Customer Reviews

The Alfred Hitchcock Collection: The Best of Hitchcock, Vol. 1 (Psycho / Rear Window / Shadow of a Doubt / The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) / Rope / Topaz / Family Plot / Alfred Hitchcock Presents Vol. 2)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review refers to "The Best of Hitchcock Collection - Volume 1" DVD set by Universal...

Overall, you will find this to be a terrific selection of seven of Hitch's films that really take in the scope of his talents.
You'll find in these films his masterful way of incorporating suspense,the macabre, romance, horror, mystery and his wonderful wit. His distinctive camera work, the famous staircase scenes, the use of shadows and light,the wonderful stars, all the great trademarks are here in this collection.

So...You may never want to take a shower(alone) again as Norman Bates and "mom" go on a psychotic killing spree in "Psycho", the mother of all fright flicks! It also stars Janet Leigh and Vera Miles.

You'll be rooting on poor wheelchair bound Jimmy Stewart as he and Grace Kelly try to prove the neighbor is a murderer in "Rear Window". The suspense is wonderful, and so is the romance!. It also stars the best character actress ever to grace the screen, Thelma Ritter and the great Raymond Burr.

Hitch will have your heart in your throat as America's sweetheart Teresa Wright may be the next victim of a serial killer in "Shadow of a Doubt". Does she know that it is her own uncle! Yikes! Joseph Cotton will have you on the edge of your seat!..Also look for the very notable and young Hume Cronyn.

Two school chums with nothing better to do, decide to do away with a friend just for the heck of it. Jimmy Stewart sleuths again in this innovatively filmed mystery "Rope". John Dall and Farley Granger are excellent and we are treated to an appearance by Sir Cedric Hardwicke as well.

A masterpiece is reworked an updated by Hitch, the result another masterpiece! "The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a magnificent remake of his earlier work. It stars Doris Day and Jimmy Stewart as parents desperate to get their child back from kidnappers but must also prevent an assassination. Whew, who else could handle that? Doris sings her beautiful rendition of "Que Sera".

"Topaz" presents lots of intrigue during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's spy vs. spy stuff as only Hitch can do it. You won't want to miss a second of this thrilling adventure. It stars John Forsythe, Fredrick Stafford and Phillipe Noiret.

In his last film Hitch combines everything that is Hitch. Humor, mystery, intrigue and suspense. It's all here in "Family Plot". A delightful film starring Barabra Harris and Bruce Dern as a scheming couple who get caught up in more than they bargained for. Karen Black and William Devane also add their talents to this one.

And finally four definitive episodes of his TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".Each includes his intros into the show, which are always fun. The transfers of these old programs are incredible and you'll find a host of great stars including Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, Joseph Cotten and Meg Mundy.

Looking for Hitch:
"Psycho"..You don't have to wait too long, Check outside the realty office.
"Rear Window"..At the neighbors of course.. about :30 minutes in...he's got time on his hands.
"Shadow of a Doubt".. Take a ride to Santa Rosa, and play some cards with Hitch,,but be careful he's got a great hand!
"Rope".. it must be a sign..look out the window!
"The Man Who Knew Too Much".. taking in the sights in Morocco. Be careful Hitch!... there's going to be a murder!
"Topaz"..Check at the airport..could that be the wheelchair from "Rear Window"?
"Family Plot"..You know THAT Profile about :45 minutes in at the registrar's office.
Have fun looking for him!

Universal has made beautiful transfers of these classic and cherished works. The black and whites(Psycho and Shadow of a Doubt) are crisp, sharp images. The colors are brillant, and all are in the original widescreen(except Shadow of a Doubt and Rope, which were made in full frame. The extras will keep you very busy(see tech info for list). I thought the price though, was a little high considering that ALL of these DVD's were produced in 2.0 MONO! If "Vertigo" from 1958 can be remastered in the Dolby Digital 5.1 why can't these? This is my only reason for the four stars.( I like to review the entire package) If you're like me and you love Hitch, you'll still love this collection and just hope for better sound restoration on future issues. The musical scores alone deserve at least stereo.

All in all a terrific addition to any Hitchcock fan's collection....enjoy...Laurie

Alfred Hitchcock was a brilliant and innovative filmmaker as this collection can attest to. 1943's SHADOW OF A DOUBT is an allegorical study of Americana seen through the naivete of a typical family in a quiet and slumberous community. When evil comes to town in the embodiment of the beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) it is the perceptive niece Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) that slowly uncovers his true identity as the Merry Widow murderer. Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn spend their evenings concocting ways to commit the perfect murder unknowingly under the watchful eyes of the genuine article. Evil takes many shapes and hides behind many facades in broad daylight. Would the wholesome average American community recognize such evil and be willing to deal with it? Dimitri Tiomkin, composed a brilliant score utilizing American idioms laced with the darkness of the tainted soul. This remains one of Hitchcock's best films. It works, as a thriller yet remains a true reflection of a good-natured but generally complacent lifestyle of sleepy suburbia America during the 1940's. 1948's ROPE is a thoroughly enthralling and disturbing look at a thrill killing perpetrated by two prep-school chums (John Dall and Farley Granger) possibly suggested subconsciously by their unwitting professor (James Stewart). This film has often been characterized notably only as Hitchcock's great experiment. He shot it in ten-minute takes contrary to his stylistic use of effective story telling through editing. This was a technique that he also employed to a lesser degree by Hitchcock in 1949's UNDER CAPRICORN. However, ROPE is first and foremost a riveting tale bordering on the perverse. The DVD transfer of ROPE is one of the best I have ever seen. 1954's REAR WINDOW is a brilliant study on voyeurism and insatiable curiosity. Wheelchair bound James Stewart spies on his neighbors in the courtyard from the window of his Greenwich Village apartment. Convinced that he has uncovered a murder, Stewart maintains his vigil with his society girlfriend (Grace Kelly) by his side. Hitchcock asks the viewer about the ethics of interpreting what goes on behind the closed doors of our neighbors, as his courtyard is an allegorical cross section of American society and mores during the 50s. 1956'S THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is another good DVD transfer and is Hitchcock's effective remake of his 1934 version. An American couple (James Stewart and Doris Day) visiting Morocco have their young son kidnapped as part of an international murder plot which they can not help but be drawn into. Doris Day's performance is brilliant as the mother whose son has been taken from her. Her initial reaction to the news is almost unbearable to watch. This film is very suspenseful and disturbing, as the odds against the family regaining their boy seem insurmountable as the film progresses. This is reinforced by Bernard Herrmann's almost minimal score, which adds an undercurrent of discomfort to the psyche of the viewer. There are some very memorable scenes such as when James Stewart is followed by echoing footsteps in the empty London streets on his way to finding Ambrose Chappell. The suspenseful Albert Hall assassination scenes are brilliantly filmed and edited. The face of Reggie Nalder as Rien the Assassin is unforgettable. Brenda de Banzie turns in a complex performance as Mrs. Drayton. Bernard Miles as Mr. Drayton also gives an effective performance through the various identities he goes through. And that is one of the strengths of this film: people and places are not exactly as they seem. Characters constantly evolve. Some grow in strength while others are mere shadows of virtue. 1960'S PSYCHO is probably Hitchcock's best known film. Its images and sounds are indelibly etched into the psyche of our culture. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, the Bates Motel, Bernard Herrmann's score, Saul Bass' main title designs, the shower scene and many other elements are cinematic icons. One element of this film that has not been given due recognition is Martin Balsam's performance as Milton Arbogast the private investigator. Balsam embodied the personification of professionalism and determination yet he was cut off in mid stream. I think there is a statement being made about the very nature of justice and fate and that life is not always fair. 1969's TOPAZ was Hitchock's second return in that decade to his earlier spy thriller films. Shot directly after 1966's TORN CURTAIN Hitchcock TOPAZ is a more matter-of-fact tale than a genuine thriller where real lives were at stake. Essentially an American intelligence head (John Forsythe) uses his friend in the French Intelligence (Frederick Stafford) to spy for the United States in Cuba and at the same time they try to ferret out a high French official passing on secrets to the Soviets. Roscoe Lee Browne as Philippe Dubois has the best scenes in the film as he has to get close to the Cubans visiting New York to photograph some secret papers from a high official (John Vernon as Rico Parra). These scenes were what Hitchcock called pure cinema. TOPAZ contains an interesting score by Parisian Maurice Jarre and the DVD contains the 3 alternate endings that Hitchcock filmed. 1976's FAMILY PLOT was Hitchcock's final film. In an interview with François Truffaut, Hitchcock stated that in today's films you no longer had to close the picture with a kiss. The audience no longer needed it or expected it. The romanticism of the motion picture was dead. If not for the performances of Barbara Harris as a phony psychic and Bruce Dern as her taxi driving-detective-boyfriend this film would have indeed lacked any hint of romanticism. In a complex plot that involves the location of a missing heir the lives of Harris and Dern become intertwined with the villains of the piece (William Devane and Karen Black). Ultimately the film seems more akin to ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS than to Hitchcock's previous films. And there's nothing wrong with that DVD either.

"Shadow of a Doubt", "Psycho" and "Rear Window" are the A+ movies in this boxed set. My absolute favorite is "Shadow of A Doubt," about Uncle Charlie who comes to stay with his sister and her family to hide out from being hunted as the serial Merry Widow killer. Joseph Cotton plays Uncle Charlie with all of the charm, grace and elegance which came naturally to him as a member of Virgina's upper class in real life. Yet the sinister undercurrent of his personality is quietly apparent throughout. "Psycho" is the film Hitchcock is now most identified with as was its star, Anthony Perkins, who played twisted Norman Bates. Janet Leigh is also best remembered as the larcenous woman who met her fate in the infamous Bates motel shower. Taking a shower was never the same after people first saw this film! I've reviewed "Rear Window" previously and that is Hitch at the top of his game as well. The other work is all roughly C+ to B+, with "Rope" being a too stagey, limp version of "Leopold and Loeb" and being the C+, the lowest, in the set. "The Man Who Knew Too Much," however, comes in at a strong B+ with Doris Day and Jimmy Stewart being the perfect Every Mr. and Mrs. America who find themselves up to their ears in an international intrigue situation, a role that they never expected or wanted in their perfect mainstream American lives. If there is a film student in your life, these Hitchcock boxed sets will make the perfect gift.

I totally disagree with the person who said this collection is expensive.

Each one of these movies comes with a documentary feature (not just a publicity film like most DVD's) that feature the stars of the picture (if possible), the writers, creative teams and even Pat Hitchcock (his daughter & sometimes actress). These documentaries are an hour long sometimes and very detailed. Some of them even talk at length about the film restoration process. They are worth having even without the movie and the movies are classics.

If you price out these movies individually it is a Deal buying this collection together. There is only one movie here not worth having (TOPAZ in my opinion) unlike the #2 collection which is mostly duds.

These are great movies with tons of extras - the documentataries, storyboards, deleted scenes, screen tests etc etc.

Buy this if you are a Hitchcock fan!

This box set is, by far, my most favorite. Not just because it includes my favorite movie of all time, REAR WINDOW, but because it includes a great combination of Hitchcock's greatest works. You definatly get your money's worth in this deal. This is an excellent box set to either start your DVD collection with, or add to your collection with. Enjoy!

This along with best of #2 is the greatest box set of all time. these movies span decades of great film making. every DVD came with wonderful extras and a documentary. most are widescreen and set up for the home theater experience. These movies are timeless and can be watched 10 years from now and still be enjoyed. great buy!

This is one of the BEST collections of Alfred Hitchcock yet!! Featuring the #1 Hitchock film "Psycho"! Along with "Shadow of a Doubt", "Rope", "The Man Who knew Too Much","Topaz", "Family Plot" and the classic, "Rear Window".I have this collection and it is a great gift to own! Each disc comes with it's original trailer and behind the scenes documentary! Plus as a special BONUS DISC, you get three episodes from the ORIGINAL Hitchock TV SERIES!If you are a major HITCHCOCK fan like me, you will want to own this!No Hitchcock collection is complete without it! Plus get Vol 2! Which has more of Hithcock's best including, "The Birds" , "Vertigo" "Frenzy", "Sabotuer", "Torn Curtain" any many more! So don't miss out! Buy it today!!

With Universal Studios release of "The Alfred Hitchcock Collection: The Best of Hitchcock vol. 1" they have Hitchcock at his finest. Several of the films on this collection including Rear Window (1954), The Man who Knew too Much (1956), and Psycho (1960), were made during his peak years from the 1950's through the early 60's. Just these films alone leaves very little, if anything, to complain about.

Also included are some of Hitchcock's other classics like his personal favorite, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), and his experimental thriller Rope (1948). There is also a bonus disc packed with various episodes of his successful "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV show.

The only films on the collection that I thought were not as essential were Topaz (1969) and Hitchcock's final film Family Plot (1976), which are good films by today's standard but don't stack up to Hitchcock's earlier masterpieces. Still, they are there for the Hitchcock completists.

The bonus features include theatrical trailers, production photos, and making-of documentaries galore!

I highly recommend this set for even the most casual of Hitchcock fans. 5 stars.

Those who would like to own an overview of Alfred Hitchcock's work surely can't go wrong with the Best of Alfred Hitchcock Collection sets issued by MCA home video. Like its companion set, Volume 1 offers viewers a wide variety of types of movies Hitchcock made during a period spanning thirty years. This set offers suspense, horror, comedy, drama, romance, and mystery. I won't rehash the plots, just give you my opinion of each movie offered.
1) Shadow of a Doubt- Lots of mystery and more than a little suspense. One of my favorite Hitchcock films. Five stars.
2) Rope- A philosophical murder story in which the question of whether some people should be allowed to kill their inferiors with impunity is revisited. The outcome was never really in doubt as one of the killers did not have the nerves of steel needed to successfully follow through on what was planned. Not a favorite. Two stars.
3) Rear Window- One of Hitchcock's best known films. Enforced idleness allows Jimmy Stewart to give rein to voyeuristic tendencies. There is murder, romance, and some dark comedy, but not enough action for me. Four stars.
4) The Man Who Knew too Much- A thriller with suspense, murder, treachery being the main elements. I like the Moroccan setting of the first part of the movie and the surprise ending. Five stars.
5)Psycho- Perhaps Hitchcock's most famous film. Believe it or not, I saw it for the first time after I bought this set. Lots of horror. Good plot, great acting, and magnificent camerawork. The Bates Motel and Psycho have earned their place in film history. Five stars.
6)Topaz- Lots of critics did not like it, I think it is a magnificent Cold War thriller. Here again the story and acting are first rate. I often felt as though I was in Cuba myself during the spying sequences. Loads of romance and suspense. Five stars.
7) Family Plot- To me, a very silly movie. Karen Black's character is obnoxious as far as I am concerned and boyfriend Bruce Dern is the bumbling dolt his character calls for. The worst part to me is that the story line is not credible. I suppose its meant to be a dark comedy, and there are a few light moments, but overall I was bored. Best scene is when the brakes fail in Dern's car and he struggles to stay on the road. Two stars.
8)Alfred Hitchcock Presents #2- Four Episodes from the old show. The best are Revenge and Breakdown. Three stars.
These films, as well as those contained in the companion set, should be regarded as the foundation to any Hitchcock film collection. The problem is that both have been withdrawn from the market and have become collectors items. I got mine for less than half the price I last saw it here. The solution is to buy Alfred Hitchcock-The Masterpiece Collection instead. It contains nearly everything the Best of Alfred Hitchcock Collection Vols 1 and 2 contain at less than half the price. If you can't get this, go for that!

I have/like this Vol 1 Add it in your Collection,You won't regret it :)