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By
WAYNE KLEIN
It's rare that an artist can
be both popular and one of the best at what he or
she does. Alfred Hitchcock embodied both of these
elements. His films used suspenseful thrillers as
a vehicle to try out inventive and often
groundbreaking editing and camera techniques.
While this collection from Warner Brothers doesn't
include all his best films, there are enough here
to justify picking up this generous and
beautifully remastered collection of some of
Hitch's best films.
Featuring the classic "North by Northwest"
(previously released and unchanged here), a
spiffed up "Strangers on a Train" and the
previously unreleased gems "Stage Fright," "Dial M
for Murder" (sadly, not in the original 3-D
presentation), "Suspicion" (the oldest of the
bunch here), "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (Hitch's first and
only straight screwball comedy), "Foreign
Correspondent," the neorealist influence "The
Wrong Man" and one of his most controversial (at
the time) films "I Confess," this boxed set
gathers up the rest of the best of Hitch's films.
The only films missing that should have been
included are "Rebecca," "Spellbound" and
"Lifeboat." The former two are available in deluxe
Criterion editions and the latter film is owned by
Fox (which couldn't agree on a licensing agreement
with Warner Brothers). I hope that we'll see
"Lifeboat" on DVD soon. The British thrillers are
all pretty much available on DVD, either through
Image Entertainment or Criterion, or you can find
decent used editions put out by Anchor Bay
Entertainment.
Making up for some of their oversights in the
past, Warner has spent a lot of money to spiff up
these classic movies. Every single movie has a
short documentary on the making of the film,
featuring directors like Richard Franklin ("Psycho
2," "Roadgames," "Flatland") and Peter Bogdanovich
("Paper Moon," "The Last Picture Show," "What's Up
Doc?") commenting on Hitch's films. Franklin's a
good choice as he's demonstrated tremendous skill
in his overlooked suspense films. Bogdanovich who
enjoyed a friendship with Hitch and interviewed
the master for his book on Hitchcock has
tremendous insight. He also does a killer
Hitchcock imitation.
Both "North by Northwest" and "Strangers on a
Train" come with commentary tracks. "North by
Northwest" features the same commentary track by
the late great Ernest Lehman as the previous
edition. "Strangers on a Train" combines comments
from Bogdanovich, "Psycho" screenwriter Jospeh
Stefano and clips from Patricia Highsmith who
wrote the novel the film is based on. We also get
a snipped of commentary from Hitch himself via an
interview with Bogdanovich. All provide valuable
insight into the making of the film. We get two
versions of "Strangers": the first is the
theatrical cut and the second is a preview version
with some minor but substantial differences.
A great set from Warner Brothers, "The Alfred
Hitchcock Signature Collection" should be an
essential purchase for any fan of Hitch's. Oh, and
I forgot to mention that every single title here
is in the plastic Amaray cases that Warner has
recently begun using -- they're more durable than
the cardboard sleeve used for the previous
editions of "North by Northwest" and "Strangers on
a Train." |
