Legends of Hollywood: Alfred Hitchcock

A dozen doses of danger
Recorded on six dual-sided DVDs, the LEGENDS OF HOLLYWOOD: ALFRED HITCHCOCK collection is comprised of a dozen early films (including three silent features) by the Master of Suspense. Also included are two episodes of the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV show. As with all of BRENTWOOD's budget-priced product, video and sound quality is primarily dependent on source material-- their transfers show no sign of restoration or enhancement.

MOVIE MINUTIAE:

BLACKMAIL-- A silent movie reworked as a talkie. Both versions circulated simultaneously in 1929. There are several sequences in the newer film that clearly came from the silent flick-- these scenes are overdubbed with music, extraneous voices and sound effects.

THE LODGER-- Earliest Hitchcock film that survives in complete form. Based on the first book to offer a solution to the Jack the Ripper murders.

THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH-- Hungarian-born Peter Lorre's first English language role. He...

Content is great. Transfer is terrible. Don't buy.
Hitchcock is always great, but this DVD transfer is a crime against his legacy. You'll have a better viewing experience watching these public domain films on the web instead. Especially for the silent films, the transfer and the score are very bad.

"Champagne" for example has a score which is not synchronized to the story--it's meandering string music which has absolutely nothing to do with the story line--you may as well play a couple of Enya CD's while watching.

I searched for an online version and found it on YouTube. Not only does that version have a piano accompaniment played expressly for the film (and therefore enhances the viewing experience by adding audio punctuation at the right points), I found this DVD crops so much that some of the shots make NO sense. For example, a newspaper headline is cropped so it says this: "Street Magnate Defied eadstrong ress Daughter The Air and Makes ight to Join Lover in Atlantic Liner" is more sensibly rendered on...

Good seller, GREAT DIRECTER
(...)ALFRED HTCHCOCK what else need be said. Alfred Hitchcock, the highly influential film director and producer pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres remains one of the best known and most popular directors of all time, famous for his expert and largely unrivalled control of pace and suspense throughout his films. Five double-sided discs containing ten early films: "Young & Innocent"; "Blackmail"; "Juno & the Paycock"; "Rich & Strange"; "The Ring"; "The Lodger"; "Secret Agent"; "The Lady Vanishes"; "The Man Who Knew Too Much"; and "The Sabotage". Bonus sixth disc with two additional Hitchcock classics, "Champagne" and "Murder!"

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