Alfred Hitchcock Collection Box in 2012! (1 Viewer)

U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany all have this coming, with packaging and content variations.
Title listing: Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), Family Plot (1976)
http://www.amazon.de/Alfred-Hitchcock-Collection-Blu-ray-Limited/dp/B00826XC7M/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1336762449&sr=1-1

Holy crap!! I really, really, really, really hope this is true!! And now the hope is for good transfers. Man this is shaping up to be a huge fall/winter shopping list!!

If the transfers are great, this will be fantastic.
However, I will not tolerate less than perfection on these titles. I now have a policy of not buying any catalog Universal until a number of people have reviewed it.
So we wait to see.
Question: does anyone know about the region coding of the German releases noted above? I couldn't find anything in the link.

I know Universal's stuff from the U.K. is region free, but Germany..not sure. Here's another link.
http://www.bluray-disc.de/blu-ray-news/filme/32679-universal-veroeffentlicht-alfred-hitchcock-collection-mit-14-filmen-auf-blu-ray-disc

Universal has already released PSYCHO on its own. Would they repackage it in a box-set? for the USA market?


The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) has always been in need of work. It is the most problematic of the Universal titles. Let's hope it's been worked on if and when it comes to Blu-ray.

I won't be happy about rebuying Psycho, but I can bite the bullet if it means getting the rest of the Universals.

Having PSYCHO included certainly is understandable and I wouldn't hesitate in ordering this set when and if it gets a domestic release.
Did any Hitchcock films have a stereo soundtrack in their original release. I don't think Hitch was into stereo, but was wondering if something like DIAL M FOR MURDER, prepared for 3-D may have had a stereo mix? If it was a stereo interlock, I assume it is long gone.

Their will be many bloodshot eyes the day after this box arrives in the mail. Can ya watch just one?

John Morgan said:

Having PSYCHO included certainly is understandable and I wouldn't hesitate in ordering this set when and if it gets a domestic release.
Did any Hitchcock films have a stereo soundtrack in their original release. I don't think Hitch was into stereo, but was wondering if something like DIAL M FOR MURDER, prepared for 3-D may have had a stereo mix? If it was a stereo interlock, I assume it is long gone.

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As far as I can tell, no stereo original soundtracks on release.
I would guess that with Psycho out and The Birds coming soon, some titles will get individual releases. Rear Window and Vertigo probably next.

DIAL 'M' had no stereo mix, having been released too late in the game (post 4-track, which ended up getting reserved for 'scope titles.)

Hope this is halal.
If so, great news.
I'll buy the lot and sell my standalone Psycho.
Steve W

Originally Posted by John Morgan /t/320682/alfred-hitchcock-collection-box-in-2012#post_3925006
Having PSYCHO included certainly is understandable and I wouldn't hesitate in ordering this set when and if it gets a domestic release.
Did any Hitchcock films have a stereo soundtrack in their original release. I don't think Hitch was into stereo, but was wondering if something like DIAL M FOR MURDER, prepared for 3-D may have had a stereo mix? If it was a stereo interlock, I assume it is long gone.

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None of Hitchcock's movies were ever mixed in true stereo. "To Catch a Thief", "Man Who Knew Too Much", and "Trouble With Harry" had Perspecta-encoded mono tracks as that was the standard for VistaVision at the time but that's the extent of it.

It wasn't until the MGM laserdisc of North by Northwest that a stereo mix for a Hitchcock film was made.

I hope they include the original mono tracks in lossless when they come out here in the States. I had to buy Psycho from the UK because the US version was lossy.

Lord Dalek said:

None of Hitchcock's movies were ever mixed in true stereo. "To Catch a Thief", "Man Who Knew Too Much", and "Trouble With Harry" had Perspecta-encoded mono tracks as that was the standard for VistaVision at the time but that's the extent of it.
It wasn't until the MGM laserdisc of North by Northwest that a stereo mix for a Hitchcock film was made.

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Not quite. The MGM laserdisc only had the main title in stereo. At the time, they did not have the three-strip separations (music, effects, dialogue) available.
The first film that had a stereo soundtrack was Vertigo, following the Harris/Katz restoration in 1996. Not all of the musical queues had been recorded in stereo, but the results were neverthess quite satisfying (except for some foley that everyone thinks is too loud but it is not quite as bad as claimed).
Not to start an argument, but Perspecta cannot be considered true stereo. It is simply a rechanneling of an optical mono soundtrack. As wonderful as VistaVision was (the nicest 35mm-based process), it did not measure up to CinemaScope in the sound area.

Jack Theakston said:

DIAL 'M' had no stereo mix, having been released too late in the game (post 4-track, which ended up getting reserved for 'scope titles.)

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Mostly but not entirely. There were some 185 films with a stereo soundtrack made after 1954, but it was rare.
-- The Time Machine and High Society (VistaVision) were flat but were recorded in stereo (but not released at the time). AFAIK, High Society is the only VV film originally recorded in stereo.
-- Master of the World with Vincent Price had a great stereo soundtrack.
-- Legend has it that Giant had 4-track magnetic prints (I knew projectionists who swore they had run mag prints) but this is disputed.
-- There are likely others but these are the ones I remember right now.

I think I am remembering correctly, but when Universal released that laser set of Sc-Fi films from the 50s, I was delighted and surprised that IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE had a stereo track and I don't think it was even mentioned in the package. It was more than music in true stereo, as there were off stage door slams and some off stage dialogue for characters not in frame. I think someone told me that Universal had cans marked "Spainish soundtrack" or something like that and it turned out to be the original stereo track. I think it was ported over to the DVD release. And TO HELL AND BACK seems to have a stereo track on the DVD, but again, I don't think it is mentioned on the package. It seems that a lot of Universal's stereo elements are gone from the 50s, so it is good to have a couple at least.

Beyond excited for this set, but hopefully they at least do new transfers for Vertigo, Rear Window and especially Man Who Knew Too Much, all of which could use a bit of remastering. I guess at least we know The Birds is going in for a more extensive restoration (being one of the announced 100 year anniversary titles.)

I'll reserve my excitement for a Region 1 announcement.

Craig Beam said:

I'll reserve my excitement for a Region 1 announcement.

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Agreed!

Osato said:

Agreed!

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I'll reserve mine for reviews from those I trust.