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MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

post #1 of 12
Thread Starter 
A DEFINITIVE ANTHOLOGY FROM
THE MASTER OF SUSPENSE

ALFRED HITCHCOCK
PREMIERE COLLECTION

Brilliantly Restored And Remastered, The Eight-Disc Set Includes All-New Commentaries, Featurettes, Screen Tests, Vintage Radio Interviews,
An AFI Tribute To The Director And More

Arriving On DVD October 14 From MGM Home Entertainment

LOS ANGELES, CA – One of the most influential filmmakers in all of cinema and voted the greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, MGM Home Entertainment presents an extensive compilation featuring the works of a true Hollywood legend when the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection arrives on DVD October 14. Nominated collectively for a total of 23 Academy Awards, these films are beautifully restored and remastered and feature titles out of print on DVD for several years. The eight-disc set is highlighted by Hitchcock’s Oscar winner for Best Picture Rebecca, starring Joan Fontaine (Suspicion) and Laurence Olivier (Hamlet) in a dark tale of love and obsession. Silver screen siren Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca) makes an appearance in two Hitchcock classics; first alongside Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird) in Spellbound, as a young doctor in pursuit of the truth and next alongside Cary Grant (North by Northwest) in Notorious, a tale of crime, passion and espionage. Rounding out the collection is Peck once again in The Paradine Case as a lawyer defending a beautiful woman accused of poisoning her husband, the spy thriller Sabotage, the romantic murder-mystery drama Young and Innocent, the suspenseful high seas thriller Lifeboat and one of Hitchcock’s earliest films, the terrifying whodunit The Lodger featuring an all-new anniversary score.

With hours of all-new special features including audio commentaries, featurettes, screen tests, still galleries, vintage radio interviews, an AFI Tribute to Hitchcock and more, the DVD collection also includes a 32-page notebook with trivia, production notes and more about the legendary director. Available for a suggested retail price of $119.98 U.S. / $159.98 Canada, Rebecca, Spellbound and Notorious will also be available as singe discs for a suggested retail price of $19.98. Prebook is September 17.

Rebecca Synopsis
A young woman marries a fascinating older widower only to discover that she must live in the shadows of his first wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years before.

Special features:
· Commentary by film historian/author Richard Schickel
· Screen tests
· Making of Rebecca Featurette
· The Gothic World of Daphne Du Maurier Featurette
· Original 1938 Radio Play Starring Orson Welles
· 1941 Radio Play Presented by Cecil B. DeMille
· 1950 Radio Play with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
· Four-page booklet

The Lodger Synopsis
During a rash of gruesome murders by a serial killer known only as “The Avenger,” a mysterious stranger arrives in London and rents a room with the Bunting family. Intriguing and reclusive, the Buntings’ new guest soon earns the interest of their beautiful daughter. But when the lodger’s strange habits and odd hours start to coincide with The Avenger’s killings, the Buntings suspect they may have let a murderer into their home…and given him the key to destroying their lives!

Special features:
· 1999 Score by Ashley Irwin presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround
· 1997 Score by Paul Zaza presented in Mono
· Commentary with film historian Patrick McGilligan
· The Sound of Silence: The Making of The Lodger Featurette
· Hitchcock 101 Featurette
· 1940 Radio Play Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
· Restoration Comparison

The Paradine Case Synopsis
Beautiful Anna Paradine (Alida Valli) is accused of poisoning her older wealthy husband. Her barrister, the happily married Anthony Keane (Gregory Peck) takes the case but also lets his heart rule his head when he falls hard for his client.


Special features:
· Commentary with film historians Stephen Rebello & Bill Krohn
· Isolated Music and Effects Track
· 1949 Radio Play Starring Joseph Cotton
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Restoration Comparision
· Still Galleries

Spellbound Synopsis
When John Ballantine (Gregory Peck), the new director of a mental asylum arrives on the job, the staff is concerned. He seems too young for the position and his answers to their questions are vague and detached. Dr. Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), while knowing he is an imposter with emotional issues, nevertheless falls in love with him. Turning to her mentor, Dr. Alex Brulov (Michael Checkhov) and the use of psychoanalysis she tries to get to the root of Ballantine’s emotional problems.

Special features:
· Commentary with film historians Thomas Schatz & Charles Ramirez Berg
· Guilt by Association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound Featurette
· A Cinderella Story: Rhonda Fleming Featurette
· Dreaming with Scissors: Hitchcock, Surrealism and Salvador Dali Featurette
· 1948 Radio Play Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: Film Historian Rudy Belhemer Interviews Composer Miklós Rózsa
· Still Gallery
· 4-Page Booklet

Notorious Synopsis
Daughter of an accused World War II traitor, Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is enlisted to entrap one of her father’s colleagues in Brazil, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Raines). Her American contact, secret agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) is openly contemptuous of Alicia and instructs her to wed Sebastian. It is only after she is wed that Devlin lets himself admit that he’s fallen in love with her.

Special features:
· Commentary with film historian Rick Jewell
· Commentary with film historian Drew Casper
· Isolated Music and Effects Track
· The Ultimate Romance: The Making of Notorious Featurette
· Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Spymaster Featurette
· AFI Tribute to Hitchcock
· 1948 Radio Play Starring Joseph Cotton and Ingrid Bergman
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
· Restoration Comparision
· Still Gallery
· 4-Page Booklet

Young and Innocent Synopsis
In this witty, suspense thriller a police chief’s daughter helps a fugitive accused of murder prove his innocence.

Special features:
· Commentary with film historians Stephen Rebello & Bill Krohn
· Isolated Music and Effects Track
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
· Restoration Comparision
· Still Gallery

Sabotage Synopsis
A woman learns that her movie theater manager husband is actually a foreign agent when a bomb he has made kills her brother. Based on Joseph Conrad’s novel, The Secret Agent.


Special features:
· Commentary with film historian Leonard Leff
· Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
· Restoration Comparision
· Still Gallery

Lifeboat Synopsis
Nominated for three Academy Awards®, Alfred Hitchcock’s World War II drama is a remarkable story of human survival. After their ship is sunk in the Atlantic by Germans, eight people are stranded in a lifeboat. Their problems are further compounded when they pick up a ninth passenger – the Nazi captain from the U-boat that torpedoed them. With powerful suspense and emotion, this legendary classic reveals the strengths and frailties of individuals under extraordinary duress.

Special features:
· Commentary by University of Southern California School of Cinema & Television Hitchcock professor and film critic, Drew Casper
· “The Making of Lifeboat” featurette
· The original theatrical trailer
· Still gallery featuring photographs from the set



Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection
DVD Price: $119.98 U.S. / $159.98 Canada
Order Due Date: September 17, 2008
Street Date: October 14, 2008
Catalog Number: M110985
Total Run Time: 594 minutes
Screen Format: 1.33:1 Full Screen
Audio Features: English Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Closed Captioned: Yes
post #2 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

I don't recall seeing links to any individual artwork in the related threads, so I will post this one which I just found.
post #3 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Cr*p! they didnt restore LIFEBOAT-same disc as FOX in 2005
post #4 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious for me. I'm interested to see how the transfers compare to their Criterion predecessors.
post #5 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_TS
Cr*p! they didnt restore LIFEBOAT-same disc as FOX in 2005

There was nothing wrong the 2005 disc. I own it and it looks wonderful. Robert Harris even spotlighted it in one of his "A few words about..." columns.
post #6 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve...O
There was nothing wrong the 2005 disc. I own it and it looks wonderful. Robert Harris even spotlighted it in one of his "A few words about..." columns.

Indeed; Fox were at pains to stress that they did the best with the elements available, but it's fine. I bought the R2 for the Hitchcock interview, but with this set I'll get the original mono track, so not quite a redundant double dip - when the set drops to a more attractive level in a sale, of course...
post #7 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by CinéKarine
I don't recall seeing links to any individual artwork in the related threads, so I will post this one which I just found.
That's the worst cover art I ever saw on a major release. It doesn't have the look and feel of a Hitchcock film. Nevertheless ... I welcome the upgrades and the new supplements and will cheerfully buy the set even though it's redundant of what I already have.
post #8 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Expensive, but I'll buy it!
post #9 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

sold
post #10 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Since I don't have these films (the Criterions go for a bit to much money these days) it's almost a blind buy. I really don't like that cover art, though. The outer box art isn't that bad, but the individual covers look awful. Original poster art all the way IMHO.
post #11 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

So I guess I can crack open my Criterions of Rebecca, Notorious, and Spellbound now. I've left them sealed for years in case I needed the Ebay cash.
post #12 of 12

Re: MGM Press Release: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

I hope the MGM version of Rebecca will be in its original aspect ratio of 1.37.1 as opposed to 1.33.1. Both the OOP Anchor Bay and Criterion versions are in 1.37.1 but the Australian MRA Entertainment version is in 1.33.1. Does anyone know?
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