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Special Features
- Title listing: Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), Family Plot (1976)
- All 14 films are digitally re-mastered.
- Amazing star power spanning over three decades in Hollywood including James Stewart, Paul Newman, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, Doris Day, Grace Kelly and many, many more.
- All-new bonus disc showcases Hitchcock's films, career and legacy.
- Ultra-premium velvet packaging
- 36-page collectible book
- 14 documentaries and 9 featurettes, including: The Story of Frenzy; Plotting Family Plot; The Trouble With Harry Isn't Over; The Makig of The Man Who Knew Too Much; Obsessed with Vertigo; Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho; Saboteur: A Closer Look; Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film; Rope Unleashed; Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary; The Birds Is Coming; The Trouble with Marnie; Torn Curtain Rising; Topaz: An Appreciation by Leonard Maltin;
- Storyboards
- Production photographs
- Theatrical trailers
- Bonus Disc: AFI Salute to Alfred Hitchcock; Masters of Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock; All About The Birds; The Making of Psycho
Editorial Reviews
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Should the Hitchcock fan have the energy for more after imbibing on the movies themselves, a bonus disc provides additional documentaries. These include a revealing interview in which the master of suspense discusses, among other things, how much he dislikes working with method actors, going so far as to name names (we're talking about you, Jimmy Stewart and Montgomery Clift). In an American Film Institute lifetime achievement ceremony, the master of suspense is praised by the likes of Stewart and Ingrid Bergman, and seems to be suffering from severe boredom as celebrities pile on the flattery. Then Hitchcock opens his mouth to accept the award, delivering an endlessly witty stream of perfect bon mots that prove once again that he was a master of high comedy as well. Revealing documentaries about the making of Psycho and The Birds round out the feast of extras. The 36-page booklet, filled mostly with stills and poster art, provides little new information about the films.--Ryan Boudinot
Films Included in Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection
Saboteur
Robert Cummings stars as Barry Kane, a patriotic munitions worker who is falsely accused of sabotage, in this wartime thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. Plastered across the front page of every newspaper and hated by the nation, Kane's only hope of clearing his name is to find the real villain. The script as a whole is a clever one--Algonquin wit Dorothy Parker shares a screenwriting credit, and her trademark zingers make for a terrific mix of humor and suspense. Saboteur is a pleasure whether you're a die-hard Hitchcock fan or just someone who likes a good nail-biter. --Ali Davis
Shadow of a Doubt
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style. --Jeff Shannon
Rope
An experimental film masquerading as a standard Hollywood thriller, Rope is simple and based on a successful stage play: two young men (John Dall and Farley Granger) commit murder, more or less as an intellectual exercise. They hide the body in their large apartment, then throw a dinner party. Will the body be discovered? Director Alfred Hitchcock, fascinated by the possibilities of the long-take style, decided to shoot this story as though it were happening in one long, uninterrupted shot. Since the camera can only hold one 10-minute reel at a time, Hitchcock had to be creative when it came time to change reels, disguising the switches as the camera passed behind someone's back or moved behind a lamp. James Stewart, as a suspicious professor, marks his first starring role for Hitchcock, a collaboration that would lead to the masterpieces Rear Window and Vertigo. --Robert Horton
Rear Window
Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder. At deeper levels, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland
The Trouble with Harry
A busman's holiday for Alfred Hitchcock, this 1955 black comedy concerns a pesky corpse that becomes a problem for a quiet, Vermont neighborhood. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut as one of several characters who keep burying the body and finding it unburied again. Hitchcock clearly enjoys conjuring the autumnal look and feel of the story, and he establishes an important, first-time alliance with composer Bernard Herrmann, whose music proved vital to the director's next half-dozen or so films. But for now, The Trouble with Harry is a lark, the mischievous side of Hitchcock given free reign. --Tom Keogh
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of his own 1934 spy thriller is an exciting event in its own right, with several justifiably famous sequences. James Stewart and Doris Day play American tourists who discover more than they wanted to know about an assassination plot. When their son is kidnapped to keep them quiet, they are caught between concern for him and the terrible secret they hold. When asked about the difference between this version of the story and the one he made 22 years earlier, Hitchcock always said the first was the work of a talented amateur while the second was the act of a seasoned professional. Indeed, several extraordinary moments in this update represent consummate filmmaking, particularly a relentlessly exciting Albert Hall scene, with a blaring symphony, an assassin's gun, and Doris Day's scream. The Man Who Knew Too Muchis the work of a master in his prime. --Tom Keogh
Vertigo
Although it wasn't a box-office success when originally released in 1958, Vertigo has since taken its deserved place as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, most spellbinding, most deeply personal achievement. James Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired by an old friend to follow his wife (a superb Kim Novak, in what becomes a double role), whom he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a dead madwoman. Shot around San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are significant locations) and elsewhere in Northern California (the redwoods, Mission San Juan Batista) in rapturous Technicolor, Vertigo is as lovely as it is haunting. --Jim Emerson
Psycho
For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. --Jim Emerson
The Birds
Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton
Marnie
Sean Connery, fresh from the second Bond picture, From Russia with Love, is a Philadelphia playboy who begins to fall for Tippi Hedren's blonde ice goddess only when he realizes that she's a professional thief; she's come to work in his upper-crust insurance office in order to embezzle mass quantities. His patient program of investigation and surveillance has a creepy, voyeuristic quality that's pure Hitchcock, but all's lost when it emerges that the root of Marnie's problem is phobic sexual frigidity, induced by a childhood trauma. Luckily, Sean is up to the challenge. As it were. Not even D.H. Lawrence believed as fervently as Hitchcock in the curative properties of sexual release. --David Chute
Torn Curtain
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in what must unfortunately be called one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts. Still, sub-par Hitchcock is better than a lot of what's out there, and this one is well worth a look. Newman plays cold war physicist Michael Armstrong, while Andrews plays his lovely assistant-and-fiancée, Sarah Sherman. Armstrong has been working on a missile defense system that will "make nuclear defense obsolete," and naturally both sides are very interested. All Sarah cares about is the fact that Michael has been acting awfully fishy lately. The suspense of Torn Curtain is by nature not as thrilling as that in the average Hitchcock film--much of it involves sitting still and wondering if the bad guys are getting closer. Still, Hitchcock manages to amuse himself: there is some beautifully clever camera work and an excruciating sequence that illustrates the frequent Hitchcock point that death is not a tidy business. --Ali Davis
Topaz
Alfred Hitchcock hadn't made a spy thriller since the 1930s, so his 1969 adaptation of Leon Uris's bestseller seemed like a curious choice for the director. But Hitchcock makes Uris's story of the West's investigation into the Soviet Union's dealings with Cuba his own. Frederick Stafford plays a French intelligence agent who works with his American counterpart (John Forsythe) to break up a Soviet spy ring. The film is a bit flat dramatically and visually, and there are sequences that seem to occupy Hitchcock's attention more than others. A minor work all around, with at least two alternative endings shot by Hitchcock. --Tom Keogh
Frenzy
Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, written by Anthony Shaffer (who also wrote Sleuth), this delightfully grisly little tale features an all-British cast minus star wattage, which may have accounted for its relatively slim showing in the States. Jon Finch plays a down-on-his-luck Londoner who is offered some help by an old pal (Barry Foster). In fact, Foster is a serial killer the police have been chasing--and he's framing Finch. Which leads to a classic Hitchcock situation: a guiltless man is forced to prove his innocence while eluding Scotland Yard at the same time. Spiked with Hitchcock's trademark dark humor, Frenzy also features a very funny subplot about the Scotland Yard investigator (Alec McCowen) in charge of the case, who must endure meals by a wife (Vivien Merchant) who is taking a gourmet-cooking class. --Marshall Fine
Family Plot
Alfred Hitchcock's final film is understated comic fun that mixes suspense with deft humor, thanks to a solid cast. The plot centers on the kidnapping of an heir and a diamond theft by a pair of bad guys led by Karen Black and William Devane. The cops seem befuddled, but that doesn't stop a questionable psychic (Barbara Harris) and her not overly bright boyfriend (Bruce Dern, in a rare good-guy role) from picking up the trail and actually solving the crime. Did she do it with actual psychic powers? That's part of the fun of Harris's enjoyably ditsy performance. --Marshall Fine
Product Description
Customer Reviews
There are both pros and cons to this remastered/rereleased Hitchcock boxed set. The pros are that all have been remastered (all of them were previously anamorphic despite what other reviews have stated except for the first edition of "Vertigo" on DVD--read the boxes of the original releases or better yet watch them)and the remastering job has resulted in colors being bolder in many cases (Do a comparison as I did)with images being crisper and with slightly better resolution. There is an exception to this--"The Man Who Knew Too Much" actually looks worse than the previous release. While colors are good the image clarity and detail are off. I'm not exactly sure what happened here but it must have been during the Telecine transfer process from film to video (and then DVD). This is based on a head-to-head comparison with the other edition of the film and isn't based on a bad DVD. Instead, it's related to the transfer not being quite as good for this new updated version. So if "Man" is one of your favorites I'd advise you to keep the previous DVD. Also, there's no paper inserts with chapter stops listed as on previous editions. Also, a couple of films didn't have a huge difference but they were still noticeable for the most part.
The DVDs are housed four to a DVD "book" with two on each side one on top of the other. I know what you're thinking--they'll get scratched--but I didn't notice any potential for that. Still, you'll need to be careful taking them out and putting them in and these holders are not as secure as the individual keep cases. Each cover is decorated with images from the original posters for each movie overlapping each other.
Extras are exactly the same as the original releases for each disc. "The Making of Psycho" and "All About 'The Birds'" which were on the original discs themselves have been relocated to the bonus discs. There's also three new bonuses included. The first is a 15 minute excerpt from the AFI tribute focusing primarily on Hitch's droll comments when he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award. I've long wanted to have this on DVD but do wish that Universal had licensed the entire AFI tribute as it was a charming and worthwhile evening. The second extra is a 30 minute interview featuring Pia Lindstrom and William K. Everson and is a vintage videotape interview with Hitchcock from the 70's. It's quite a revealing interview with Hitchcock charming the hosts as usual. He discusses quite frankly his likes (pre-production) and dislikes (method actors like Montgomery Clift). The third bonus is a 36 page booklet that, like the booklet that came with "Jaws", is hardly essential. It does include credits for each movie, some photos and brief comments about each film. It'll be something you might look at once or twice.
The box itself has a crushed velvet exterior and is quite attractive. The cover has a door that slides into the box to access the movies. So the pros are better transfers for most of the films. If you don't have all of Hitch's movies on DVD yet, this is a great deal. The new extras aren't worth the price of admission if you don't already have all of these and while they look better, the difference may not be all that striking to you. With the release of Hitch's TV show and other new stuff coming out, it's a matter of spending where one can.
I gave this set 4 stars for two reasons; 1) There are a number of so-so Hitchcock films in this set ("Torn Curtain", "Topaz", "Marnie" which is one that, despite Robin Wood's absurd arguments to the contrary, I find to be substandard Hitchcock and the enjoyable but light "Family Plot"). 2)"The Man Who Knew Too Much" should look BETTER than the previous edition but, in fact, looks a bit worse for the wear with less clarity and definition. 3)While we do some some new extras they are slim pickings. I would have loved to get more commentary tracks on these classic films from Hilton Green (Assistant Director on "Psycho" and a number of Hitch's TV episodes), Bruce Dern or Karen Black (on "Family Plot") and others on the important films.
Some of Hitch's finest films are here "Vertigo", "Rear Window", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "The Trouble With Harry" (an acquired taste), "Psycho", "Shadow of a Doubt", "Sabotage", "Frenzy", etc but also some of his weaker thrillers as well. It's a good concise and inexpensive way to get them all.
First, the technical info is as follows:
The Birds, Marnie, The Trouble with Harry, Topaz, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Torn Curtain, Frenzy, and Family Plot are all Dolby 2.0, 1.85 Widescreen, Color.
Vertigo is Dolby 5.1, 1.85 Widescreen, Color
Rope, Shadow of a Doubt and The Bonus Disc are Dolby 2.0, 1.33 Full Frame, Color.
Rear Window is Dolby 2.0, 1.66 Widescreen, Color.
Psycho is Dolby 2.0, 1.85 Widescreen, B&W.
Saboteur is Dolby 2.0, 1.33 Full Frame, B&W
I actually thought the velvet box was rather nice, and I didn't mind the four discs to a sleeve. The booklet is very nice, printed with lots of color on heavy stock and includes trivia and facts on each movie.
I read a review that said one of the films didn't look as good as the others, so when I scanned them I tried to pay particular attention to the picture quality. I found all of the movies to be crisp and clean, so I would suggest maybe there was a bad disc in his box set (?).
My only negative is that only Vertigo is remastered in Dolby 5.1. I just don't understand digitally remastering the films and not the soundtrack.
However, the amount of brilliant filmmaking included in this collection is almost overwhelming. Every film is a treasure, and it's filmmaking that has rarely been equaled, let alone surpassed.
Look, everyone is always going to have something to complain about (didn't like the package, the sleeves, hasn't done justice to the master), even myself with the soundtrack issue, but Universal has put together a 15 disc package of great films for $84.00. What's that...$5.60 a disc?
If you are on the fence on this one, just click "add to cart" and go to checkout. This is the deal of a lifetime.
The problem is that probably every Hitchcock fan has already purchased all or most of these films - as I did, at those advanced prices, and doesn't want to lay out any more cash. But anyone living in a major city should easily be able to get at least $6.00 a disc for their old Hitchcock DVD's at any used DVD store, and in the process they would actually be saving money and be getting a beautifully packaged box set in the process, along with a nice booklet, and the bonus of an extra disc.
Unfortunately, the extra disc, only includes (to Universal's disgrace) a mere 15 minute excerpt from the AFI life acheivement award to Hitchcock - that includes comments from Ingrid Bergman and Jimmy Stewart, as well as Hitchcock's complete acceptance speech. But missing are all the other speakers, like Janet Leigh, Francois Truffaut, John Forsythe, Anthony Perkins, etc.
This is my biggest complaint, because the entire 105 minute program was easily one of the best AFI shows ever produced. So why couldn't they include the entire program on the bonus disc?
However, that aside, the bonus disc is offset by the incredible interview segements with Mr. Hitchcock, which only runs about 33 minutes, but includes comments from the master that have never been heard before. For a director like Hitchcock, who had been endlessly interviewed, I expected this to be a repeat of comments Hitchcock had made many times elsewhere. But guess what? These 33 minutes of interview are almost entirely new material! Most of Hitchcock's comments are entirely fresh, and not in the Truffaut interview book, or anywhere else, for that matter, making them very valuable indeed.
Kudos go the two interviewers, Pia Lindstrom (Ingrid Bergman's daughter) and the esteemed film collector William K. Everson for not following the same old paths and asking Hitch the kinds of questions (as Richard Schickel did in his documentary on Hitchcock for the PBS series, "The Men who Made the Movies" which basically repeated everything about Hitchcock that everyone was already familiar with who had read the Truffaut/Hitchcock book).
Daughter discovered Hitchcock at school. We ordered this file her to watch the classics, above and beyond just the ones they will see in classes and... Read more
It's exactly what it says on the tin, 'The Masterpiece Collection'
