lady Vanishes?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Anthony Page

Written by

George Axelrod

Cybill Shepherd

Cybill Shepherd

Amanda Kelly

Elliott Gould

Elliott Gould

Robert Condon

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury

Miss Froy

Herbert Lom

Herbert Lom

Dr. Egon Hartz

Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe

Jeremy Charters

Ian Carmichael

Ian Carmichael

Caldicott

Gerald Harper

Gerald Harper

Todhunter

Court is in session

Put The Lady Vanishes on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.