Customer Reviews

Juno and the Paycock [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a Hitchcock aficionado, I bought this DVD purely for "Juno and the Paycock." (The early masterpiece, "Blackmail," has long been available.) While the film is of interest to Hitchcock fans, beware this edition: sloppy framing cuts off the actors' heads in nearly half the shots. It won't prevent you from seeing what's good (and what's not so good) about the film, but you'll wish Whirlwind Media had been more careful in putting this package together.

Well, first off, this rating should be around 3 and 3/4 stars instead of just three. Hitchcock films the Sean O'Casey play just as it is. It is one of the first in a tradition of Hitchcock filmed plays. This tradition is that since the play was written for the stage and works best that way, why change the locales and "open" the play up as filmed versions of the play often do? Rope and Dial M For Murder are Hitchcock's greatest examples of this art. Juno and the Paycock is not the best of Hitch's films, but the actors are very good and the story is very interesting. It also shows Hitchcock's continuing transition to sound from just one year earlier. It is definitely worth checking out and is not great, perfect Hitchcock, but good Hitchcock showing his ability to utilize the fresh new sound technology in rather entertaining dialogue. It is worth a look.

It is sad that the excellent Laserdiscs mastered from 35mm film transfers of JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK & BLACKMAIL have not yet made their way to DVD. When you watch the razer sharp, good contrast & well framed laserdiscs, you wonder what went wrong over the years to produce these awful DVDs.

If you do not own a laserdisc player you may want to be patient and wait until someone like Lionsgate/Studio Canal release these titles. They have released other Alfred Hitchcock British National movies.