The Ultimate Hitchcock DVD & Blu-Ray Thread

[Guest 9043]

Howdy there Folks...

I want to devise a kind of ultimate list of the available Hitchcock films on DVD and the best version.... Good idea or not?


First of all I want to make sure I have the filmography correct then hopefully with some help form you lovely people on the forum we can make a detailed list of the available DVD's

Here is the filmography:

Number 13 1922
Always Tell Your Wife 1923
Pleasure Garden, The 1925
Mountian Eagle, The 1926
Lodger, The 1926
Ring, The 1927
Downhill 1927
Easy Virtue 1927
Farmer’s Wife, The 1928
Champagne 1928
Blackmail 1929
Manxman, The 1929
Sound Test for Blackmail 1929
Murder! 1930
Mary 1930
Juno and the Paycock 1930
Elstree Calling 1930
Elastic Affair, An 1930
Skin Game, The 1931
Rich and Strange 1932
Number Seventeen 1932
Waltzes from Vienna 1933
Man Who Knew Too Much, The 1934
39 Steps, The 1935
Secret Agent 1936
Sabotage 1936
Young and Innocent 1937
Lady Vanishes, The 1938
Jamaica Inn 1939
Rebecca 1940
Foreign Correspondant 1940
Mr. and Mrs. Smith 1941
Suspicion 1941
Saboteur 1942
Shadow of a Doubt 1943
Lifeboat 1944
Bon Voyage 1944
Aventure Malgache 1944
Spellbound 1945
Notorious 1946
Paradine Case, The 1947
Rope 1948
Under Capricorn 1949
Stage Fright 1950
Strangers on a Train 1951
I Confess 1953
Dial M for Murder 1954
Rear Window 1954
To Catch a Thief 1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents… (TV) 1955
Trouble with Harry, The 1955
Man Who Knew Too Much, The 1956
Wrong Man, The 1956
Suspicion (TV) 1957
Vertigo 1958
North By Northwest 1959
Startime (TV) 1959
Pyscho 1960
Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The (TV) 1962
Birds, The 1963
Marnie 1964
Torn Curtain 1966
Topaz 1969
Downhill 1972
Easy Virtue 1972
Frenzy 1972
Family Plot 1976


Can anyone confirm this is correct?

[Guest 10492]

OK, I can't answer your questiton about the filmograghy, but I can point you to these threads :
http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showt...hreadid=104603
http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showt...hreadid=184997

[Mr Flibble]

Well - for what it's worth I noticed my local Tesco store had a few Hitchcock DVD's on offer for a tenner - I picked up a copy of 'The Birds' for a tenner.

I really think these are great value for money - the 'making of the birds' featurette lasts for 90 minutes

I haven't watched the movie yet, but it may be in pan and scan, and I think the R1 version is in Widescreen, which I think is the original aspect ratio however.

[Guest 483]

I began compiling my own list a year or so ago, mainly as a personal shopping list, so I'll try and dig it up later if you want any help.

[Guest 18933]

Mr Flibble - there's been a lot of people saying that the R2 release is open matte, rather than pan & scan.... and other people say it's pan & scan :confused:

If you're up for it, I'll get a screenshot of a scene from the R1 disc and you can compare it to what appears on the R2 disc.

[Mr Flibble]

OK - I'm sad and geeky enough to do that I'll bring the DVD in to work tomorrow, I can use Power DVD and do a screengrab of the same image as yourself using that, then Email the image to you



On a side note - does anyone own The 39 Steps on Criterion? Just wondered what the extras etc. were like as i really do enjoy that movie

[Guest 18933]

Okay - I'll get an image posted tonight

[John Hodson]

Originally posted by Mr Flibble
On a side note - does anyone own The 39 Steps on Criterion? Just wondered what the extras etc. were like as i really do enjoy that movie

Check this review , which compares the Criterion and the Carlton releases, and this review of the Criterion alone.

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

[Mr Flibble]

thanks tips4tnt

I've seen the following Hitchcock films - any I should seek out?

Psycho
The Birds
Marnie
North by Northwest
39 Steps
Dial M for Murder
Rebecca
Vertigo
Rear Window

[John Hodson]

North by Northwest is a marvellous transfer (one of the very best IMHO of a '50s movie), but the commentary by screenwriter Ernest Lehman is a little tedious.

The Criterion Rebecca is another winner with, as usual, some genuinely interesting extras (and loads of them). There was some chat about whether the R1 or R2 transfers of Vertigo were best, but I think it was nit-picking (the R1 is non-anamorphic but some said it was the better quality transfer) - I have the R2 and it's another fine transfer. Similarly with Rear Window, which features an interesting doco on its restoration (there are one or two more extras on the R1, but nothing substantial). All well worth a punt.

The others I don't own, so I can't comment.

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

[Mr Flibble]

Well, I really want to get the Criterion 39 steps now - had I seen it on R2 for a tenner in Tesco at the same time as I saw The Birds I might well have been tempted, but sadly it was not to be.

Think I'll keep a lookout for a bargain, and make a purchase. I'm sure there was a period a few years ago where BBC2 were showing Hitchcock films on either Sunday afternoons, or Saturday nights? That's what really got me hooked I guess

[Guest 21489]

Originally posted by Mr Flibble
Well, I really want to get the Criterion 39 steps now - had I seen it on R2 for a tenner in Tesco...

My dear chap, you may care to consider this means of obtaining the label's "39 Steps", along with a number of Sir Alfred's other gems in simply spiffing editions, for little more than the sum you mention.

[Mr Flibble]

Pray silence, you sir, are my hero

How's the estate running these days? have you solved the drainage problem in the upper field?


-edit-

Oh Dear

I'm finding myself a little light in funds at the moment, I could have bought maybe one title, but not the whole boxset. Thanks for the help though Trueform, I'd have expected very little else from a gent like yourself. I'll need to save up a little before I can make such a purchase I fear

[Guest 21489]

Originally posted by Mr Flibble
Pray silence, you sir, are my hero

How's the estate running these days? have you solved the drainage problem in the upper field?


-edit-

Oh Dear

I'm finding myself a little light in funds at the moment, I could have bought maybe one title, but not the whole boxset. Thanks for the help though Trueform, I'd have expected very little else from a gent like yourself. I'll need to save up a little before I can make such a purchase I fear

Dash it! I do hope that I have not tantalised you unduly, my dear fellow. Bear it in mind, perhaps. To my knowledge, it is not a limited edition, and this retailer's prices tend to be highly stable.

Originally posted by Mr Flibble
I'm sure there was a period a few years ago where BBC2 were showing Hitchcock films on either Sunday afternoons, or Saturday nights? That's what really got me hooked I guess

I do hate to add to your woes, but "Mr and Mrs Smith" was on only yesterday afternoon - in stereo, no less, if the Beeb's website is to be believed!

[Mr Flibble]

Tarnation How do I miss such things!

A future purchase though I'm sure

[Budge]

Originally posted by Rex Trueform
I do hate to add to your woes, but "Mr and Mrs Smith" was on only yesterday afternoon - in stereo, no less, if the Beeb's website is to be believed!

It is true.
My TiVo picked it up as a suggestion for me (how jolly decent of it).

(Not watched it yet though...)

[new]

Originally posted by tips4tnt
Mr Flibble - there's been a lot of people saying that the R2 release is open matte, rather than pan & scan.... and other people say it's pan & scan :confused:

If you're up for it, I'll get a screenshot of a scene from the R1 disc and you can compare it to what appears on the R2 disc.

Im sure I read something along these lines as well.

I think (not 100% sure) that the Uk r2 of the Birds is displayed in the correct ratio that Hitch shot it, while the R1 has been "adapted" to be widescreen.

[Guest 18933]

beginning of chapter 3


beginning of chapter 15

...I've been looking thru the newsgroups and the consensus seems to be that 1.85:1 is the true ratio used in the cinema, although there's no mention of VestaVision in the beginning title sequence.

[Guest 18933]

In case I can help out with any of the comparisons , here's my list:

The 39 Steps (R2 Carlton 1.33:1)
The Birds (R1 Collectors Edition, Universal 1.85:1 anamorphic)
Family Plot (R4 Universal 1.85:1 anamorphic, 2001 release)
Foreign Correspondent (R2 Universal 1.33:1, 2003 release)
Frenzy (R4 Universal 1.78:1 anamorphic, 2001 release)
The Lady Vanishes (R2 Carlton 1.33:1, 2000 release)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (R4 Universal 1.85:1 anamorphic, 2001 release)
North by Northwest (R1 Warner Bros widescreen, 2000 release)
Notorious (R1 Criterion 1.33:1)
The Paradine Case (R2 PT Video 1.33:1, 2000 release)
Psycho (R2 Universal 1.85:1, 1999 release)
Rear Window (R4 Universal 1.66:1 anamorphic, 2001 release)
Rope (R4 Universal 1.33:1, 2001 release)
Sabotage/The Lodger (R1 Laserlight 1.33:1, 1999 release)
Saboteur (R2 Universal 1.33:1, 2003 release)
Shadow of a Doubt (R4 Universal 1.33:1, 2001 release)
Strangers on a Train (R2 Warner Bros 1.33:1, 2001 release)
Suspicion (R2 Universal 1.33:1, 2003 release)
To Catch a Thief (R4 Paramount 1.85:1 anamorphic, 2003 release)
The Trouble with Harry (R4 Universal 1.85:1 anamorphic, 2001 release)
Vertigo (R2 Universal 1.85:1 anamorphic, 2000 release)

...some of them were picked because the transfer was supposed to be good, and others because they were dirt cheap

[Step away from the console]

Four of the films that Universal have just re-released in R2 appear to be presented 4:3, although they have theatrical aspect ratios of 1.85:1 and are presented anamorphically in R1. These are The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain & Topaz. The previous R2 release of Topaz was open-matte, as can be seen at dvdbeaver.com (follow "DVD Graphic Comparisons" link above hit counter), so I expect the new release is identical. This site currently does not have a R1/R2 comparison for any of the other 3 titles.