RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

“THE LADY VANISHES ONE MORE TIME”

BY RAYMOND BENSON

The Criterion Collection has issued a Blu-ray upgrade to a previous winning DVD release—Carol Reed’s World War II suspense adventure, Night Train to Munich. It’s a terrific example of the fine cinema Britain was managing to produce even while at war. Released there in August of 1940, the country was already in the conflict, although the Blitz had not yet occurred. (The picture was released in the U.S. in December 1940, smack dab in the middle of the Blitz.)

What’s more striking is its resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938) in tone, setting, and even characters. Marketing pushes at the time suggested that Night Train to Munich was a “sequel” to Vanishes, which was an extremely popular movie on both sides of the Atlantic. Night Train is not a sequel, though—it’s more of a remake.

Somebody at the studio must have thought they needed “another movie like Lady Vanishes” so writers Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, who were responsible for the previous screenplay, were secured to pen the new one. Both pictures have plots that involve spies, double agents and Nazis, and a major portion of the stories takes place on a passenger train. To sell the “sequel” concept even more to the public, popular actress Margaret Lockwood, the star of Vanishes, was cast as the lead, this time opposite a young Rex Harrison instead of Michael Redgrave. Most curious, though, is the inclusion of two characters (and the actors who played them) from Vanishes—the duo of the very British, comical, possibly gay men known as Charters and Caldicott (played by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne). The couple was such a hit the first time around, the two fellows had to be passengers on board Night Train, too. There has been much discussion about Charters and Caldicott’s sexual orientation since their several appearances in these and a few other films of the late thirties and early forties. Are they gay? There are certainly several humorous “clues” in these two first titles to suggest it. Since something like that couldn’t be blatantly talked about in those days, it was best for the audience to simply find it funny that two men are traveling together (again, on a train?) and possibly using the same bed (in Vanishes).

In Night Train, Lockwood plays the daughter of a Czech scientist who is the MacGuffin of the story—both the Allies and the Nazis want him. When father and daughter are captured and held in Berlin, Harrison, a British agent whose cover is to perform and sell sheet music in an English seaside town, is sent to Germany to free and bring them back to the U.K. He impersonates a Nazi major in order to get “inside,” and his impromptu escape plan involves the boarding of a train traveling from Berlin to Munich (with fellow passengers Charters and Caldicott willing to help!). In the meantime, a Nazi captain played by Paul Henreid (here credited as Paul von Henreid—before he moved to Hollywood to be in Casablanca) is dedicated to keeping the scientist and his daughter under the thumb of the Reich. Never mind that both Harrison and Henreid are both in love with Lockwood.

Sounds pretty far-fetched, doesn’t it? Forget it—this is a fast-paced, intelligently-written, well-acted, and suspenseful adventure film. Mixed in with all the excitement is light humor, in the tradition of Hitchcock’s picture, thus providing viewers with an entertaining ride. Reed, who would go on to make other classic British thrillers such as Odd Man Out and The Third Man, handles the material with panache and style—just as Hitchcock did—but with a more personal, friendlier touch.

The new disk comes with a restored, high-definition digital transfer, with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. The image is remarkably clear and sharp, a testament to the outstanding job Criterion does in presenting vintage cinema. Supplements include a fascinating 2010 conversation between film scholars Peter Evans and Bruce Babington about the director, writers, and the socio-political climate at the time the picture was made, and an essay in the booklet by film critic Philip Kemp.

So “All aboard!” and take another ride on the thriller-adventure train. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know The Lady Vanishes—Night Train to Munich stands on its own as top notch filmmaking. Better yet, get them both and make it a double feature!

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