The Lady Vanishes (1938, Alfred Hitchcock)

My father always taught me, never desert a lady in trouble. He even carried that as far as marrying Mother.

Before Alfred Hitchcock mastered Hollywood, he first thrilled audiences with the most successful British movie of his time. Unlike some of his most famous works, The Lady Vanishes relies on more of an ensemble cast, a colorful group of British travelers returning home from a fictitious country to the east. Act one introduces the range of characters as a railroad delay forces them to stay overnight at a quaint inn. Act two transforms into a mystery aboard the confined train-cars, the disappearance of an elderly lady whose existence is confirmed only by a protagonist with a head injury. After she uncovers the twisted truth, the final act accelerates into nonstop action. In some ways, Hitchcock exploits the fear of foreign dangers to build suspense, but he also finds plenty of comic relief often at the expense of the British caricatures. One of the running jokes involves Charters and Caldicott, two men so fixated on a cricket match that they remain oblivious to the intrigue around them. The film allows Hitchcock to create a few signature stylish moments, and to engage a few of his classic obsessions: trains, the MacGuffin, the ordinary person wrongfully accused (here, in fact, wrongfully accused of making wrongful accusations).