Unlike the usual style of work that usually enters the subject of suspense shortly after the opening, the first twenty minutes of the plot of "The Lady Is Missing" has almost nothing to do with the horror and suspense. Because of this, this opening was accused by some as a bit procrastinated. However, a little analysis will reveal that this is not the case. From a dramatic perspective, it also played a very important role in the consistency and rationality of the character portrayal of the film. For example, the two British men who took the train to watch the game. They are not just the core of this comedy with a lengthened opening. At the same time, Hitchcock rationalized their motives for meeting Mrs. Frye when they were later on the train by showing that they were very ungentleman (robbing seats and hanging up the phone). And without this foreshadowing, then obviously the audience will question their attitude of refusing to cooperate. For another example, at the end of the opening, the flowerpot fell, and the heroine was accidentally injured in order to kill the old lady. And this kind of plot arrangement not only echoes the old lady's last agent status, but is also more important. It makes everyone have reasonable excuses for suspicion of the heroine (and even herself)'s wilful behavior. As for the rationality of motivation, the best thing in the film is the portrayal of the encounter with men and women. For these two people, Hitchcock didn't need to give too much behavior to the front inn. Because affair is not a British feature, audiences from all over the world are very familiar with this kind of universal relationship between men and women. Therefore, when the two of them brought the most intense dramatic mutation to the middle of the story (at first because of fear of exposure, men denied knowing the old lady. Then, because they believed that the scandal could widen the divorce of the other party, the women admitted that they had seen it; finally legally It is found that it is not feasible and changed to deny), the audience will not feel the slightest false and far-fetched. However, although the film is very successful in the consistency of character portrayal and the rationality of the plot, it is not flawless. The defection of the British woman who pretended to be a nun seemed somewhat deliberate.
The subject matter of the story involves transnational espionage crimes, but director Hitchcock did not involve any narrow nationalist sentiments in the role modeling. The so-called bad guys, that is, those foreign spies, have hardly been overly deliberately vilified except for the occasional treacherous appearance. On the contrary, certain traditional British gentlemen who should have firmly occupied the righteous side have become the focus of the film's satire and criticism. What's more interesting is that these people's moral or behavioral defects are clearly divided into good and evil levels by the director's love and hatred. And, in the ending of the film, people at different levels also get corresponding karma. For example, in Hitchcock's view, the lawyer who engages in affair and deceives women is the primary evil! So when he finally showed his ugly cowardly face, he was immediately shot and killed mercilessly. In contrast, two British people who indulge in games and forget the axioms of right and wrong are the objects that can be saved. But even so, they still have to be punished to a certain degree. Among them, the elder had to be shot and hang on to repentance! In the end, after the train arrives, what awaits them must be the result of the cancellation of the race that they have been eager to see. As for the British woman who wore high heels for fake decorations, despite her bravery of sacrificing the switch, she still received a small punishment for the good and evil in front: a shot in the leg! Ha ha. Of course, in the whole process, those British people who always showed their kindness must be unharmed. Among them are the heroes and heroines.
There must be "Mugffin" in the Hitchcock suspense movie. The "Mugffin" in this film is a piece of music that contains an intelligence code. However, its final effect seems to be not as strong as the thirty-nine steps of Mr. Memory. The protagonist forgets the tune because of the sudden fall in love, and the old lady's piano sounded in the room? This happy ending is somewhat mediocre. In addition, the film even deliberately expresses Hitchcock's "Mugffin" concept in the necessary line processing. When the old lady told the two young people the true identity and mission, she said that "this information is about two European countries", but did not say which two.
There is also a dialogue and comedy echoing of Hitchcock’s own classic works three years ago. When the spy discovered that the patient had been dropped and detached from the carriage. The three of them screamed in the box. At this time, the heroine said, "Isn't it a train whistle?" The hero replied "No! It must be a woman screaming"... This immediately reminds me of the famous "Maid found the corpse in "Thirty-Nine Steps" Cut to the paragraph of "the train whistle".
Before the French New Wave reassessed a large number of early directors, including Hitchcock, with a new author theory, the film was often used with "Thirty-Nine Steps" by British film critics as an attack against Greek Americans. The reference and contrast of the styles of works of the period. They believe that after entering Hollywood in the 1930s, the British premier genius director, his works have lost the relaxed, humorous, and unbelievable imagination of the original local period. Of course, it now appears that this understanding is somewhat conservative and one-sided. Although there are many rules and regulations in Hollywood, and the American audience's understanding and acceptance of movies is obviously different from that of continental Europe, these factors alone are not enough to become a fundamental obstacle to the development of overseas artists in Hollywood. What is really decisive is actually the director's own inherent artistic aesthetic concept. Although Hitchcock studied under the German expressionist school in the early days, he was more keenly aware of the close connection and interaction that may arise between the content, form, and even star benefits of the new art form of film and the audience's psychology. . And successfully applied it to his own artistic creation. And this is undoubtedly a certain degree of coincidence with Hollywood. On the contrary, the German director Franz Lang, who lived in the United States because of avoiding the Nazis in the 1930s, was too deeply influenced by Brecht’s ideological system and was unable to fully understand and accept Aristotle’s theory as an example. The dominant Hollywood movie concept has made it difficult for his works in the American period to reach the high standards of earlier works. Therefore, we can neither simplistically use Hollywood as an authoritative yardstick to measure the level of artists and their works, but also cannot arbitrarily devalue the quality of his works just because a certain director has adapted to the so-called Hollywood model. Both mentalities are unhealthy.
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