Early Hitchcock, any quality DVDs? (1 Viewer)

[Simon_Lepine]

I want to buy a collection of early Hitchcock movies from the 20s and 30s like The Lodger, Blackmail, Murder, etc.

There is a large number of public domain collections available. Anyone has some of these and can recommend some? Are any of some qualities? I have the Criterions already, of course.

 

[ScottRichard]

I have Sabotage (1936)from Platinum Disc Corp. and Young And Innocent (1937)from Laserlight. I haven't watched them in awhile but they're not the worst transfers I've seen. In any case, they're both great movies and for around $5 each I feel I can't complain too much since they're not available in any other form. The disc for Young and Innocent also includes an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from the first season called The Cheney Vase with Darren McGavin and an introduction from Tony Curtis (why? I have no idea as he's never been in a Hitchcock movie!).

 

[John Hodson]

This Hitchcock site is very useful; if you have a multi-region player, for early Hitchcock the German R2 discs are the way to go apparently.

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

 

[oscar_merkx]

Thanks for the link to theat site John

 

[Simon_Lepine]

I think Tony Curtis does intro on most Laserlights DVDs. He does on the ones I have anyway. Does he wear his silly leather gloves in this one ?

 

[Steve Phillips]

Brentwood just released a Hitchcock collection as part of their "10 Movie Sets" line. Since these sets often sell for as little as $13 in stores, this may be a cheap way to go and hope for the best!

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

I'm pretty sure that there has been discussion on this topic before, including Laserlight's discs being illegal if I remember correctly. The Laserlight transfers are horrendous, regardless of their legality.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I'm pretty sure that there has been discussion on this topic before, including Laserlight's discs being illegal if I remember correctly. The Laserlight transfers are horrendous, regardless of their legality.

Laserlight's lawyers maintain that they are public domain. Several companies have released these films, not just Laserlight. Until a judge declares otherwise, they're legal as far as I'm concerned. Still, it doesn't matter because the German R2 discs blow everything else away anyway.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The Laserlights are the best of a bad lot in R1. I hope Criterion gets a shot at doing more British Hitchcocks the right way. In particular, I would love to see them do The Lodger, Blackmail, Young and Innocent, and the original The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Regards,
Ken

 

[Simon_Lepine]

Thanks for the reply guys. The german edition looks great but it's missing a lot of the titles, I think I'll go for the Laserlight box sets. The price for each movie comes close to what I would pay to rent them anyway.

 

[rich_d]

The Laserlights are fun and low priced, but also low quality.

For the money (6 or 7 bucks) at Overstock.com you can get the Ryko/Whirlwind discs which are better. However, the Laserlights are classics for the Tony Curtis introductions. These have to be seen to be believed. Kinda Bella Lugosi/Ed Wood like.

More info on the various DVD releases on this thread

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...y+AND+vanishes

 

[John Alderson]

I have both the Laserlight collections. The Tony Curtis intros are so bad, they have to be seen to be believed. The transfers are somewhat of a mixed bag... mostly bad, some (especially the silents) are pretty badly misframed (missing heads and the like).

But it's a cheap way to get 17 Hitchcock films. For the price, they're a good deal. Just don't expect sparkling transfers or sound. They're all watchable. One or two look like they were taken off of tape, so they may not hold up well on a gigantic screen (I only have a 32" myself).

 

[Evan Case]

Am I to assume that there still remains no viable option (ie. no copyright infringement or horrible transfers) for acquiring Hitchcock's British output in Region 1?

The Laserlights are cheap and their picture quality is apparently the "best" of a bad lot, but I'd rather not support what is essentially bootlegged material, even with the Tony Curtis intros ().

On the other hand, I'm getting impatient to see these, since Hitchcock is my #1 director and I've seen all his work post-1940.

It is a moral quandary: buy the apparently illegal discs, or forgo the films altogether. I suppose going region free would help (and satisfy a similar urge for Laurel and Hardy), but I don't think I'm that adventurous.

Finally, what are the good, legal early Hitchcocks?

I know of:

Lady Vanishes: CC
39 Steps: CC
Jamaica Inn: Kino

Any others in R1?

Thanks,

Evan

 

[Nathan Phillips]

I bought my Laserlight box at Best Buy. The quality is generally the best I've seen on these films (except "39 Steps" and "Lady Vanishes," of course), and all the movies are quite watchable. I hate to play devil's advocate, but I say ignore your moral quandary and pick these up. Fantastic movies like "Sabotage," "Blackmail," "Murder," "Young and Innocent," "Secret Agent," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "The Lodger," and "Rich and Strange" are just as essential in Hitchcock's career as the American films.

BTW, MGM announced "Sabotage" and "Young and Innocent" for Nov. 2004 release but postponed them along with the Selznicks and "Notorious."

I'd like to mention here that I really really wish Criterion would do editions of "Blackmail" and "Murder," since both of these have alternate versions (silent and German, respectively) I'm dying to see.

 

[Armin Jager]

I'd like to mention here that I really really wish Criterion would do editions of "Blackmail" and "Murder," since both of these have alternate versions (silent and German, respectively) I'm dying to see.

Blackmail is already available on this ( http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASI...888320-3864005 ) German DVD with sound and silent version including a sound test of Anny Ondra.

 

[Sean Richardson]

Also, isn't there supposed to be a German (or maybe it's British?) disc with both 'Murder' and 'Mary' (the German 'Murder') coming soon? I could've sworn I read that somewhere.

 

[Josh Simpson]

I had an ex who got me the Brentwood home video 10 movie box set. They aren't wonderful, but at least I have them. I'm also hoping Criterion would take some of these movies and work their magic with them. Even early Hitchcock is better than most of what's out there. I would advise picking up the Criterions that you can find, do the multi region thing and make due.

BTW, Fox, we're still waiting for Lifeboat... Maybe this has been announced, but I can't remember.

 

[george kaplan]

I assume that these German discs have PAL speedup? If not, I might look into getting them.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

The Laserlights are cheap and their picture quality is apparently the "best" of a bad lot, but I'd rather not support what is essentially bootlegged material, even with the Tony Curtis intros...It is a moral quandary: buy the apparently illegal discs, or forgo the films altogether.

The discs are NOT illegal, and they are NOT bootlegs. These Hitchcock films are in the public domain. PD companies have been releasing them over and over for years and years, with nary a lawsuit in sight. I've got an ancient 1985 VHS cassette of SABOTAGE, one of Hitch's finest IMO.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Jeffrey,
You are wrong. The copyrights for "The 39 Steps", "Young and Innocent", "The Secret Agent", "Sabotage", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "The Lodger", and "The Lady Vanishes", were legally reasserted by Carlton on August 22, 1997.

http://www.copyright.gov/gatt.html

Regards,