The best of Hitchcock and its DVD status (1 Viewer)

[Tom Ryan]

Ok folks, I must be getting bored......but I've been thinking how I haven't seen most of the really classic Hitchcock stuff yet and so I decided to compile a list of the best Hitchcock movies, according to imdb. I started with the earliest film of his that received 1000 votes and then counted all the films from there up to his last film. Here's the list:
Rear Window - 8.7 - On DVD
North By Northwest - 8.6 - On DVD
Psycho - 8.6 - On DVD
Vertigo - 8.5 - On DVD
Rebecca - 8.3 - On DVD
Strangers On A Train - 8.3 - On DVD
Notorious - 8.2 - On DVD
Shadow Of A Doubt - 8.2 - On DVD
The 39 Steps - 8.0 - On DVD
The Lady Vanishes - 8.0 - On DVD
The Birds - 7.8 - On DVD
Foreign Correspondent - 7.8
Dial M For Murder - 7.7
Rope - 7.7 - On DVD
Lifeboat - 7.6
Spellbound - 7.5 - On DVD
Suspicion - 7.5
To Catch A Thief - 7.4 - On DVD
Frenzy - 7.3 - On DVD
The Man Who Knew Too Much(1956) - 7.3 - On DVD
Sabotage - 7.3 - On DVD
Saboteur - 7.3 - On DVD
The Trouble With Harry - 7.3 - On DVD
The Wrong Man - 7.2
Young And Innocent - 7.1 - On DVD
Adventure malgache - 7.0 - On DVD
Secret Agent - 7.0 - On DVD
Bon Voyage - 6.9 - On DVD
I Confess - 6.9
Marnie - 6.9 - On DVD
Stage Fright - 6.9
Family Plot - 6.6 - On DVD
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - 6.3
Torn Curtain - 6.3 - On DVD
The Paradine Case - 6.2 - On DVD
Jamaica Inn - 6.0 - On DVD
Topaz - 5.8 - On DVD
Under Capricorn - 5.7
It seems ol' Hitch is well-represented in our favorite format.
-Tom

 

[george kaplan]

To Catch A Thief - 7.4 - On DVD

I wish!
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[GlennH]

I'm waiting patiently for Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief.

 

[AdrianJ]

I'm waiting patiently for Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief.

Me too. Also, I'd love to see Lifeboat!
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Adrian Jones

 

[Mark Zimmer]

The Lodger (1925) is also on DVD, as is Blackmail(1929). The former is a crappy print, though. Don't know what shape Blackmail is in.
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"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

"The Lodger" is on the same Laserlight DVD as "Sabotage", and Mark called it right. I haven't seen the "Blackmail" DVD, but Criterion did a nice laserdisc of it, so there's hope for a high quality version in the future.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Adrian_N]

What Glenn Heberle adn AdrianJ said. I've been waiting for these movies since I started buying DVDs.

 

[Matt Lucas]

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of To Catch a Thief as well. It may not be Hitch's most exciting, most emotional, most innovative or even his BEST film...but it's my favorite. The script is full of those wonderful lines you just don't hear in films any more, and despite the age difference, Grace Kelly and Cary Grant have great chemistry.
And let's face it: this is just a FUN movie. It's not important, it's not ground-breaking. It's just fun.
I'd like to see this film get a "North by Northwest"-style restoration [as opposed to a "Rear Window"-style restoration]. Is that likely, based on whatever studio now owns it?
YES, I'd settle for a film-only version if that were all that was released. But I think this film truly deserves more than that. Hitch's trailers are always entertaining, and I'd like to see a documentary as well.
mattl

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I'd like to see this film get a "North by Northwest"-style restoration [as opposed to a "Rear Window"-style restoration]. Is that likely, based on whatever studio now owns it?

Trust me. You do not want what you have just asked for. North by Northwest is reportedly in such a state of deterioration that viable film prints could not be produced.
Assuming To Catch a Thief is even in need of restoration, what you want is for it to receive a "Rear Window" style film restoration concurrent with some North by Northwest-style video magic. Universal skipped the latter step with the Rear Window restoration's DVD release, but Fox seems to have done it right with their recent Marilyn Monroe Diamond collection. To Catch a Thief is controlled by Paramount.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Matt Lucas]

Thanks for the reply, but I guess I wasn't really clear about what I was asking for. I own both NxNW and Rear Window, and they both look very good, considering their age. However, North by Northwest looks MUCH better to my eyes. Maybe, due to its subject matter, Rear Window is SUPPOSED to look the way it does---darker, more subdued. Or maybe the WAY each film was shot explains the differences.
I don't claim to understand the technical aspects of all this. I'm simply saying that I want the film to look as good as it possibly can.
What I want is for To Catch A Thief to look as crisp and vibrant as my North by Northwest DVD, or better, if possible. I have no idea what condition the film elements for TCAT are in, and I would certainly wish them no ill. TCAT has a visual style that is more than a little similar to NxNW. All I'm saying is that I'd like to see that style on a future DVD release at a similar level of quality, regardless of how much restoration needs to be done. For all I know, the condition of TCAT's elements would better benefit from a different type of restoration, or, as you pointed out, maybe there's no need for restoration at all.
mattl