Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection: 9/7! (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

Again ... but it bears repeating. You gotta love Warners for using the original poster art. Would that other home video companies followed suit.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Gotta love the original poster art!!

I will be hapilly picking up this box on release day.

 

[Seth--L]

DVD File has posted specs on the "Strangers" disc set:

Strangers on a Train will be a two-disc set, and also include the original-release version of the film as well as the preview version newly-discovered in 1991, plus an audio commentary with director Peter Bogdanovich, screenwriter Joseph Stephano, author Patricia Highsmith and biographer Andrew Wilson, a new documentary, an appreciation by director M. Night Shyamalan, and newsreel footage.

 

[rich_d]

Your statement is correct but I think would be fairer stated as: Warner uses elements of the original poster art. Even individual elements such as color have been changed. Remembering that a DVD cover is not a film poster i.e. DVD producers need to capture the feel in a much smaller footprint, I think they did a fine job with this cover.

http://www.filmsite.org/ and then find Stranger on a Train (3) for a comparison.

 

[PaulP]

Those are really cool covers. Wonder if NBNW will be the same or new, and what the box will look like.

 

[Craig Beam]

I'm really hoping Warner revamps NxNW... keepcase, vintage cover art, etc. It's gonna stick out like a sore thumb otherwise!

But otherwise... WOW. Those covers are gorgeous. I'm dying to see what the outer box looks like...!

 

[Jeff Newcomb]

Agreed. I can't imagine them not at least converting it to a keepcase for box set purposes. They should really use this art too.

I imagine that the box will be similar to the Cary Grant set: big B&W headshot of Hitch with his signature across it.

 

[Derek_McL]

Yes Brian I tend to agree with you about these but the cover art is great and very tempting. Its likely I'll pass on the boxset : I won't be getting the reissued North by Northwest (a bit pointless, I suppose Warner just wanted a box with all their Hitch titles in it, it could be worse at least you can buy them individually), Mr and Mrs Smith, Stage Fright, I Confess and Foreign Correspondent (I already have the Universal UK release which is fine, I was a little disappointed by the film to be honest). The main reasons apart from quality is simply lack of funds and space for DVDs !

I've always quite liked Dial M and The Wrong Man those look likely purchases. Suspicion I'm on the fence but Strangers with a new transfer (the present one is fairly grainy), a documentary and audio commentary looks like a great upgrade of a classic.

 

[oscar_merkx]

great covers indeed and very good news about SOAT

 

[Herb Kane]

Here is the WB press release:
-----------------------------


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE ATTACHED

Seven Hitchcock Classics for the First Time on DVD

Dial M for Murder

Foreign Correspondent

Suspicion, The Wrong Man

Stage Fright, I Confess

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Plus

Remastered Two-Disc Special Edition of

Strangers on a Train

Eight Classics from "The Greatest Director

of All Time" Released by Warner Home Video September 7


All of These Films, Along with the Previously Released Special Edition of North by Northwest are also Available as Part of a Nine-film Deluxe Boxed Set, The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection


BURBANK, Calif. June 7, 2004 - On September 7, Warner Home Video will celebrate Alfred Hitchcock -- the legendary "Master of Suspense," whose illustrious motion picture career spanned more than a half century -- with DVD debuts of seven of his classic films, Dial M for Murder, Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, The Wrong Man, Stage Fright, I Confess, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Each film will contain a new documentary created for the DVD. In addition, a remastered Two-Disc Special Edition of Strangers on a Train including expanded bonus features will also be available.

The films will be available individually or as part of a nine-film deluxe boxed set, The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection, which will also include the previously released North by Northwest Special Edition. The individual titles are each priced at $19.97 SRP and Strangers on a Train: Two-Disc Special Edition will be available for $26.99 SRP. The deluxe boxed set is priced at $99.92 SRP.

Strangers on a Train, digitally remastered in a Two-Disc Special Edition DVD, will feature expanded bonus content, including the original-release version of the film as well as the preview version uncovered in 1991 and theatrically issued in 1996. Other bonuses include commentary by director Peter Bogdanovich, Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stephano, Strangers on a Train author Patricia Highsmith and biographer Andrew Wilson, an appreciation by The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan, plus a new making-of documentary with Farley Granger, film historian Richard Schickel, Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell and other Hitchcock family members and colleagues recalling the making of this suspense landmark, and other intriguing bonus features.

The Director

Born in London in 1899, Hitchcock became interested in film at a young age and, following his dream, secured his first job at age 21 designing titles for a movie studio. He got his first chance at directing when the director of Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill and Hitchcock had to complete the film. Impressed by his work, English studio chiefs gave him the opportunity to direct his own film, Number 13 (1922), however, before it was finished, the studio closed down its British operation. He then served as assistant director on several more films, after which he was hired to direct The Pleasure Garden (1925).

Hitchcock's next film, The Lodger, was a resounding success and he ultimately become the most successful and highest paid director in England. At the onset of World War II, he emigrated to the United States where he went on to become one of the most widely known and influential directors in motion picture history.

Although he was nominated for five Best Director Academy Awards®, Hitchcock never won, but in 1968 he was chosen to receive the Academy's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. "Hitch," as he was known to so many, accepted it with a simple "Thank you." Hitchcock continued to write, produce and direct films until 1979 when he was awarded the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. He died the following year, in 1980.


The Films

Dial M For Murder - Alfred Hitchcock's screen version of Frederick Knott's stage hit stars one of Hitchcock's favorites, Grace Kelly, along with Ray Milland and Robert Cummings as the points of a romantic triangle -- Margot Mary Wendice (Kelly), her lover Mark Halliday (Cummings) and her husband Tony Wendice (Milland), who's plotting her murder. But when Tony dials a Mayfair exchange to set the plot in motion, his right number gets the wrong answer.

The extra features included on the DVD are:

New documentaries Hitchcock and Dial M and 3D:A Brief History
Newsreel footage from the movie's premiere event.
Foreign Correspondent - A classic Hitchcock suspenser about an intrepid American reporter, John Jones (Joel McCrea), who thinks he's stumbled across the biggest story in prewar Europe. Things don't go according to plan and Jones has to enlist the help of a young woman (Laraine Day) to track down a group of spies. Herbert Marshall, George Sanders and Robert Benchley also headline this movie which was nominated for six 1940 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture.

The DVD bonus content will include:

New making-of documentary Personal History: Foreign Hitchcock.
Suspicion - Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine star. Fontaine as well-to-do wallflower Lina McLaidlaw, in love and perhaps in danger. She suspects that Johnnie Aysgarth (Grant), the playboy who swept into her life and married her, is a murderer and she's his next intended victim. Fontaine's striking performance won the Academy Award® as 1941's Best Actress.

The DVD bonus content will include:

New making-of documentary Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock.
The Wrong Man - In this dramatization of a true story, based on an actual incident reported in Life Magazine, a man is tried for crimes committed by a look-alike robber. Henry Fonda plays musician Manny Balestrero, a man full of visible but unspoken rage at his wrongful arrest. Vera Miles plays his distraught wife. Hitchcock makes New York City the star of the film and cast real-life Balestrero case witnesses in small roles.

The extra features included on the DVD are:

New making-of documentary Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and the Wrong Man
Premiere newsreel
Stage Fright - Jane Wyman stars as drama student Eve Gill who tries to clear a friend, John Cooper (Richard Todd), being framed for murder by becoming the maid of flamboyant stage star Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). Cooper's affair with Inwood has made him a suspect in the death of Inwood's husband. Hitchcock juggles elements of humor and whodunit and put his terrific ensemble (Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Joyce Grenfell, Kay Walsh and daughter Patricia Hitchcock) through its paces.

The DVD bonus content will include:

New making-of documentary Hitchcock and Stage Fright.
I Confess - Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift), a model of clerical piety, hears a killer's confession. Eyewitnesses point to a priest as the murderer and the sacrament of penance forbids Logan to speak out - even in his own defense - when circumstantial evidence targets Logan as the prime suspect. Anne Baxter and Karl Malden co-star as a former flame and a police inspector whose attempts to clear Logan only entrap him further.

The extra features included on the DVD are:

New making-of documentary Hitchcock's Confession: A Look at I Confess
Premiere newsreel
Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery star in this breezy Hitchcock comedy as Annie and David Smith, married but battling for three years. When a technicality voids their union, Annie asks David to marry her again, but he confides to her he is missing his freedom and he wants to have some fun. They start a new life, as though they had never been married, going out with friends and meeting members of the opposite sex. At the beginning the game seems to be fun, but jealousy quickly sets in.

The DVD bonus content will include:

New making-of documentary Mr. Hitchcock Meets the Smiths
Strangers on a Train - En route from Washington, D.C., champion tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) meets pushy playboy Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker). What begins as a chance encounter turns into a series of morbid confrontations, as Bruno manipulates his way into Guy's life. Bruno is eager to kill his father and knows Guy wants to marry a senator's daughter (Ruth Roman) but can't get a divorce from his wife. So Bruno suggests the men swap murders, which would leave no traceable clues or possible motives. Though Guy refuses, it won't be easy to rid himself of the psychopathic Bruno. Hitchcock's daughter Patricia appears in this film.

The extra features included on the DVD are:

Alternate 'preview' version of the film
Commentary by director Peter Bogdanovich, Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stephano, Strangers on a Train author Patricia Highsmith and biographer Andrew Wilson
New making-of documentary Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic, with Farley Granger, film historian Richard Schickel, Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell and other Hitchcock family members and colleagues recalling the making of this suspense landmark
Three intriguing featurettes:
The Hitchcocks on Hitch
Strangers on a Train: The Victim's P.O.V.
Strangers on a Train by M. Night Shyamalan
Alfred Hitchcock's Historical Meeting, a vintage newsreel
North by Northwest - Nominated for three Academy Awards® including Best Screenplay, what Leonard Maltin called "one of the all-time great entertainments" stars Cary Grant as a Manhattan advertising executive mistaken for a spy who escapes kidnapping and dodges a murder frame-up. Eventually, he eludes a notorious low-flying cropduster and, in the film's exciting climax, rescues Eva Marie Saint on Mount Rushmore.

The extra features included on the DVD are:

The Man on Lincoln's Nose: The Making of North by Northwest, a behind-the-scenes documentary
Feature-length commentary by screenwriter Ernest Lehman
Television commercial from the film's original theatrical release
Production stills gallery, production notes and filmography of principal talent
A music only track in Dolby stereo of Bernard Herrmann's classic score
Each DVD will be presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition and will include the original theatrical trailer, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection

$19.97 SRP (Per single DVD title)

$26.99 SRP (Strangers on a Train: Two-Disc Special Edition)

$99.92 SRP (Gift Set)

Street date: September 7, 2004

 

[george kaplan]

I'm still confused about Strangers on a Train. Is this 'preview' version another name for the British cut (already on the existing dvd along with the U.S. cut), or a third (and therefore truly new to dvd) cut? Does anyone know?

 

[nousername]

September is looking to be a very expensive month, with this and the Star Wars OT being released that month...

 

[John Hodson]

It'll be the British cut again, always previously described by Warners as 'the British pre-release version'.

---
So many films, so little time...

 

[george kaplan]

Thanks John.

 

[Bryan Ri]

There is some cover art for Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, and Suspicion up at The Digital Bits.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Where did they get the comments from Ms Highsmith from?

 

[PaulP]

Yeah in season sets, which is fine for most shows, but I was more interested in just the episodes directed by Hitchcock. Mind there's about 250 or so episodes total...

 

[David Von Pein]

 

[David Von Pein]

 

[Craig Sherman]

It just occurred to me that WB may try to re-promote the Michael Douglas/Gwyneth Paltrow remake, "A Perfect Murder" to tie in with Dial M.

And if it were Universal, it would be the Ultimate Edition of A Perfect Murder, with Dial M as a bonus disc thrown in, just like Charade and Scarface.

No respect.

Thanks, Warners! Now that you've abandoned the Snapper (go all the way... okely... dokely...), I dub thee best DVD studio (that's been around for more than 30 years-- sorry, New Line!)

Anybody disagree?

CS