Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Hitchcock
Four MUST HAVE new DVD versions from The Master of Suspense. All worth checking out in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Four MUST HAVE new DVD versions from The Master of Suspense. All worth checking out in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection– From MGM. This lavishly packaged 8-disc set is a wonderful overview of the early films
of the Master of Suspense. The set begins with 1927's silent The Lodger, often cited as the first film where Hitchcock began to find
his style. The movie, a fictionalized updating of the Jack the Ripper story is subtitled "A Story of the London Fog" for reasons that
are abundantly clear as the title character, essayed by Ivor Novello, the handsome (and gay) matinee idol of the time, creeps
around the misty streets for his victims. This is the film referred to by the characters in Robert Altman's Gosford Park. 1936's
Sabotage with Sylvia Sidney who discovers her husband is a terrorist in teeming London is next. The explosion in which the child is
killed on the bus at the outset is the movie's cinematic highlight. Young and Innocent from 1937, a run of the mill murder mystery
that nevertheless has enough Hitchcockian touches to keep one entertained (the strangled woman on the beach seen from the gull's
point of view, the young heroine driving her car into a mine shaft and being saved by the wrongly accused hero in a shot Hitch later
used at the climax of North By Northwest for example) is next in the lineup. Then we move to the outset of Hitchcock's American
films beginning with 1940's tremendously entertaining gothic murder mystery Rebecca. The one set Lifeboat from 1944 which features
Tallulah Bankhead's best screen performance follows. Then comes the over the top psychological hokum of 1945's Spellbound with
Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman that features a dream sequence with sets designed by Salvador Dali at the climax. This is
followed by the other truly magnificent Hitchcock film in the set, 1946's Notorious, again with Bergman and Cary Grant, the tale of
Nazi spies in South American ferreted out by an unwilling Mata Hari forced into service by a calculating secret service agent. Bergman
and Grant truly sizzle in this romantic spy thriller. The set is rounded out by 1948's The Paradine Case with a wrongly cast Gregory
Peck as a barrister who falls for his icy client (Alida Valli in her American debut), a beautiful femme fatale accused of murdering her
wealthy, blind husband. The gorgeous Louis Jordan was introduced as the husband's faithful valet whose character is subtly
intimated at one point to be gay. Each of the discs include a number of special features - new commentaries, making of docs and
other goodies. Well worth adding to the collection and a no brainer for Hitchcock fans.
Rear Window Special Edition – From Universal. Universal has added another three titles to their great new Legacy Series
collection. Each of these Hitchcock editions from their catalogue comes with a second disc of bonus features and brand new transfers
of the films themselves. All three are masterpieces of the suspense genre and are essentials. Rear Window from 1954 - the story of
wheelchair bound Jimmy Stewart (because of a broken leg), his fractured romance with luscious Grace Kelly, his insurance company
nurse Thelma Ritter and the murder that Stewart claims to have witnessed across the apartment courtyard - is one of Hitch's greatest
movies and is perhaps my favorite Hitchcock film of all. Ingeniously filmed (it was one of the largest sets ever built by Paramount),
the movie is a textbook example of classic scenes and shots. And it's as entertaining the 25th time as it is the first. Kelly never
looked more beautiful, Ritter was never quite so acidic and funny and Stewart is, as always, a marvel. The behind the scenes
documentaries and commentaries on the second disc are informative and fun as well. "We've become a race of peeping toms"
Ritter comments when she notices Stewart looking through his binoculars at the neighbors across the way, predicting by 50 years the
lust for everyday celebrity that we live with (and endure) today.
Vertigo Special Edition – From Universal. Four years later Stewart again starred in what has critically been hailed as Hitchcock's
greatest masterpiece. Vertigo is certainly that but because it's not a straight forward suspense story and perhaps because it's lead
characters are complex and yeah, psychologically twisted, the film has never been quite as popular with audiences as critics. But
there's no arguing that the film's iconic San Francisco locations, its endless moodiness (aided greatly by the cinematography,
Bernard Herrmann's lush score and Edith Head's severe costumes for female lead Kim Novak) and breathtaking sequences (the
opening in particular is mesmerizing) could only be the work of a master. Stewart plays a man hired to follow another man's wife,
the iciest of Hitch's many blondes, Novak, who seems to think she's the reincarnation of a woman who lived a century before. He
falls helplessly in love with Novak but then a tragic accident occurs...or was it an accident? The film is so overstylized that it provided
Mel Brooks with the basis for his parody flick High Anxiety two decades later. But the arch style is part of the lure of Vertigo which
casts a tremendous, entertaining spell over the viewer. Again, Universal's second disc of extras includes a batch of welcome extras
to augment this one of a kind film.
Psycho Special Edition – From Universal. Two years after Vertigo Hitchcock released his greatest commercial success with Psycho
which remains his most popular film. The grandfather of the slasher picture, Psycho remains the only true artistic triumph of the now
exhausted genre. Janet Leigh and gay actor Anthony Perkins (in a performance that should have netted him an Oscar) star and are
supported by Martin Balsam, Vera Miles, and handsome John Gavin. Bernard Herrmann again collaborated with Hitchcock and
composed his most famous score (the shrieking strings that accompany the shower murder have been imitated into infinity).
Herrmann's music combines with the flattened, sun drenched black and white photography to create an unforgettable series of
sequences. Hitchcock's self-proclaimed "throw away" has ironically become one of his greatest achievements, a triumphant blending
of art and commerce. Again, this new edition (which looks wonderful) includes a second disc of behind the scenes features that are
wonderfully entertaining.
of the Master of Suspense. The set begins with 1927's silent The Lodger, often cited as the first film where Hitchcock began to find
his style. The movie, a fictionalized updating of the Jack the Ripper story is subtitled "A Story of the London Fog" for reasons that
are abundantly clear as the title character, essayed by Ivor Novello, the handsome (and gay) matinee idol of the time, creeps
around the misty streets for his victims. This is the film referred to by the characters in Robert Altman's Gosford Park. 1936's
Sabotage with Sylvia Sidney who discovers her husband is a terrorist in teeming London is next. The explosion in which the child is
killed on the bus at the outset is the movie's cinematic highlight. Young and Innocent from 1937, a run of the mill murder mystery
that nevertheless has enough Hitchcockian touches to keep one entertained (the strangled woman on the beach seen from the gull's
point of view, the young heroine driving her car into a mine shaft and being saved by the wrongly accused hero in a shot Hitch later
used at the climax of North By Northwest for example) is next in the lineup. Then we move to the outset of Hitchcock's American
films beginning with 1940's tremendously entertaining gothic murder mystery Rebecca. The one set Lifeboat from 1944 which features
Tallulah Bankhead's best screen performance follows. Then comes the over the top psychological hokum of 1945's Spellbound with
Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman that features a dream sequence with sets designed by Salvador Dali at the climax. This is
followed by the other truly magnificent Hitchcock film in the set, 1946's Notorious, again with Bergman and Cary Grant, the tale of
Nazi spies in South American ferreted out by an unwilling Mata Hari forced into service by a calculating secret service agent. Bergman
and Grant truly sizzle in this romantic spy thriller. The set is rounded out by 1948's The Paradine Case with a wrongly cast Gregory
Peck as a barrister who falls for his icy client (Alida Valli in her American debut), a beautiful femme fatale accused of murdering her
wealthy, blind husband. The gorgeous Louis Jordan was introduced as the husband's faithful valet whose character is subtly
intimated at one point to be gay. Each of the discs include a number of special features - new commentaries, making of docs and
other goodies. Well worth adding to the collection and a no brainer for Hitchcock fans.
Rear Window Special Edition – From Universal. Universal has added another three titles to their great new Legacy Series
collection. Each of these Hitchcock editions from their catalogue comes with a second disc of bonus features and brand new transfers
of the films themselves. All three are masterpieces of the suspense genre and are essentials. Rear Window from 1954 - the story of
wheelchair bound Jimmy Stewart (because of a broken leg), his fractured romance with luscious Grace Kelly, his insurance company
nurse Thelma Ritter and the murder that Stewart claims to have witnessed across the apartment courtyard - is one of Hitch's greatest
movies and is perhaps my favorite Hitchcock film of all. Ingeniously filmed (it was one of the largest sets ever built by Paramount),
the movie is a textbook example of classic scenes and shots. And it's as entertaining the 25th time as it is the first. Kelly never
looked more beautiful, Ritter was never quite so acidic and funny and Stewart is, as always, a marvel. The behind the scenes
documentaries and commentaries on the second disc are informative and fun as well. "We've become a race of peeping toms"
Ritter comments when she notices Stewart looking through his binoculars at the neighbors across the way, predicting by 50 years the
lust for everyday celebrity that we live with (and endure) today.
Vertigo Special Edition – From Universal. Four years later Stewart again starred in what has critically been hailed as Hitchcock's
greatest masterpiece. Vertigo is certainly that but because it's not a straight forward suspense story and perhaps because it's lead
characters are complex and yeah, psychologically twisted, the film has never been quite as popular with audiences as critics. But
there's no arguing that the film's iconic San Francisco locations, its endless moodiness (aided greatly by the cinematography,
Bernard Herrmann's lush score and Edith Head's severe costumes for female lead Kim Novak) and breathtaking sequences (the
opening in particular is mesmerizing) could only be the work of a master. Stewart plays a man hired to follow another man's wife,
the iciest of Hitch's many blondes, Novak, who seems to think she's the reincarnation of a woman who lived a century before. He
falls helplessly in love with Novak but then a tragic accident occurs...or was it an accident? The film is so overstylized that it provided
Mel Brooks with the basis for his parody flick High Anxiety two decades later. But the arch style is part of the lure of Vertigo which
casts a tremendous, entertaining spell over the viewer. Again, Universal's second disc of extras includes a batch of welcome extras
to augment this one of a kind film.
Psycho Special Edition – From Universal. Two years after Vertigo Hitchcock released his greatest commercial success with Psycho
which remains his most popular film. The grandfather of the slasher picture, Psycho remains the only true artistic triumph of the now
exhausted genre. Janet Leigh and gay actor Anthony Perkins (in a performance that should have netted him an Oscar) star and are
supported by Martin Balsam, Vera Miles, and handsome John Gavin. Bernard Herrmann again collaborated with Hitchcock and
composed his most famous score (the shrieking strings that accompany the shower murder have been imitated into infinity).
Herrmann's music combines with the flattened, sun drenched black and white photography to create an unforgettable series of
sequences. Hitchcock's self-proclaimed "throw away" has ironically become one of his greatest achievements, a triumphant blending
of art and commerce. Again, this new edition (which looks wonderful) includes a second disc of behind the scenes features that are
wonderfully entertaining.
