The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes is a 1979 British mystery comedy film directed by Anthony Page and written by George Axelrod, based on the screenplay of 1938's The Lady Vanishes by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, in turn based on Ethel Lina White's 1936 novel The Wheel Spins. The film stars Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, Angela Lansbury, Herbert Lom, and Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael. A remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 film of the same name, the plot follows two Americans travelling by train across 1939 Germany. Together, they investigate the mysterious disappearance of an English nanny also travelling on the train. The remake's setting is essentially similar to Hitchcock's, but is openly set in pre-Second World War Germany rather than in the original fictional country. The Austrian fountain of Oberdrauburg by Hellmuth Marx is part of the setting. In addition, both leads have their nationality changed from British to American. The film was the last production by Hammer Films for 29 years, until Beyond the Rave (2008). Plot In August 1939, a motley group of travellers find themselves in a small hotel in Bavaria, awaiting a delayed train to Switzerland. They include a "much-married madcap American heiress", Amanda Metcalf-Mdivani-Von Hoffsteader-Kelly, and Robert Condon, a wise-cracking American photographer.