Reception
The consensus of critics is that the film suffers by comparison to Hitchcock's 1938 film, and it gains only 20% approval on the critical opinion aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Geoff Andrew of Time Out notes that "Comparisons are odious, but this remake of Hitchcock's thriller continually begs them by trampling heavily over its predecessor." The British Film Institute is more critical, calling it "about as witless and charmless as could be conceived".
Variety magazine notes that the script is "best when dwelling on English eccentricity to make the film's most endearing impression...Shepherd and Gould stack up as contrived cliches, characters that jar rather than complement." Film4's review agrees, writing that the two leads are "ruthlessly upstaged by loveable old coves Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael as cricket-mad Charters and Caldicott". It, however, calls it a "watchable remake".
Read more about this topic: The Lady Vanishes (1979 Film)
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