Product Details

• Actors: Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall-Davis, Ian Hunter, Forrester Harvey, Harry Terry
• Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Delta
• DVD Release Date: July 24, 1999
• Run Time: 154 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000JQSC
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,168 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Number 17/The Ring" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, to say the least...., February 6, 2003

By	melvin (Central Il) - See all my reviews

I tend to dwell more on the technical side of the these Hitchcock Laserlite DVDs, than the movies themselves and this one may end up being that way for no better reason than the fact that this movie is just plain confusing! My recent viewing of the film "Number 17" was only the second time I'd ever seen it and I can easily assure any reader of this essay that I am more confused than I was after the first viewing. I can't decribe the plot because I don't really know what's going on. It starts with a tramp and a seeming gentleman finding a dead body in an old house, then the victim's daughter happens upon the two men, the body disapears, some jewel theives come to the house and cause havoc, then somehow they all (including the dead man who's not dead) end up in a train which leads to the grand finale: a chase between the train and a tour bus that comes out of nowhere. The special minerature effects at the end have often gotten flack for looking fake, but I believe now, as I did with my first viewing, that they don't look any worse than King Kong's stop motion animation on top the Empire State Building.

The second feature, "The Ring," is a lesser known and surprisingly entertaining Hitchcock silent drama about a circus ticket girl torn between two potential lovers: one a prize fighter, the other his sparring partner who happens to be the only man that can beat him. The plot sounds typical and forgettable, but don't let that fool you. Hitchcock adds a lot of very innovative visual flair to the film and the acting is pretty passionate not overly dramatic as a lot of silent acting performances tend to be.

The DVD transfer of "Number 17" is fair. The sound is full of annoying hiss which can be reduced by turning off the surround sound and turning up the bass up on your stereo, the contrast is annoyingly jumpy (too bright in some scenes and too dark in others,) however, it does remain flat for the most part, which is better than scenes being washed out all the time like some film transfers. Of "The Ring," I understand that not everyone can handle the silent treatment, but the intelligently chosen mucial accompaniment by Laserlite makes the movie an easy one to get through, even though the film was transferred at a slow speed, making the movie about 15 miutes longer than it was intended to be.

Rumor is Hitchcock was forced to do "Number 17" and even though it's far from his best film, it's almost just as far from his worst film too, and since it's obscure enough that it probably wont get a full-on restoration any time soon, it deserves a better treatment than what Laserlite has given it. But, to Laserlite's defense is the fact that they didn't have to release it at all and the low price tag on the disc plus the addition of "The Ring" makes it a good collectible for the budget-minded Hitchcock nut.

3 stars to Hitchcock for his confusing but, at times, entertaining film "Number 17," and his entertaining Silent treat "The Ring" and 3 stars to Laserlite for trying but not trying harder.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You Decide, October 22, 2000

By	J. Center (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm going to sit right in the middle of the fence on this one. I rather like Number 17 despite its all-too-apparent flaws. It's one of Hitch's least leisurely films, running only an hour and three minutes. The train/bus chase is wonderfully imagined, if you can get past the obvious model work. The characters ARE hard to keep track of -- none are particularly engaging -- yet you find yourself rather quickly engaged by them and the truly silly, convoluted plot.

Unfortunately, Laserlight hasn't bothered with any restoration work, and the print is pretty awful on the DVD. The most that can be said is that it's not as bad as most of the Madacy prints and that, with the addition of the silent feature, The Ring, the DVD is a true value for the Hitchcock collector. And on that topic, The Ring has values of its own, including impressive performances by Carl Brisson and Ian Hunter. Sadly, Lilian Hall-Davis's heroine is mostly trashy and unattractive.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor pucture quality., February 9, 2007

By	Paul J. Mular (San Carlos, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'm actually a fan of "NUMBER 17", I like Hitchcock's use of light & shadow to create the mood. Yes it is a little slow & stagey, but I get engrosed by the visuals.

And there lies the problem with this Laserlight/Delta DVD. The picture quality is horrible, full of digital artifacting that makes the picture appear to freeze in sections then play again. The details get lost in the pixilation. How can you enjoy a visually engrosing movie if it looks terrible.

I have an old Japanese Laserdisc of this movie, and it looks much better!
Japanese videos are NTSC format, so they will play on U.S. televisions. I would rather watch the Japanese Laserdisc with Japanese subtitles on screen that this awful Laserlight/Delta DVD.

And about "THE RING", Studio Canal / Lionsgate has released a nice 35mm mastered copy in a DVD box set: Alfred Hitchcock, The Early Years of the Master.