The Lady Vanishes (1938)

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by renegadeviking

This is such a good movie. I saw for the first time on TCM tonight and ordered it.

Glad you enjoyed it and now the movie has a new fan!

I think every5hing about it is great. The characters are terrific, the central mystery is a fun guessing game...and the best part is the claustrophobic setting of the train.

One of Hitchcock's Top 5 best, IMO,

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by laidbacklarkin

Tried playing back this disc today. Sony BD player displays the first flash of the Criterion 'C' sign and then just spins. Played it back on a Funai player, player displays a message that disc cannot be played back. Disc looks absolutely clean with no marks or scratches. Does not display any bronzing that seems to have affected some other 2009 Anyone else in the same boat ?

Several more reports of this disc having issues. So far all the issues have been with the original 2011 standalone and not the item included in the 2016 Classic Hitchcock. I tried mine a few days ago and would even load on any of my 3 players. VSO Inspector scan with tons of errors. No obvious bronzing like my Walkabout and Summer Hours.
At some point in the next month or two I need to go through all those 2009-2011 discs again before asking for a single disc to be replaced

I bought the Hitchcock box last year wit the idea of selling off the 3 standalone std cases, but keep the Digipack of For Correspondent and the std from the Boxset just for the sake of it. Luckily I remembered the thread and rechecked it

[professorwho]

I got the Criterion in the Early Hitchcock box set- it’s a really good set that’s 100% worth getting. The Criterion of Lady Vanishes looks pretty good in motion. Very minor compression issues but nothing major. My biggest issue is the quality of the source they had to work with, but given the film’s age, it’s more than acceptable.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by cfx

I'd rather buy the Network for better cover, no digipak, and a much lower price as well. Plus, caps-a-holic shows the usual compression issues so common with Criterion.

The Criterion is not a digipak. You consider a few still photographs better? I don’t really see any “usual compression issues” in those caps but it is an older master. Network can also have a tendency to use additional dirt and scratch removal and/or or light DNR on some of their releases (not ideal for LV though). I presume it’s the same master.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by cfx

Oh, I read some of the Hitchcocks were digipacks and just went by the promo art here which doesn't show a case.

The Network cover isn't awesome or anything, but I just really dislike 90% of the Criterion art, this included.

From Network, the disc is £4.66 + shipping. I'm not sure what their shipping is for a single disc, but when I ordered The Prisoner set plus one other disc, it was just £7.85 so if this was even that much it'd still be half the cost of the Criterion. Criterion's prices are unjustifiable to me when there is another version that's the same quality. Don't care about extras.

Yes, I'm aware I just missed the B&N Criterion sale.

Question: What is the packaging on that Hitchcock set? The separate cases like the individual relelases or something different?

It's the individual separate releases contained in a hard cardboard slip-box.

[koberulz]

I don't believe the Hitchcock set is available anymore.

[GeoffOliver]

I got that set this summer on sale new from Amazon for $40. If it fell OOP, it would’ve been very recent. It’s literally the four releases in a flimsy slipcase. Foreign Correspondent is the regular single-disc plastic case edition instead of the combo digipack.

[koberulz]

The individuals are still in print but they've stopped making the set, AFAIK.

[hariseldon]

I'm not entirely sure that's true. Criterion.com doesn't list it as OOP, just Unavailable/Backordered after the last Flash Sale. They're usually pretty good at listing this Out of Production fairly quickly once the units are completely gone. I guess we'll know for sure when the next Flash Sale starts since that's always one of the most popular titles

Amazon still has copies for sale and not at scalper prices.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by cfx

I don't see the set on the Barnes and Noble site either. Do they remove listings for just out of stock items?

They can remove them esp for items not expected to be instock for awhile.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd...hcock/32249282

B&N had never really carried the set at all, but they did have some sets for sale at the beginning of the Nov 50%.

For years only Criterion had it with Amazon picking up some copies at some point. Costco had the item essentially as an exclusive for the first few months though after the first Holiday season they got rid of their inventory (assuming sent it back to Criterion).

At least I don't remember anyone else ever selling it. Bullmoose has a listing Special Order -Rare Item , but not sure if they really can get a copy. Looking at Amazon sales, it appears they picked it up mid-late 2017 (1 year after release) and have had intermittent copies since then

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

I got the set during the last flash sale, my slipbox was creased so I emailed Criterion about a replacement. They replied and said the sets were all gone and the remaining replacement boxes they had were also damaged ones. I think someone else in the main CC thread posted a few days later saying that even those were gone now.

Maybe they'll print more sets in the future, I have no clue. But for now they're sold out.

[cuff]

This movie is outstanding!

I first watched it at University in a film class I was taking in 1996 - it opened the door to many great Hitchcock classics as well as other films from directors like Hawks and Griffiths.

This film has stayed with me for many years and I jumped at the Criterion release.

[martydmc12]

I've been having myself a Hitchcock film festival and finally got around to watching "The Lady Vanishes" last night. Originally purchased directly from Criterion in 2017, and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since.

I put the disc in and everything was going perfectly fine up until the one hour and twenty minute mark (1:20:XX). The image became pixelated and started freezing and the sound went mute. The picture continued to progress, struggling though with pixelation, but the audio remained silent. I went back to the main menu which now also struggled with freezing and pixelation, and I tried again going back to the 1:20 mark, only to have the same thing happen. I ejected the disc, no signs of scratches, dust or lint either. I decided to try it on my external Samsung Blu-ray drive and plugged it into my MacBook Pro, which worked perfectly fine. No freezing, no pixels, no audio problems, neither in the film itself or the main menu. I finished watching the movie, and I was curious to see what would happen when I put it back into my 4K Blu-ray player. No menu issues, and I skipped to the timeline at the 1:17:00 where that chapter began, and the film played without issue this time, no freezing, pixels or audio problems from that point on until the end of the film unlike before.

My 4K Blu-ray player is a Panasonic DP-UB9000, and I've noticed I've had issues like this with some of my other Criterion and older Shout! Factory titles. Not sure if this is a player issue or a disc issue? Should I consider reaching out to Criterion and getting a replacement of "The Lady Vanishes" or just chalk this up to some sort of weird anomaly that went away on its own?

Anyone have any thoughts on this or suggestions?

UPDATE: I just tried the disc again, started playing it from the beginning, and once it got to the 1:20 mark it did the same thing again as last night, froze, pixelated and went mute. Same thing with going back to the main menu.

UPDATE 2: Had an issue with another Criterion title tonight, "The Silence of the Lambs". I'm starting to think it might be my player where the layer change happens. I made post in the Panasonic DP-UB9000 Player thread if anyone wants to read that.

[glennstl]

Hi to the above member,

I know you said you bought your copy in 2017 and didn’t open it until the other night.

This is one of my favorite movies ever, so I bought it when it came out… forget the year the Criterion Blu came out. At least 10 years ago. I would periodically watch it on my same player maybe 1-2 times a year since I bought it. Anyway, fast forward to about a year ago ( same player still). I go to watch Lady Vanishes once again and I don’t remember the exact minute mark but almost the EXACT same thing happened to mine, too. I tired everything… it kept doing it. Checked for any disc rot…none.

I ended up emailing Criterion and explaining situation about a year ago. They had me ship them my copy back ( that was now around 10 years old). Took maybe 2 weeks but they did then send me another copy. Worked perfectly with this new copy and still does.


So you are not alone. I would try to contact Criterion. Hope this helps!

[martydmc12]

Thanks for your reply glennstl. I have considered contacting Criterion, but after watching "The Silence of the Lambs" last night and having the same thing happen to that disc as well, also a Criterion disc and at the 1:18 mark, I'm also wondering if it could be the discs where the player is trying to read the new layer, as I've always assumed the layer change happens about an hour or 90 minutes into a disc.

I've not noticed this kind of problem on any of my other mainstream studio releases, but specifically on Criterion and some of my Shout! Factory discs?

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Thanks for your reply glennstl. I have considered contacting Criterion, but after watching "The Silence of the Lambs" last night and having the same thing happen to that disc as well, also a Criterion disc and at the 1:18 mark, I'm also wondering if it could be the discs where the player is trying to read the new layer, as I've always assumed the layer change happens about an hour or 90 minutes into a disc.

I've not noticed this kind of problem on any of my other mainstream studio releases, but specifically on Criterion and some of my Shout! Factory discs?

Interesting. Well, I ALSO around the same time around 2022 had the same thing happen to my Criterion disc of The 39 Steps. This Criterion I had ALSO bought near when it originally came out ( just like I had Lady Vanishes). So, a year ago, when I found the issues ( described by you above well) on my Lady Vanishes.... I threw in my player a few of the oldest produced Criterion Hitchcocks. And that's when I found the same issue on the 39 Steps disc also.

So, I had to return both to Criterion after I had bought them almost 10 years later. Luckily they sent me knew discs for both ( after I shipped both discs back). It was just strange. But a year later both the new copies they sent me still work great!

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Thanks for your reply glennstl. I have considered contacting Criterion, but after watching "The Silence of the Lambs" last night and having the same thing happen to that disc as well, also a Criterion disc and at the 1:18 mark, I'm also wondering if it could be the discs where the player is trying to read the new layer, as I've always assumed the layer change happens about an hour or 90 minutes into a disc.

I've not noticed this kind of problem on any of my other mainstream studio releases, but specifically on Criterion and some of my Shout! Factory discs?

Went back and looked at my emails to Criterion at the time. It was actually May of 2020. Here's what I wrote to Criterion:

"I got your email address from a member of Blu-ray.com. I’m emailing because I own Criterion’s 39 Steps ( Alfred Hitchcock, 1935) on Blu-ray. I bought the disc brand new probably about 6 years ago. Since then, it’s only been in my private collection and I’ve probably rewatched it 4-5 times over the years.

Today, I went to try to play it, and it will not load on either of my two different brand of Blu-ray players. All that will come up is the small Criterion “C” symbol in the upper left hand corner of the screen as it starts to load. But from there, the screen just goes black and will not play. I checked my disc and it appears to be in perfect condition, no scratches, finger prints, etc. on the disc.

Someone on Blu-ray.com said it may be disc rot. Someone else said they had the exact same thing happen to their copy.

Is there anyway Criterion could please mail me a replacement copy? I can send you pictures of my copy if you need proof of my ownership.

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide in this matter,".

Anyway, a month later, emailed them again:

"I just wanted to check back about my 39 Steps disc issue as I sent this original email about a week and a half ago.

Unfortunately, tonight I was just watching my Blu-ray copy of The Lady Vanishes, and with about 20 minutes left to go in the film, it begins to badly skip and freeze up. I checked the disc and it appears to be in perfect shape physically. I’ve owned it for probably about 8 years in my private collection. Up until tonight, it has always played just fine.

So, I now have a disc issue with not only my copy of The 39 Steps on Blu-ray… but apparently also my copy of The Lady Vanishes.

I would really appreciate any help in getting disc replacements for these two Blu-rays.

I would be happy to send pictures of my two Blu-ray movies for proof of ownership if it helps.

Thanks very much for your help!"

Anyway, a Criterion gets back to me ( Jon M..... nicest guy) with this reply... I am leaving some out so this is not so long:


"Thanks for writing and for your patience. My apologies for the belated reply.

There is a batch of THE LADY VANISHES Blu-ray discs that are defective and it sounds like you have one of these discs. Please send your disc (disc only please, without packaging) to me and I'm happy to exchange it for a new disc. The full explanation is below.

I'm not aware of any issues with THE 39 STEPS Blu-rays so would suggest these 2 troubleshooting options to see if the issue clears up.....

We have confirmed that certain Blu-ray discs pressed at a replication facility that we used for a period in 2010 have become defective, showing a noticeable bronze discoloration on the underside and developing playback problems.
We have confirmed the problem on ten titles, but not on all copies of these titles. All of these titles have since been re-pressed at a different pressing plant, and the vast majority of discs in circulation should not be affected.

The confirmed potentially affected Blu-ray titles are:
SUMMER HOURS
WALKABOUT
PARIS, TEXAS
M
THE SEVENTH SEAL
PIERROT LE FOU
HOWARDS END
MONSOON WEDDING
MONTEREY POP
RIDE WITH THE DEVIL

In addition to the confirmed list, please review any copies of the following you may have in your collection:
Gomorrah
Wings of Desire
Vivre Sa Vie
8 1/2
A Christmas Tale
Days of Heaven
In the Realm of the Senses
Kagemusha
Lola Montes
Stagecoach
Paths of Glory
Bigger Than Life
Revanche
Le Cercle Rouge

These titles seem to have less discs that were affected. Not all runs of these discs were affected with the disc rot. The best way to tell if your disc from the list is defective is by looking on the underside of the disc (the shiny side) and if you see the letters 'BVDL' your disc will be fine. If you don't see those letters you should send in your disc.

If you have found that your Blu-ray copy of one of these titles does not play, please send your disc in to the following address for a replacement:

The Criterion Collection
Attn: Jon Mulvaney
215 Park Avenue South
5th floor
New York, NY 10003

Please include only your discs -- no packaging from the titles -- along with the address to which you'd like us to mail your replacement.

If you decide not to send in a disc that is playing fine and it starts to show signs of the defect at a later date, we will be happy to exchange your disc at that time. If we learn that other titles are similarly defective, we will add them to the list and continue to replace them as well (excluding discs that are out of print that aren't listed above).

All the best,"


Sorry this is so long.... but there were also clearly other issues ( again this is summer 2020) that he mentions with some other titles, just FYI, which is why I included this part. But he is a great guy and assuming he still works at Criterion (this was over 3 years ago for me) I would imagine he will do the same for you or anyone. He made it right and I really appreciated his candor and help with this.

Hope this helps!

[martydmc12]

The whole thing is just odd if you ask me. I've watched "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "The 39 Steps" a couple of times without issue. And "The Silence of the Lambs" as well, too many times to keep count, as it's a film I put on quite often without issue, then the other night, suddenly an issue near the same time stamp. Why now after so many repeat viewings is this happening?

Like I said, part of me wonders if it's my player. I've made a post on the Panasonic UB9000 thread to see if anyone has experienced anything similar, so far no responses. But at the same time I'm really starting to wonder if it's in-fact some sort of disc rot that's happening? As I mentioned I've had a few Shout! Factory titles do the same thing for me, "Psycho II and III", and "Lord of Illusions". If my memory serves me correct, a lot of these titles came out around the same time, 2015-2018. Could there possibly be a problem that we're just starting to see the effects on these discs after nearly 5-10 year old discs? Or maybe it's a combination of the player and the disc, as I said in my original post, I tried the disc in my cheap external Samsung Blu-ray player, and it worked fine without issue. Put the disc back into the player to test and see if it would happen again, and it didn't. Then tried it the next day as an experiment only to have have issue again.

Something is definitely strangely afoot at the Circle K.

UPDATE: After looking over my entire collection, I've realized that I have had issues with mainstream studio releases with the same kind of problem. "Prometheus" (Fox), "Marvel's The Avengers" (Paramount), "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (Disney). I'm really starting to wonder if it's my player at this point and it's not the discs. Also it's always been Blu-ray discs, not DVD's or 4K either. However I did have my "Godzilla (1998)" 4K stuck and wouldn't eject. If it is my player, either I've got a bum machine, or $1,200 high-end player sure doesn't equate to quality much anymore.

[sa5150]

Does the standalone Criterion disc still have issues if I were to buy a new one from Amazon ?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by sa5150

Does the standalone Criterion disc still have issues if I were to buy a new one from Amazon ?

Very unlikely since it's more than 14 years from the original release.