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Men, Notorious Women:
Five Hitchcock Classics 1935-1946
A supreme technician and innovative stylist, Alfred
Hitchcock always left his indelible stamp on his
productions. From the wit, romance, and fast-paced
action of 1935's British-made The 39 Steps
to the bittersweet blend of lush romance and spy
thriller in the 1946 Hollywood production Notorious,
Hitchcock continually flaunted a peerless formal
mastery as he capitalized on a wide variety of genres.
In the 1940 Academy Award®-winning Rebecca
and 1945 psychoanalytic thriller Spellbound,
Hitchcock also proved himself a keen surveyor of
the human mind, incisively exploring the psychology
of fear and sexual repression within the context
of films that both entertained audiences of the
day and ensured that his career would be one of
the most illustrious in the history of cinema.
The Criterion Collection has released special edition
DVD's of five of Hitchcock's finest masterpieces
over the past years, which have now been combined
in a five-disc box set that streets in May 2003.
The five discs are identical to those that have
appeared previously, and which will also remain
available individually.
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The 39 Steps
Hitchcock's first masterpiece dates all the way
back to 1935, and provided the template not only for
the later North by Northwest (which comes
close to being a remake), but which also set up many
other themes, fears and ideas the director would later
explore more thoroughly in his American pictures.
read
the review |
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The Lady Vanishes
In this rare ensemble piece, Hitchcock fully displayed
his impressive range of talents, shifting back and
forth effortlessly between thriller, comedy and romance,
all the whil building tension magnificently. The only
major supplement on this early Criterion release is
the audio commentary track, but together with the
gorgeous image quality, this version easily bests
any other available release of the title.
read
the review |
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Rebecca
An amazing, near-flawless transfer and restored
audio grace this welcome special edition release,
with its huge amount of great supplements spilling
over onto a second disc in this must-have set.
read
the review |
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Spellbound
One of Hitchcock's more pedestrian thrillers is
burdened by its over-emphatic use of novelty science
psychoanalysis, used here to explain major plot points
for the first time in film history. The film is most
famous today for its Salvador Dalí-designed
(and Cameron McKenzie-directed) dream sequence, which
also makes up the main focus of the impressive extras
found on-board.
read
the review |
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Notorious
One of Hitchcock's most exquisitely crafted and
most memorably staged thrillers still more than holds
its own today, especially in this newly restored transfer
with a boatload of great extras on board.
read
the review |
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