- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,396
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
The number three Hitchcock film recently released via MGM and Fox is one that I would rate as B level Hitchcock.
Which in the case of anything Hitchcock is not too shabby. Every film cannot be a North by Northwest or Rear Window.
Out of fifty-some films, inclusive of war product, there are a solid forty that would be welcome on Blu-ray. This would not be an easy statement for most other filmmakers.
Like the other two films in this release pattern, Notorious and Rebecca, Spellbound looks very nice, with no glaring problems. A bit of rub during the opening title sequence, for which I'm surprised an alternate was not used, but aside from that the film is generally trouble free.
Black & white cinematography by George Barnes is exemplary, as would be expected. The film has comfortable levels of black, and shadow detail looks proper. The image appears to have been taken from an original fine grain master. There are many dupe fine grain masters out there, not necessarily on this title, but you want to stay original. Some people don't bother to check, innocently looking at a fine grain and thinking something like...
"Oh, a fine grain..."
Audio is well purposed, clear, and comes in as uncompressed.
Also, much like Rebecca and Notorious, a quality selection of extras is offered, which is unusual for a budget-priced Blu-ray.
The dozen pre-WB American produced Hitchcock films are controlled by a number of entities. Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious and Paradine Case by ABC/Disney -- one more title to go on this list, and the original long version would be the go-to.
Foreign Correspondent and Under Capricorn are non-studio holdings.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Suspicion are RKO product, controlled by WB via Turner.
Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt and Rope are with Universal.
Lifeboat is Fox.
If we can get these out on Blu, we can then begin to fret over the UK productions.
During the penultimate scene in the film, Leo G. Carroll turns a revolver on himself and fires.
The hand and firearm were large, and created to enable proper perspective. The shot, albeit relatively short, looks like what it is, probably a wooden or clay prop. The interesting addition were two frames of orange-red hand tinted as the gun fires. A very nice "Hitchcock" touch.
Recommended.
RAH
Which in the case of anything Hitchcock is not too shabby. Every film cannot be a North by Northwest or Rear Window.
Out of fifty-some films, inclusive of war product, there are a solid forty that would be welcome on Blu-ray. This would not be an easy statement for most other filmmakers.
Like the other two films in this release pattern, Notorious and Rebecca, Spellbound looks very nice, with no glaring problems. A bit of rub during the opening title sequence, for which I'm surprised an alternate was not used, but aside from that the film is generally trouble free.
Black & white cinematography by George Barnes is exemplary, as would be expected. The film has comfortable levels of black, and shadow detail looks proper. The image appears to have been taken from an original fine grain master. There are many dupe fine grain masters out there, not necessarily on this title, but you want to stay original. Some people don't bother to check, innocently looking at a fine grain and thinking something like...
"Oh, a fine grain..."
Audio is well purposed, clear, and comes in as uncompressed.
Also, much like Rebecca and Notorious, a quality selection of extras is offered, which is unusual for a budget-priced Blu-ray.
The dozen pre-WB American produced Hitchcock films are controlled by a number of entities. Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious and Paradine Case by ABC/Disney -- one more title to go on this list, and the original long version would be the go-to.
Foreign Correspondent and Under Capricorn are non-studio holdings.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Suspicion are RKO product, controlled by WB via Turner.
Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt and Rope are with Universal.
Lifeboat is Fox.
If we can get these out on Blu, we can then begin to fret over the UK productions.
During the penultimate scene in the film, Leo G. Carroll turns a revolver on himself and fires.
The hand and firearm were large, and created to enable proper perspective. The shot, albeit relatively short, looks like what it is, probably a wooden or clay prop. The interesting addition were two frames of orange-red hand tinted as the gun fires. A very nice "Hitchcock" touch.
Recommended.
RAH
