Proves Fallacy Of Star System

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 34, 3 February 1939, Page 14

Proves Fallacy Of Star System

{"The Lady Vanishes." Gainsborough, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Mishael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Dame "May Whitty. Already released.-] LTHOUGH I didn’t manage to see the show until after it had been released, I feel I should be falling down in my duty if I didn’t draw attention to the excellence of the British production, "The Lady Vanishes." Alfred Hitchcock made "The Lady Vanishes," which goes a very longz way toward explaining why it is miles ahead of the average British melodrama and quite one of the best entertainments of recent months from either side of the Atlantic. For Hitchcock’s technique as a director is out on its own. He takes a melodramatic spy story about sinister events on a Continental train, and makes it thoroughly gripping, crowded with (Continued on Next Page.)

Speaking Candidly (Continued from opposite page)

incident, and at the same time highly amusing and delightfully natural. A Treat In Store T is only right to say that the opening of the picture hardly gives an indication of the treat

that lies in store. Some time is taken up in introducing a beautiful assortment of characters who are anxious to secure seats on the train; and it isn’t. till -afterward that you realise that practically

everything that happens in these early sequences, though apparently irrelevant at the time, has some bearing on the plot. That’s ene of the virtues of Hitchcock-his economy of effect, his matter-of-factness. You can trace this quality right through his handling of all the characters: nobody over-acts, and yet the performances are never less than vivid. It’s much the same with the way in which he blends the fun and excitement, particularly when the train is under way, and the story is working up to its climax. In Time For The Test "TF the acting owes a lot to Hitchcock’s direction, he certainly had fine material with which to work. Michael Redgrave’s debut as the hero is one of the best things that has happened to the British screen for a long time, for there’s a dearth of leading men who are both virile and able. Margaret Lockwood is an intelligent heroine, and Dame May Whitty is splendid as the oid lady who vanishes. Passing over many other well-deserving cases, I’ll make very special mention of Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne for their perfect bit of work as the impassive Englishmen who are solely con- cerned, through all the shooting and vanishing acts, with getting back to Hngland in time for the Fest match! None of these players is a big box-office star, of sourse, and it just gces to prove the fallacy of the star system that this really outstanding entertainment is, for that sole reason, unlikely to attract even half the attention it deserves.