It looked like nice Sunday evening stuff. I don't watch much TV that isn't cycling related but the Lady Vanishes felt like a cheery way to spend a couple of hours. Everyone was clearly working very hard and it was delivered with enthusiasm but there were two things one could not escape. The source material was so dated and actually quite silly that it became a parody of old British films set 'on the continent.' The central character demanding foreigners speak English, and the whole world accepting the authority of an Oxbridge professor. One might be able to suspend the disbelief if it was a film made 60 years ago, but it wasn't and I couldn't.
The other part was that the whole thing was so frantic that it did not bother to create any characters that went beyond stereotype. Even The character of Iris Carr remained a two dimensional collection of period mannerisms and unlikely decisions.
I have seen the Hitchcock version though not recently enough to make a fair comparison, but I was left with the question how was it meant to benefit from being remade.
The other part was that the whole thing was so frantic that it did not bother to create any characters that went beyond stereotype. Even The character of Iris Carr remained a two dimensional collection of period mannerisms and unlikely decisions.
I have seen the Hitchcock version though not recently enough to make a fair comparison, but I was left with the question how was it meant to benefit from being remade.
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