Product Details

• Actors: Betty Balfour, Jean Bradin
• Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
• Format: Black & White, Silent, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Timeless Multimedia
• VHS Release Date: December 1, 1991
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303905536
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,671 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good early Hitchcock - shame about the music, June 6, 2006

By 

Barbara (Burkowsky) Underwood (Tumut, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Champagne [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Champagne" is one of about a dozen silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock at the beginning of his career, and as this film was produced in 1928 when silent films had matured and developed into a fine art, it rates quite highly as a silent film in general. Most impressive, I found, were the photography and some innovative effects with the camera, as well as nice sets and good acting. Unlike Hitchcock's more famous mystery suspense thrillers of later decades, "Champagne" is a fairly light-hearted story with an unexpected touch of good humour now and then (which Hitchcock often liked to employ in other films as well). The story revolves around a spoilt and selfish daughter of a wealthy business tycoon who could use a lesson in learning how `the other half' lives, as well as testing her lover's true intentions: does he want to marry her out of love or just for her money? What will he do when the rich father looses his entire fortune on the stock market? But did the father really loose everything as he claims? And who is the mysterious stranger always hanging around the daughter, and what are his true motives? A touch of Hitchcock suspense is noticeable in this story, and it is enhanced by attractive and at times lavish sets showing the high society lifestyle of the late 1920s. Fortunately, the picture quality of this VHS is quite good throughout, but I was very disappointed in the music accompanying the film. Unless my tape just happens to be a dud, be warned that some VHS tapes on this Timeless Video Inc. label have a poor sound/musical track, and some have no music at all. In this case, "Champagne" is accompanied by a rather heavy classical music recording which is firstly not at all suited to the film and its atmosphere, and secondly it often wavers annoyingly in volume and sounds like a worn-out scratchy LP recording. For this reason I'm only giving this VHS 3 stars, but if it had good, suitable music it would certainly deserve a full 4-star rating. Nevertheless, this is a film not to be missed by any Hitchcock fans or anyone curious about his early, silent film career.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Champagne (1928), February 20, 2011

By 

Knoll360 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Champagne (DVD)

Format: Movie
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Distributor: British International Pictures
Release Date: August 20, 1928

This film is a real mixed bag of sorts. The film follows a woman named Betty who is in love with her rich boyfriend. However, Betty also has a substantial amount of money and Betty's father believes that her boyfriend is a gold-digger. Betty takes her father's plane and goes after her boyfriend anyway who is on a ship heading to France. Betty attempts to get married to her boyfriend but they get in an argument and separate after they reach France. After getting back together Betty's father tells her that they have lost all of their money in the stock market which causes Betty's boyfriend to leave again. Will her boyfriend return or is he really a gold-digger? The story isn't very interesting when it comes down to it although I did enjoy the twist at the end of the film.

As for the acting, it's actually pretty good. Betty Balfour plays Betty and does a stupendous job at it. She seems to fit into the role very naturally and does a good job at not exaggerating emotions like in most silent films. Gordon Harker plays Betty's father Mark and seems to do a good job at seeming unpleased with his daughter's decision. And finally Jean Bradin plays Betty's boyfriend and he also does a good job in the role. While the acting is good, it doesn't save the film.

The special effects in the film are flawed and some of them seem obvious which isn't very good at all. However, the music is stupendous here and does a great job at creating emotions which you don't normally get from films of this time period. The camera angles and shots being used are truly ahead of their time which helps the film.

Even though I praised many aspects of the film the plot just feels so basic and uninteresting plus the poor quality of the special effects really hurt the atmosphere and immersion of the film. So while it has many positives it also has many negatives which causes it to equal out to a very mediocre film.
Score: 4/10

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bad "feature", January 31, 2011

By 

Charles D. Fulton "foultone" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Champagne (DVD)

For some inexplicable reason, Amazon has removed the rate movie feature from the main product page. One must now write a review in order to rate a movie and generate recommendations. This is not a review, but merely a means to allow me to rate this movie and improve my recommendations. If you are as annoyed by this new "feature" as I am, please register your protest w/ Amazon help.