MGM Lean & Hitchcock Releases (1 Viewer)

[Ken_McAlinden]

Over at the Digital Bits Rumor Mill, they listed a bunch of titles on the slate for a fall release from MGM. Among them were box sets of David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock titles:

David Lean Collection (available September 7, 2004)

• Blithe Spirit
• Brief Encounter
• Great Expectations
• In Which We Serve
• Madeleine
• Oliver Twist
• The Passionate Friends
• This Happy Breed

Alfred Hitchcock Collection (available November of 2004)

• The Lady Vanishes
• Notorious
• The Paradine Case
• Rebecca
• Sabotage
• Spellbound
• The Thirty-Nine Steps
• Young & Innocent

The Bits indicated that the Lean set will be available in a box for US$99.96 SRP or individually for US$19.98 a pop. No pricing for the Hitchcock collection, but it will be available as a box and as individual titles, too.



Regards,

 

[DouglasBr]

I sincerely hope the quality is there, especially for the Lean films. I've held off buying the Criterion Dickens titles as they are so expensive (and bare bones at that), but I can't help wondering if MGM will put out as good or better product. Maybe DVDBeaver will come through again and help with comparisons. The other titles (especially "In Which We Serve") will be welcome additions.

As for the Hitchcock, I just got "Wrong Men and Notorious Women" during the big DDD sale last December. I doubt I'll want to replace those, but getting "Paradine", "Sabotage" and "Young and Innocent" will be welcome.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I have so far held off buying the Lean Criterions, so I would buy MGM's set if ALL the transfers are good.

 

[Kevin Harper]

Couldn't agree more. I can see no point in replacing the Criterions. What more can they do to them? The transfers (especially Notorious) are superb and the extras are extensive and not your usual fluff. As for the Lean collection, again I can't see any reason to replace the Criterions. They may be expensive and bare bones but the transfers are excellent. Unless that is of course MGM are going to remix them in 5.1 or DTS

 

[george kaplan]

That Hitchcock info leaves me cold. I already have all of those films on dvd, and see no reason to replace them (especially the excellent Criterions). I want to hear about Hitch films that haven't been previously released (e.g., Dial M for Murder, Stage Fright, Lifeboat, Foreign Correspondent, etc.), though I have no idea if any of those are owned by MGM.

 

[Jay*W]

George,

I believe that those titles are owned by Warner Bros., with the exception of LIFEBOAT, which is owned by Fox. According to rumors (and based in part on an HTF chat), Warner Bros. is supposed to be releasing 7 new-to-DVD titles sometime this year. There have also been rumors that LIFEBOAT will be released as part of the Fox Studio Classics line in the not-too-distant future.

Jay

 

[ToddF]

I wonder if Criterion will be able to hold onto the rights of the David Lean material?

Todd

 

[DouglasBr]

Those should be coming from Warner later this year in their all-but-announced Hitchcock 7-disc set.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I barely consider "Young and Innocent" and "Sabotage" to have been released on DVD due to the inferior presentations to date. The Anchor Bay version of "The Paradine Case" actually looks quite nice (although I find the film itself to be dreadfully dull). I have no complaints about any of the Criterions.

If MGM does things the right way on "Young & Innocent" and "Sabotage", though, I will be very pleased. I wish they were also doing the UK "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Perhaps its absence indicates that another company has licensed it already. Hmmm? Maybe another company that starts with a "C" and ends with a "riterion"? Well, a guy can dream, can't he.

Regards,

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I've got all these eight Hitchcock titles - "Sabotage" and "Young and Innocent" among others on a German box set named The Early Years. This set is supposedly a lot better than most other DVD releases of early Hitchcock titles.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Well, remember, that Criterion holds onto their extras like gold, and MGM's handling of their Disney license (which is where the Hitchcock titles are coming from) have been dependent on what they are given.

Therefore, if you have the Criterion box, keep it. I suspect there will be few extras in this Hitchcock box. I would sooner buy the titles not previously released -- YOUNG AND INNOCENT, SABOTAGE -- which I suspect is coming from MGM's Carlton license, as are the bulk of the Lean titles.

Good to see that MGM is finally getting to the very large cache of Carlton/Rank Organisation titles they inherited license to after the Goldwyn/Orion buyout.

 

[David Von Pein]

This thread begs the larger Hitchcock inquiry .........

WHERE ON EARTH IS THE DVD OF "SUSPICION"?

:frowning:

 

[Jim_K]

I'll stick with my Criterion discs.

I'm more interested in Warners Hitchcock films Dial M, Suspicion & Foreign Correspondent.

 

[Robert Crawford]

When Warner releases their Hitchcock set!

 

[Brian W.]

I can verify -- and I'm in a position to know -- that Suspicion and Dial M for Murder will both be included in the Warner Hitchcock set. I don't know the other titles yet.

 

[Steve...O]

I think the other titles have been disclosed on other threads. Going from memory: Stage Fright, Mr. &Mrs. Smith, Foreign Correspondent, Wrong Man, and (I think) I Confess.

Do you know the release date for this set? It's one of my most anticipated of the year.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Jay*W]

Same here!

Jay

 

[Brian W.]

Oh, are Stage Fright, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and I Confess all Hitchcock titles?! I didn't know that. I thought Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward movie!

Then, yes, all three of those will be in it, too. I knew we were working on them, I just didn't know they were Hitchcock movies. "Foreign Correspondent" rings a bell, also, so I'd guess the listing on the other thread was right.

I'm strictly on the production end of things, though, so I don't really know when it will be released. I'd guess in 3-6 months. That's the usual time frame after it passes through my department.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Who owns the rights to "Murder!". Is rthere a decent release out there anywhere? I'd particularly be interested in a release that had both silent and sound versions - the first version I ever saw was the silent version at a film festival.

 

[Robert Crawford]

What I haven't figured out is how did Warner become owners of "Foreign Correspondent" which was originally a United Artists release. Maybe, one of the production companies associated with the film have the rights and were bought out by Warner?