Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection
October 23, 2005
- Dan Ramer,
DVDFile.com
This is one of those DVD collections that is impossible to over-
praise. Alfred Hitchcock is unquestionably one of the greatest talents
the cinematic art has produced. Even if you aren’t necessarily a
fan of his films, you can’t deny their inherent aesthetic
stamp. And even though some of his pictures pale in comparison
to his monolithic achievements, collections like this Alfred
Hitchcock: Masterpiece Collection are fantastic and unequalled
examples of the power and panache DVD truly offers.
No, of course Saboteur isn’t as good as Rear
Window (no one ever said it was), but this fourteen-movie
collection has everything you’d find in a respectable film class
sans a stuffy professor and papers you’d hate writing
anyway. It took this writer weeks to get enough of it under his belt
to write this review, and even in a critical fashion, this
Masterpiece Edition is a must-have for anyone who truly cares
about the ins and outs of the filmmaking machine. Not everything is
here; you’re still going to need that Criterion Hitchcock box
set that is out of print as well as the moderately pathetic DVD
edition of North By Northwest (among others). But what does
exist within this faux-velvet box set is the kind of thing weekend
movie marathons were made for.
Let’s start at
the beginning.
Saboteur is notable for two
distinct reasons. It has a wonderful chase sequence through the Statue
of Liberty in its last reel, and the delightful bohemian authoress
Dorothy Parker co-wrote the screenplay. The film works exceptionally
well, but it’s one of those pictures that will play a lot more
strongly for those accustomed to the Hitchcock mythos than for people
who have yet to uncover the mysteries of the auteur. Shadow of a
Doubt is a more user-friendly film (and also, according to his
many biographers, Hitch’s favorite of all his pictures).
It’s a much more reliable starting-off point. Joseph
Cotton’s performance as an is-he-or-isn’t-he? creep
looking to do some dastardly deeds around a lovely suburban town (the
film was shot in Santa Rosa, CA) is without parallel. The film
crackles with the sort of suspenseful build and release Hitchcock
owned the patent on.
Rope is Hitch’s
notorious long-take picture; the movie is made up of eight-minute
shots sans cuts (that’s as long as the film magazines
would last on the cameras he used). And although it’s notable
both for its impeccable form and its surprisingly frank depiction of a
male homosexual couple at the film’s center, it’s an
acquired taste within the Hitchcock oeuvre. Rear Window,
though, is one of the best films ever made. This is simple story of a
man (Jimmy Stewart) cooped up in his apartment with nothing better to
do than watch his neighbors go through their everyday activities.
Hitchcock weaves a web of steady and astonishingly deft cliffhangers
and stories that culminate in one of the most exciting climaxes in
movie history. (And Grace Kelly is one of the most gorgeous creatures
on Earth; anyone who cannot call her a goddess after watching this
picture is an honest-to-goodness miser).
The
Trouble With Harry is a fantastic example of the humor that lies
within Hitch’s most notable work. Where most of his movies
showcase suspense first and comedy second, Harry is a lovely
and surprisingly jovial exception to that rule. It’s funny,
ridiculous, and just about as dark as they come. The Man Who Knew
Too Much is a remake of Hitch’s own film from Britain. It
isn’t as funny as Harry, but it definitely manifests
Hitch’s most immediate and noteworthy strengths as constructor
of cinematic fear and heightened sensibility. It’s not as well
rounded of a picture as many of his others, but there are set pieces
in it that will knock your socks off.
As far as
Vertigo is concerned, I must admit that I’m painfully
biased; this is one of my top five favorites films that ever existed.
No other film presents San Francisco in a more brilliant and delicious
light. No other movie has so much dirty sexual secrets packed into a
shockingly family-friendly dramatic format. And James Stewart and Kim
Novak were never better. Unbelievable. And Psycho is probably
just as good. This nail-biter arguably has the most notorious sequence
in horror movie history; the film remains as palatable and unique a
thriller today as it was when it was first making a reputation for
itself. Nothing’s creepier than that rocking chair turning
around to reveal Norman Bates’ mother’s true identity.
Eeeewww . . .
And if you’re looking for more of
that, check out The Birds. Many Hitchcock aficionados calls
this one his most schlocky and uninteresting foray into the suspense
form, but this writer grew up on the film and stands behind it is as a
classic all the way. From Tippi Hedren’s cooing city debutante
performance to the hideously nasty scene when we see some poor
guy’s bloody eye sockets after the birds have gotten to him,
this film literally bristles with wonderfully engaging filmic
discomfort. Hedren returned to Hitchcock’s bosom for
Marnie, a relatively engaging Sean Connery vehicle, but for
this writer, this one has always played as uncomfortably soulless. I
enjoy the form and control with which Hitch tells his story, but
overall, Marnie lacks the heat that permeates Hitch’s
other work.
Torn Curtain and Topaz
are anomalies in Hitchcock’s pantheon for the simple reason that
they polarize impressions from Hitch devotees across the board. I find
Torn Curtain’s spy narrative to be unique and exciting
in a very unorthodox way, but many viewers find it to be horrifically
boring. And I’ve never been a giant fan of Topaz –
I just don’t quite get it – but there are those who
call it Hitch’s last work of pure genius. I guess you’ll
have to see for yourself.
And there are those who
claim that Frenzy and Family Plot are the last two
jewels in the Hitchcock crown, yet watching them in context with the
other behemoths in this edition, it’s difficult to say earnestly
they stand up. Frenzy has some nasty sequences – the
strangulation scene is truly disturbing – but both it and
Family Plot are surprisingly limp narrative experiences. They
both have moments, but they aren’t enough to legitimize them
within the overall Hitchcock picture.
But whether
these are all classics or not is incidental. This Masterpiece
Collection is a veritable gold mine for anyone serious about
approaching Hitchcock’s output with an overreaching eye.
It’s the perfect holiday gift for any of the movie
lovers on your list, and it’s one of the best DVD collections of
the year.
The Video: How Does The Disc
Look?
The Saboteur
transfer looks significantly better than in its original DVD release.
Contrast and fine detail quality are strikingly more impressive.
Shadow of a Doubt also gets an upgrade from its earlier DVD.
There’s still quite a bit of dust and grime on the print –
as is the norm for films of this age that don’t get a thorough
restoration – but it’s not enough to significantly detract
from the picture. Rope is one of the least lovely looking
films in this collection; its color contrast definitely fluctuates
from scene to scene, even if fine detail is fairly strong. And I had a
hell of a time recognizing any new tweaking to the Rear
Window transfer – it looks just like its previous
release.
Ironically, however, The Man Who Knew
Too Much actually looks worse than its last DVD release
– finely grained detail is absolutely sub-par. The Trouble
With Harry is much better, containing lovely contrast and
superbly delineated black levels. And Vertigo is an all-out
wonder, receiving a transfer that showcases excellent color punch and
the best fine detail quality the film has ever had in a home
entertainment format. Psycho also gets a long-overdue
anamorphic transfer, but while the size and shape of the thing is
intact, its level of detail is suspect – and there are some
major grain issues.
The Birds and
Marnie both look great in this collection. I couldn’t
see any noticeable difference between the original release of The
Birds and the version included here (that’s okay because
the original was fine to begin with). Torn Curtain and
Topaz also look fine, even if their transfers aren’t as
air-tight as some of the others in this collection. Frenzy
and Family Plot also both look great (they are, after all,
the newest films in this box).
The Audio:
How Does The Disc Sound?
All the
films are presented in upgraded versions of their original mono
recordings, and they all sound fine. The last version of Vertigo
had both a mono and an absolutely outrageously bad 5.1 mix
(they’re both included here), but overall, it’s nice to
see these films get the simple and finessed soundtracks they deserve.
Again, there’s nothing fancy, just the films as they originally
sounded. Cool.
Supplements: What Goodies Are
There?
Saboteur
comes with a short featurette entitled A Closer
Look, as well as storyboards and
Hitchcock sketches from the film, the movie’s
theatrical trailer, and some production
notes. Shadow of a Doubt also has a short
featurette (Beyond Doubt: The Making of
Hitchcock’s Favorite Film), some production
drawings by art director Robert Boyle, a handful of
production photographs, the film’s
theatrical trailer, and some production
notes. Rope also has a featurette
(Rope Unleashed) as well as some standard production
photographs, a trailer, and some
production notes. Rear Window gets a bit
more; we have two featurettes (Rear Window
Ethics and A Conversation With Screenwriter John Michael
Hayes) as well as some production photographs,
production notes, and two trailers
(one of which is narrated by James Stewart).
The Trouble With Harry
also comes with a featurette (The Trouble With
Harry Isn’t Over), production photographs,
production notes and its trailer. The
Man Who Knew Too Much has the same bag:
Featurette (The Making of The Man Who Knew Too
Much), production notes, production photos, and
two trailers. Vertigo gets a little more; we
get a screen-specific audio commentary by associate
producer Herbert Coleman, restoration team Robert A. Harris, and James
C. Katz as well as other members of the film’s cast and crew, a
nice featurette (Obsessed with Vertigo),
some production notes, two trailers,
an alternate foreign censorship ending, and
The Vertigo Archives (full of photos and
press material). Psycho also gets some good stuff; we get
production notes, two theatrical
trailers, some newsreel footage, some
storyboards, and a ton of press and photo material in
The Psycho Archives.
The Birds comes with everything that was on its previous
DVD edition: a deleted scene, a look at the
film’s original ending, Tippi Hedren’s
screen test, two clips of newsreel
footage, storyboards, production photographs,
production notes, and the film’s
trailer. Marnie gets a nice
featurette (The Trouble With Marnie), as
well as some production notes, the film’s
theatrical trailer, and some photos and media
material in The Marnie Archives. Torn
Curtain has one of the most interesting
featurettes on this set; we get to see some
scenes scored by Bernard Herrmann (his score was
replaced late in the game by Hitch and they never worked together
again). Also included is another featurette (Torn
Curtain Rising), production notes, production
photographs, and the film’s theatrical
trailer. Topaz’s most interesting extras are
two alternate endings, but it also houses a
featurette (An Appreciation by Film Historian and
Critic Leonard Maltin), some storyboards,
production photographs, production notes, and the
film’s theatrical trailer.
Frenzy has a great
featurette, The Story of Frenzy, as well as
the typical production photographs, production notes,
and a theatrical trailer. Family Plot offers
another featurette (Plotting Family Plot),
some storyboards, production notes,
production photographs, and a trailer.
The bonus disc includes four
featurettes: AFI Salute to Alfred Hitchcock,
Masters of Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock, All About The Birds, and
The Making of Psycho.
Final
Thoughts
Technically speaking, there
are inconsistencies within this Alfred Hitchcock: Masterpiece
Collection. Transfers are hit and miss and the mono tracks
aren’t as finessed and smooth as they could be, but anyone who
claims this box set isn’t worth owning is full of it. It lists
for over a hundred bucks, but there are deals on it everywhere, and
there’s really no way you’ll find major fault with it.
Highly recommended.
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