THE LADY VANISHES

The classic 1938 Hitchcock version of this 1936 thriller, originally titled THE WHEEL SPINS, varies considerably from the book. Gone, for instance, are the climactic shoot-out and thinly veiled references to the growing European political crisis. The central idea remains the same--returning from a Continental holiday, a young British socialite insists that one Miss Froy, whom no one else seems to have seen, has vanished from their moving train. To this plot, admittedly inspired by a Maupassant story, the author adds considerable wit and vivid writing. Narrator Finty Williams, daughter of Dame Judi Dench, seems deaf to these features. Her workmanlike read in her ingenue's soprano accurately conveys the text but very little of the character of this vintage page-turner. Y.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 07/ JAN 08]