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Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

post #1 of 17
1/30/08 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Will we ever see any decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years? (excluding The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes-which exist from Critereon)
There are many significant films from this period in his career. These exist in pirated or Public Domain versions which are sub-standard. Films like The Man Who Knew Too Much (The 1934 version), Young and Innocent, Sabotage, Secret Agent etc. When will we (here in the USA) get some of these? These are all classic films which i'm sure some company can profit from-with decent transfers.
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post #2 of 17
1/30/08 at 1:39pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

They keep churning out so-called PD sets, but yes, we definitely need to have restored early Hitchcock here in R1. Maybe Criterion will put a box out one day...
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post #3 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:01pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Related discussion here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...n-release.html
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post #4 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:06pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Perhaps Criterion could do an Eclipse box set of "British Era Hitchcock" or something similar.
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post #5 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:08pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Perhaps Criterion could do an Eclipse box set of "British Era Hitchcock" or something similar.

I think that's a sensational idea!
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post #6 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:16pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Since Lionsgate put out a 5-disc set earlier last year (all official gorgeous transfers), they probably have the rights to the rest of the StudioCanal-owned films. Their set has Murder!, The Ring, The Manxman, The Skin Game, and Rich and Strange. The rest of the SC films are Champagne, The Farmer's Wife, Blackmail, and Number Seventeen. So, they could do another 5-film set (the fifth being the silent version of Blackmail).

Criterion's two releases are Carlton/Granada properties (The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes). The other films owned by Granada are The Lodger, Downhill, Waltzes from Vienna, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Sabotage, Secret Agent, and Young and Innocent. The Lodger is showing up on MGM's HD channel soon, so it's possible they have the rights to the rest of the Granada films. Except for The Lodger, if Criterion had the rights, they would probably be best off doing an Eclipse set.

Ownership of The Pleasure Garden, Easy Virtue, and Juno and the Paycock seems really fuzzy.
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post #7 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:22pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Yeah I have The Lodger set to DVR on MGM-HD! Can't wait.
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post #8 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:26pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
Since Lionsgate put out a 5-disc set earlier last year (all official gorgeous transfers), they probably have the rights to the rest of the StudioCanal-owned films. Their set has Murder!, The Ring, The Manxman, The Skin Game, and Rich and Strange. The rest of the SC films are Champagne, The Farmer's Wife, Blackmail, and Number Seventeen. So, they could do another 5-film set (the fifth being the silent version of Blackmail).

Criterion's two releases are Carlton/Granada properties (The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes). The other films owned by Granada are The Lodger, Downhill, Waltzes from Vienna, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Sabotage, Secret Agent, and Young and Innocent. The Lodger is showing up on MGM's HD channel soon, so it's possible they have the rights to the rest of the Granada films. Except for The Lodger, if Criterion had the rights, they would probably be best off doing an Eclipse set.

Ownership of The Pleasure Garden, Easy Virtue, and Juno and the Paycock seems really fuzzy.
That's great to know. Thanks!

I could see them maybe doing a full Criterion release of The Man Who Knew Too Much.
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post #9 of 17
1/30/08 at 2:54pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Granada own the R2 UK rights to 'The Pleasure Garden'; it's part of this upcoming Network box set, all of the titles therein licensed from Granada.
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post #10 of 17
1/30/08 at 3:12pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
Ownership of The Pleasure Garden, Easy Virtue, and Juno and the Paycock seems really fuzzy.

Canal+ Image UK filed for the restored US copyright on Juno and the Paycock in 1997, which they had acquired via UGC UK.

Damin
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post #11 of 17
1/30/08 at 4:20pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hodson
Granada own the R2 UK rights to 'The Pleasure Garden'; it's part of this upcoming Network box set, all of the titles therein licensed from Granada.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Damin J Toell
Canal+ Image UK filed for the restored US copyright on Juno and the Paycock in 1997, which they had acquired via UGC UK.

Damin

Wow, that's great. Looking at the IMDB, Easy Virtue was a Gainsborough film, so it must be part of the Granada library too. Jamaica Inn seems to be Granada, too.
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post #12 of 17
1/30/08 at 6:37pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

So hopefully we can see a box or two to compliment the Lionsgate box from earlier.
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post #13 of 17
1/31/08 at 12:41am

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
Wow, that's great. Looking at the IMDB, Easy Virtue was a Gainsborough film, so it must be part of the Granada library too. Jamaica Inn seems to be Granada, too.

Jamaica Inn most certainly is, Easy Virtue is not.
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post #14 of 17
1/31/08 at 9:18am

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hodson
Jamaica Inn most certainly is, Easy Virtue is not.

Why do you say that? Easy Virtue was a Gainsborough production, so unless the rights were somehow sold off before, it should be in the hands of Granada International now.

Damin
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post #15 of 17
1/31/08 at 9:36am

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Damin J Toell
Why do you say that? Easy Virtue was a Gainsborough production, so unless the rights were somehow sold off before, it should be in the hands of Granada International now.

Damin

This is a list (in PDF format) of the Granada International film catalogue; why it's not there, I don't know. BTW it is available on DVD in the UK courtesy of PD specialists WHE International Ltd.
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post #16 of 17
1/31/08 at 4:31pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

There was the Alfred Hitchcock - The Early Years, released in Germany by Concorde. The Early Years box set contains the following discs: The Lodger / Downhill, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Sabotage, Secret Agent, Young and Innocent and The Lady Vanishes.

It's mentioned here:

"The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)" Whirlwind vs. Laserlight vs Carlton R2 vs. Concorde R2

The Lady Vanishes Alfred Hitchcock Dame May Whitty
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post #17 of 17
2/1/08 at 4:42pm

Re: Will we ever see decent transfers of Hitchcock's British years?

I've been asking this for a long time. Just give me The Man Who Knew Too Much, Young and Innocent, Sabotage & both versions of Blackmail and I'll be happy! I think Kino probably released the best version of Jamaica Inn in R1.
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