The Lady Vanishes (1938)

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by Cinemach

Absurd's not the wrong word per se, but the connotation is that something really crazy happens. What is meant is that the ending is not, in a real-world sense, believable.

But think about it: how many of Hitchcock's films are believable? Vertigo - what many consider his masterpiece - is beset with such real-world difficulties. North by Northwest? The Birds? Most all of Hitchcock's films have elements of the absurd in them. He was such a master of style and suspense though that these do not matter.

The Lady Vanishes is one of his best films, and in my opinion the best I've seen from his British period (I prefer it to The 39 Steps and it nudges The Man Who Knew Too Much by a little). It's a recommended masterpiece.

OK - fair enough and I get what you are saying about some of his other films. It just would seem that a 4.5 star film would never get absurd at any point or it couldnt earn an almost perfect rating!