Hitch: Back in the U.K.
With such a prolific director as Alfred Hitchcock, being a fan of his work can be a headache if you’re also a completist and a DVD collector. So far the output of the Master of Suspense’s work has been spotty in the digital medium, at best. We’ve had some great editions of Vertigo, Psycho (1960) and The Lady Vanishes ... but still no The Birds, Rear Window, or North by Northwest. While I’m sure these titles are in some stage of planning for DVD release, in the interim there is some comfort in the fact that two smaller DVD companies (Madacy and Delta Entertainment/Laserlight) have done their best to bring some of Hitchcock’s earlier British works to DVD.
Madacy released a surprisingly good bargain-priced boxed set of five Hitchcock films last year, packaged very similarly to their previously-issued ten VHS tape set. The films included Sabotage, Murder, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Secret Agent, and Number 17. Delta/Laserlight also previously issued three “special edition” DVDs of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The Lady Vanishes (also released by The Criterion Collection), and The 39 Steps (forthcoming from The Criterion Collection). I only previewed their movie-only version of The 39 Steps, which did exhibit a great-looking transfer and decent mono soundtrack; so I was happy to hear about the latest round of hard-to-find Hitch titles coming from the same company.
As with their previous three Hitchcock releases, Delta/Laserlight’s DVDs are somewhat misleadingly-labeled as “special editions.” True, in most cases they do offer a bonus theatrical trailer from a later Hitchcock classic, and most are double-features with either two complete films on one disc, or a feature and bonus episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But there isn’t anything else extra in terms of bonus material apart from a somewhat stilted and occasionally incoherent introduction by Tony Curtis (?). Curtis waxes nostalgic about each Hitchcock film ... then ventures off on a tangent discussing the likes of John Ford and Preston Sturges. Though it’s good to see Tony getting work, I don’t see his connection to Hitchcock other than the fact that his former wife (Janet Leigh) starred in Psycho.
This quibble aside, the real test is how well the film transfers and audio quality stack up. Well, overall the Delta/Laserlight discs are very impressive considering the age of some of these films -- and the fact that better source prints probably don’t and never will exist. The quality is understandably lacking in the older silent films, but is top-notch with later works like Blackmail and Sabotage (both of which likely benefited from remasters previously done for Criterion Collection laserdisc editions).
In somewhat chronological order, the first disc features Blackmail, Hitchcock’s 1929 thriller which wound up becoming England’s first “talkie.” Sound technology debuted in America with The Jazz Singer while shooting what was originally a silent film, and Hitch added dialogue and music to Blackmail in the midst of production. It is this hybrid of silence and sound -- a signature trademark of Hitchcock -- that make Blackmail so riveting. It’s obvious from the film’s opening sequence that no sound was recorded “live” as only occasional sound effects pop up on the audio track. But Hitch was also keenly adept at using new technology from the get-go, as is evidenced in the film’s eerie scene where a woman’s prattling fades into incoherent sound save for the emphatic repetition of the word “knife,” the murder weapon which Alice White (Anny Ondra) used and is now nervously holding. Both the video and audio quality on Blackmail are good -- equal to The Criterion Collection laserdisc.
The disc also features the 1927 silent film Easy Virtue, a less effective Hitchcock effort which focuses on an innocent woman who makes an effort to begin her life anew after divorcing an abusive husband. Based on Noel Coward’s melodrama of the same name, the film does have some unique technical flairs -- like the shot in the courtroom where the point-of-view from a judge’s monocle dramatically brings characters into sudden close-up, like a combination zoom and pull focus -- but it lacks the pacing and drive of Hitch’s best work. The transfer is adequate but does exhibit scratches, wear and jump cuts in the source print. This disc also includes the theatrical trailer for Rear Window.
Hitch’s 1931 The Skin Game is given its own DVD with a very impressive-looking transfer despite the age of the print. The story tells the amusing tale of two feuding families -- no, not the Hatfields and McCoys, here it’s the upper crust Hillcrests and Hornblowers. In true Hitchcock fashion, the two families are allowed to battle to the brink of disaster. A lighter entry in the Hitchcock canon, the film is noteworthy for its cast including Edmund Gwenn, John Longden, and Herbert Ross -- all of whom would work with the director on later projects. In addition to the Tony Curtis introduction, the disc also boasts the trailer for Dial M for Murder.
Rich and Strange was the title of Sir Alfred’s 1932 tale of Fred and Emily Hill, a couple who asks for their inheritance in advance from their rich uncle which they then use to travel abroad. Like The Skin Game, the film suggests an attempt by Hitch to prove his mettle outside the suspense genre -- he would later attempt a similar project with 1941’s mainstream comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith. For true fans of Hitchcock, the film isn’t among his career high points, though it does offer ample traces of the Master’s wry sense of humor. The transfer here is outstanding -- one of the best of the Delta/Laserlight series. The disc is rounded out with the theatrical trailer for Psycho, and a rare 1962 unaired episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” adapted from a story and written by Robert Bloch (Psycho).
Unlike Hitchcock’s two previous attempts to break away from suspense, Number 17 (1932) is a crafty amalgamation of suspense and dark humor. Based on a stage play by J. Jefferson Farjeon, Number 17 is a visual feast of camera trickery that rivals any of the Master’s famous set pieces. The film is reminiscent of James Whale’s The Old Dark House in its use of Gothic imagery and shadow-filled photography. You know you’re in the hands of the Master when the opening camera tracks into a house, up a winding staircase, and stops dead on a corpse. One of Hitch’s rare overlooked early efforts, Number 17 would later influence the black comedy of The Trouble with Harry and the relentless chase sequences of North by Northwest. Though the overall transfer is good, the film occasionally exhibits a “pulsing” effect due to faded sections in the source print. In addition to the trailer for 1953’s I Confess, the disc also offers the 1927 silent feature The Ring, co-written by Hitch and his wife, Alma Reville. Though Hitchcock managed to devise some intriguing ways to photograph the soundless boxing sequences (which may or may not have influenced Martin Scorsese in Raging Bull), the central love story remains rather mundane and predictable. The transfer here is spotty, especially during the scratched and grainy opening reel.
One of the best discs in this latest batch is the double-feature of 1936’s brilliant Sabotage and 1927’s silent classic The Lodger. Sabotage is one of the seminal Hitchcock classics starring Sylvia Sidney (who later worked with Tim Burton in Beetlejuice and Mars Attacks!) and Oscar Homolka as a couple who owns a movie theater England. With World War II just around the corner, Hitch played upon audience fears of German sabotage by depicting Homolka as a bomb-planting saboteur. The film contains one of Hitchcock’s most notorious, nail-biting suspense sequences as a young boy travels around London unaware that he is carrying a bomb. The transfer here is very good, with few detectable imperfections in the source print. Sadly, The Lodger hasn’t aged as well, but that doesn’t diminish enjoyment of Hitch’s first milestone suspense thriller, based on a novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes about Jack the Ripper. The film stars Ivor Novello as the titular lodger who comes to stay in an English boarding house. The owners soon suspect he is “The Avenger,” a sadistic killer, and a detective’s false accusation sets an angry mob on Novello’s trail. Filled with both technically-amazing and religious imagery, The Lodger was Hitch’s calling card as an innovative film-maker. The disc also includes the trailer for Hitchcock’s 1940 Foreign Correspondent.
Last, but not least, one of my favorite Hitchcock films, Young & Innocent (1937) shares a disc with the oddly-unrelated “The Cheney Vase,” a 1955 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents starring Darren McGavin (The Night Stalker). Young & Innocent is one of the best examples of Hitch’s “odd couple on the run” scenario, and is both a direct descendent of The 39 Steps and ancestor to Saboteur, The Wrong Man, and North by Northwest. The film stars the charming Nova Pilbeam (who also appeared in 1934’s The Man Who Knew Too Much) as the daughter of a police constable who ends up believing Robert Tisdall (Derrick DeMarney) is innocent of murdering his former lover. With her help, he flees the police while trying to prove his innocence. This requires finding one man with a nervous tic -- an involuntary blinking of his eyes. Hitch stages a monumental tracking shot near the end of the film which brings the camera to an extreme close-up of those twitching eyes, much like his bravura tracking shot into the key in Ingrid Bergman’s hand in Notorious. Again, with a relatively newer source print and the benefit of a previous Criterion Collection laserdisc transfer, Young & Innocent looks quite good. The disc also offers the original theatrical trailer for Strangers on a Train (1951).
Digital Domain Menu
Movie
