The Lady Vanishes - Criterion Collection
by Alfred Hitchcock
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Abraham Sofaer, Basil Radford, Charles Oliver, Greta Gynt, Naunton WayneDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-11-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of The Lady Vanishes - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Excellent audio restoration
Summary: 5 Stars
I asked the following question in a comment to an earlier post but received no response:
"The version shown on Turner a few years ago suffered from heavy-handed application of noise suppressors, a common problem in classic film restoration. In particular, the Turner version of this title had significantly clipped speech (the noise suppressors accelerate the natural decline in volume when a word is spoken, especially that of sibilants, making the words sound unnaturally abrupt and sometimes difficult to understand). It also suffered from significant "pumping" of background sounds where the volume of the background rises and falls depending on the volume of the foreground. An obvious example in the Turner print is the sound of the railroad tracks which rises noticeably while people are talking and falls significantly when they're not, the result of the noise suppressors kicking in. Could you comment on whether the Criterion print used noise suppressors more intelligently than the person who prepared the print that Turner used?"
I have recently had a chance to view this Criterion offering so I can now answer my own question: The audio is excellent and far superior to the mangled audio of the version that AMC and Turner played in times past. Speech is not clipped and, therefore, is understandable, sibilants are present, whispers can actually be heard, and there is no pumping of background sounds; in particular, the sound of the railroad tracks remains constant and is not affected by the presence or absence of speech or other foreground sounds. Very surprising was the fact that the actual noise level was rather low despite the near absence of noise suppressor side effects.
Personally, I much prefer an unmuddled sound track to the negative impact of noise suppressors and I've often thought that noise suppression should be a function of playback equipment rather than being hard-coded into the source. That way, each listener can adjust the suppression to his or her liking and his or her tolerance for the negative by-products of the suppression process.
At any rate, Criterion did an excellent job with this release: it's as pleasurable to the ear as to the eye.
Summary of The Lady Vanishes - Criterion Collection
In Alfred Hitchcock s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood, traveling across Europe by train, meets Dame May Whitty s charming old spinster, who seemingly disappears into thin air. Soon enough, the young woman turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a complex web of mystery and high adventure. The Lady Vanishes, now in an all-new digital transfer, remains one of the master filmmaker s purest delights.Alfred Hitchcock had hit his early, near-flawless stride by the time of The Lady Vanishes, the 1938 classic that seems as bright and funny now as the day it was released. After the deliciously comic opening reels at a mittel-European hotel where a train has been snowed in, the plot kicks into gear: a very nice old lady (Dame May Whitty) suddenly disappears in mid-train ride. Worse, the young woman (Margaret Lockwood) who'd befriended her can't find anybody to confirm that the lady ever actually existed. Luckily, suave gadabout Michael Redgrave is at the ready--to say nothing of two English cricket fans, brought to memorable life by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne. The film bops along briskly, borne along on the charm of the players and the witty script by expert craftsman Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat (who also did the delightful Green for Danger and the St. Trinian's films), to say nothing of Hitchcock's healthy sense of humor about the whole thing--indeed, it may be the most "British" of his films. --Robert Horton
On the DVD
This two-disc package is the second time Lady has been issued by Criterion, and features a (visually and aurally) improved transfer of the film. It retains a commentary from the earlier release, but adds tasty extras: a half-hour documentary from Leonard Leff (standard stuff, but a nice intro to Hitchcockian ideas), plus a 10-minute audio excerpt from Francois Truffaut's legendary book-length interview with Hitch. This is not only a good way to hear Hitchcock on The Lady Vanishes, it's a fascinating ringside seat at an important moment in film history. And then there's Crook's Tour, a fun 1941 feature comedy vehicle for Charters and Caldicott, the two characters played by Radford and Wayne (they'd been such a hit in The Lady Vanishes that audiences demanded more of them, leading to a long-term teaming in film and radio). All good--but Lady itself is the ride you'll be returning to again and again. --Robert Horton
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