Hitchcock DVDS (1 Viewer)

[Alistair_M]

I just discovered this superb website with graphic comparisons of Hitchcock dvds. The website owner deserves a medal.

http://www.daveyp.com/hitchcock/index.html

 

[Richard Waller]

Very impressive website. Thanks for the link!

 

[Nelson Au]

One title I don't see much discussion of is 1944's Lifeboat. I was lucky enough to grab a sealed laserdisc copy a few years back when Tower Records was closing out LD's. It's still sealed, I plan to watch it soon.

Perhaps it and Dial M ( which I also luckily have on LD) will appear on DVD someday soon.

Nelson

 

[David Von Pein]

I was just reading up on Hitchcock's "Psycho", and found some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits.

For instance...Did You Know? .....

Hitchcock's (low) budget was such that some scenes he had wanted to include in the film had to be cut (or not shot in the first place).

From Stephen Rebello's "Making Of Psycho" book.....

"The audience was to have viewed the progress of two taxis during one sequence of the film--one carrying Lila Crane and the other Detective Arbogast--as they made their way through the city streets and converged on the hardware store owned by Sam Loomis."

"Hitchcock also scrubbed a 360-degree camera pan that would have begun on Norman Bates darning socks (!) on the front porch of the motel. The shot would have ended full circle on the reaction of Bates as Arbogast pulled up to the motel."

Norman sewing socks would seemingly be fitting of his character. But expensive shots such as that had to be cut from the budget.

Hitch also cut out a cat-&-mouse sequence at a gas station, where the jittery Marion (with her $40,000 in tow) would re-fuel her vehicle, en route to Sam.

Interesting stuff.

Makes you wonder what other big-name pictures have had potential good scenes (or bad) cut out for one reason or another. (Probably most films have had one such deletion. Which is what "DVD Bonus Features" are made for, huh?)

 

[Ben_D]

Are any of the Region 1 discs of his early films satisfactory at all? I'm not talking about Criterion....I would love to see Sabotage, Young and Innocent, and the first The Man Who Knew Too Much, but I'm wondering if any of the budget releases available at my local store are worth the (admittedly low) price.

 

[Josh Simpson]

So let me get this crystal clear. Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious are now out of print, but The 39 steps and The Lady Vanishes are still in print? I just wanna know whether to get the box set now or focus on getting the three. I already own Notorious, so that factors somewhat in my plan.

 

[Randy_M]

I've got the LaserLight versions of all of those (Sabotage, Young and Innocent, and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), and I think they are WAY better than average for PD films. I would buy them again in a heartbeat. Just remember to skip the awful Tony Curtis intros.

Young and Innocent may be my personal favorite of ALL his films.

 

[dannyB]

The OOP Criterion Hitchcock movies are still very much available for sale. Check amazon or DVD Empire, among others.

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

Get the box set...its the cheaper way to go. I wish I had done this rather than buy individual titles at $30-$40 a pop.

 

[John Hodson]

Over at thedvdforums.com hitch_fan has just revealed:

"In Holland they've announced the following for release in November 2004:

The Wrong Man
I Confess
Stage Fright
Dial M For Murder
and a 2-disc SE of Strangers On A Train"

I would say an announcement on R1 versions is, seeing as the Warners Chat is coming up, imminent!

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

 

[Steve...O]

I would say an announcement on R1 versions is, seeing as the Warners Chat is coming up, imminent!

I agree with you. There have been a lot of rumors about a Hitch boxed set from Warners. Hopefully they'll be confirmed.

I have the excellent single disc version of "Strangers" already (with the alternate British version) so no need to double dip here. Obviously the other titles haven't been released in R1 DVD yet. I will pick them all up.

I will add "Suspicion" to the titles that are hopefully coming. Unfortunately, it wasn't included in the recent Cary Grant box set annoucement in USA Today and nothing was said about it being in the works. I'm sure it'll be coming eventually though. In my opinion, it (along with "Dial M...") would be the most commercially successful of all the unreleased Warners Hitchcocks.

Steve

 

[Randy A Salas]

I talked to film historian/critic Richard Schickel last week, and he said that his most recent project has been producing background material for Warner's upcoming Hitchcock set.

 

[Steve...O]

I talked to film historian/critic Richard Schickel last week, and he said that his most recent project has been producing background material for Warner's upcoming Hitchcock set.

Great news! Thanks for sharing. Did Mr. Schickel provide any insight as to which titles he's researching or the type of projects he's doing?

Steve

 

[Jae_E]

Does anyone know for certain who has the DVD rights to Foreign Correspondent ?...definitely one of my favorite Hitchcock's. I'm fairly sure it was released by Warner on VHS.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Did Mr. Schickel provide any insight as to which titles he's researching or the type of projects he's doing?

No, we didn't dwell on it because we had only a short amount of time to talk about the Chaplin set, the reason for the call.

 

[Haggai]

That's good news. Assuming decent transfers, I would very likely pick up Dial M and Strangers on a Train, since I never got around to picking up the current release of Strangers. I also like The Wrong Man, although Hitch himself wasn't too fond of it, as I recently read in his interview book with Truffaut (he wasn't too fond of Dial M either, actually). I'm not big on I Confess or Stage Fright, neither of those worked very well for me.

And I would like nothing more than to get a nice release of Foreign Correspondent. I saw the last 20-30 minutes again recently on TCM, and although it's easily one of the most absurdly plotted of Hitchcock's films, I recalled again how much I love it. It's unbelievably thrilling and entertaining from start to finish, a worthy entry among the Hitchcock chase adventure films, along with 39 Steps and North By Northwest.

 

[Steve...O]

No, we didn't dwell on it because we had only a short amount of time to talk about the Chaplin set, the reason for the call.

Thanks Randy.

Steve

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

No one has recommended the recent Image release of Under Capricorn, so just a caution: this one is for Hitchcock completists only. It's a talky and boring costume drama with one of the worst performances I've ever seen from Ingrid Bergman. It's shocking how poor it is; there are a couple striking if not innovative camera techniques used but on the whole it's best skipped by those with a casual interest in Hitch. The transfer's not too bad, though, despite fairly heavy speckling.

This transfer has highly inconsistent color. I agree that the film is technically interesting for some of the camera techniques, but certainly not prime Hitchcock. I still like it better than The Paradine Case, though.

Regards,

 

[george kaplan]

I am a major Hitchcock fan, but Under Capricorn is certainly a weaker effort, and not one in my collection (I own 31 of his films and have at least 3 more on my wishlist).

 

[Steve...O]

I am a major Hitchcock fan

He must have been a fan of yours too Mr. Kaplan.

I'm reading a great book at the moment called "Hitchcock a Life in Darkness and Light" by Patrick McGilligan. Excellent reading. I'm up to page 500 and the author is just now getting to "To Catch a Thief". Very well written and quite detailed. Highly recommended to Hitchcock fans.

I'm still hoping that some word on what Warner is doing with "Suspicion" comes soon.

Steve