MGM: Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

[Gigi M.]

From DVDActive:

Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Released: 14th October 2008
SRP: $119.98

MGM Home Entertainment has announced the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection which includes Rebecca, The Lodger, The Paradine Case, Spellbound, Notorious, Young and Innocent, Sabotage, and Lifeboat. Each have been beautifully restored and remastered. As well as all the features listed below, the DVD collection also includes a 32-page notebook with trivia, production notes and more about the legendary director. Retail will be $119.98. We've attached the official package artwork and specs below:

Rebecca
Synopsis
A young woman marries a fascinating older widower only to discover that she must live in the shadows of his first wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years before.

Special features:
• Commentary by film historian/author Richard Schickel
• Screen tests
• Making of Rebecca Featurette
• The Gothic World of Daphne Du Maurier Featurette
• Original 1938 Radio Play Starring Orson Welles
• 1941 Radio Play Presented by Cecil B. DeMille
• 1950 Radio Play with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
• Four-page booklet

The Lodger
Synopsis
Not long after a mysterious young “medical scientist” named Slade (Laird Cregar) rents a flat in the heart of London’s Whitechapel district, a series of brutal murders begins. But despite the fact that the murder victims are all female stage performers, the landlord’s niece Kitty (Merle Oberon), an ingénue, is unphased by the crimes – or by the unusual, brooding man in her family’s midst. As Kitty coquettishly interacts with a Scotland Yard detective (George Sanders), she becomes Slade’s object of obsession in this pulse-pounding thriller that “packs an unsettling punch.” (At-A-Glance Film Reviews).

Special features:
• 1999 Score by Ashley Irwin presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround
• 1997 Score by Paul Zaza presented in Mono
• Commentary with film historian Patrick McGilligan
• The Sound of Silence: The Making of The Lodger Featurette
• Hitchcock 101 Featurette
• 1940 Radio Play Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparison

The Paradine Case
Synopsis
Beautiful Anna Paradine (Alida Valli) is accused of poisoning her older wealthy husband. Her barrister, the happily married Anthony Keane (Gregory Peck) takes the case but also lets his heart rule his head when he falls hard for his client.

Special features:
• Commentary with film historians Stephen Rebello & Bill Krohn
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• 1949 Radio Play Starring Joseph Cotton
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Galleries
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Spellbound
Synopsis
When John Ballantine (Gregory Peck), the new director of a mental asylum arrives on the job, the staff is concerned. He seems too young for the position and his answers to their questions are vague and detached. Dr. Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), while knowing he is an imposter with emotional issues, nevertheless falls in love with him. Turning to her mentor, Dr. Alex Brulov (Michael Checkhov) and the use of psychoanalysis she tries to get to the root of Ballantine’s emotional problems.

Special features:
• Commentary with film historians Thomas Schatz & Charles Ramirez Berg
• Guilt by Association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound Featurette
• A Cinderella Story: Rhonda Fleming Featurette
• Dreaming with Scissors: Hitchcock, Surrealism and Salvador Dali Featurette
• 1948 Radio Play Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: Film Historian Rudy Belhemer Interviews Composer Miklós Rózsa
• Still Gallery
• 4-Page Booklet

Notorious
Synopsis
Daughter of an accused World War II traitor, Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is enlisted to entrap one of her father’s colleagues in Brazil, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Raines). Her American contact, secret agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) is openly contemptuous of Alicia and instructs her to wed Sebastian. It is only after she is wed that Devlin lets himself admit that he’s fallen in love with her.

Special features:
• Commentary with film historian Rick Jewell
• Commentary with film historian Drew Casper
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• The Ultimate Romance: The Making of Notorious Featurette
• Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Spymaster Featurette
• AFI Tribute to Hitchcock
• 1948 Radio Play Starring Joseph Cotton and Ingrid Bergman
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Gallery
• 4-Page Booklet

Young and Innocent
Synopsis
In this witty, suspense thriller a police chief’s daughter helps a fugitive accused of murder prove his innocence.

Special features:
• Commentary with film historians Stephen Rebello & Bill Krohn
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection
Page 4 of 5
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Gallery

Sabotage
Synopsis
A woman learns that her movie theater manager husband is actually a foreign agent when a bomb he has made kills her brother. Based on Joseph Conrad’s novel, The Secret Agent.

Special features:
• Commentary with film historian Leonard Leff
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Gallery

Lifeboat
Synopsis
Nominated for three Academy Awards®, Alfred Hitchcock’s World War II drama is a remarkable story of human survival. After their ship is sunk in the Atlantic by Germans, eight people are stranded in a lifeboat. Their problems are further compounded when they pick up a ninth passenger – the Nazi captain from the U-boat that torpedoed them. With powerful suspense and emotion, this legendary classic reveals the strengths and frailties of individuals under extraordinary duress.

Special features:
• Commentary by University of Southern California School of Cinema & Television Hitchcock professor and film critic, Drew Casper
• “The Making of Lifeboat” featurette
• The original theatrical trailer
• Still gallery featuring photographs from the set

[jules]

Nice. Looks like Criterion extras for Spellbound, Notorious & Rebecca. That's gonna save me some money.

[Haggai]

Whoa, great news that it's finally being released. When did the rumors start about this, five years ago? Six?

At a first glance, it looks like the extras on the previous Criterion releases are mostly the same, but with different commentaries. The Criterion Rebecca had Leonard Leff doing the commentary, and Notorious had a Rudy Behlmer track and a Marion Keane track.

Lifeboat, on the other hand, looks like it'll have exactly the same extras as the one Fox released a few years ago.

[mfunk9786]

Any of the folks doing commentary this time around worth double-dipping for?

[dx23]

Wasn't the reason that a similar box set that was to be released several years ago cancelled the fact that MGM didn't hold the rights for the films? Didn't Disney hold the rights to the films?

[ianungstad]

Wasn't the reason that a similar box set that was to be released several years ago cancelled the fact that MGM didn't hold the rights for the films? Didn't Disney hold the rights to the films?

You are correct! The offending titles that were in the "original" box that was suppose to be out a few years ago were The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. Neither title is in this new box set.

[Haggai]

Hey, did anyone else notice that the film summary for The Lodger in that press release is actually for the 1944 remake? LOL. I actually watched it just last night, from the recent Fox Horror Classics boxset.

[sevenarts]

Any chance of individual releases? I see no reason to replace the Criterions, and most of the other films are also in numerous other box sets or individual discs that I already have, but I wouldn't mind seeing The Paradine Case.

[broadwayrock]

Any of the folks doing commentary this time around worth double-dipping for?

Drew Casper does very good commentaries and he know his Hitchcock.

It will be also worth getting for the Bogdanovich interview recordings.

[dx23]

Hey, did anyone else notice that the film summary for The Lodger in that press release is actually for the 1944 remake? LOL. I actually watched it just last night, from the recent Fox Horror Classics boxset.

I noticed this. It's incredible that nobody did a fact check of the press release before releasing it to the public.

[starmanof51]

Hey, did anyone else notice that the film summary for The Lodger in that press release is actually for the 1944 remake? LOL. I actually watched it just last night, from the recent Fox Horror Classics boxset.

Noticed, and ROTFLMAO. I've never used that internet acronym before, because it never really applied before. That's just horrible (although I love how someone is referring to 1944 Merle Oberon as an "ingenue").

The extreme pictureboxing/windowboxing/whatever you want to call it on the opening credits for the Criterion Rebecca and Notorious have always driven me nuts. If they get rid of that, I might be in line for a double-dip.

[Haggai]

(although I love how someone is referring to 1944 Merle Oberon as an "ingenue")

Amusing, yes, but actually pretty accurate as far as describing the character she was playing.

[Jeff]

Wasn't the reason that a similar box set that was to be released several years ago cancelled the fact that MGM didn't hold the rights for the films? Didn't Disney hold the rights to the films?

You are correct! The offending titles that were in the "original" box that was suppose to be out a few years ago were The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. Neither title is in this new box set.

The Hitchcock and David Lean boxes were cancelled at that time because they were slated to include a few Carlton/Rank films that Janus holds the rights to. Disney does indeed own the rights to the Selznick library becuase of their purchase of ABC. Disney has licensed portions of the ABC Pictures library (inlcluding the Selznick library) to several third parties in the past, including Anchor Bay and Criterion. A few years ago they licensed the entire library to MGM for a long term. The Selnick titles included in this box are Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious, and The Paradine Case.

[domino harvey]

Any of the folks doing commentary this time around worth double-dipping for?

Here's the thing: these commentaries are going to be production history examinations and historical contextualizations, unlike the excellent scholarly/academic/analytical tracks found on the Criterion releases. I'll still be picking this up for all the OOP flicks but also not regretting the amount I spent securing the Criterions

[domino harvey]

I wouldn't mind seeing The Paradine Case.

If you haven't seen it before, don't set your hopes too high-- Hitchcock somehow fills a movie with two of the most entertaining character actors of the time, Laughton and Coburn, and wastes both on a dull dull dull film.

[Haggai]

Any of the folks doing commentary this time around worth double-dipping for?

Here's the thing: these commentaries are going to be production history examinations and historical contextualizations, unlike the excellent scholarly/academic/analytical tracks found on the Criterion releases. I'll still be picking this up for all the OOP flicks but also not regretting the amount I spent securing the Criterions

I would describe Rudy Behlmer's commentaries, including the one on the Criterion Notorious, as more of the former type of track you mention, as opposed to the latter. And Drew Casper's commentaries tend to be a lot more of the latter type than the former.

[skuhn8]

Well, we do have a Dick Schickel commentary in the bunch...cough sputter belch.

I've read and reread Leoanard Leff's excellent book on Selznick and Hitchcock so will definitely give his commentary a whirl.

[domino harvey]

Leff did the excellent commentary on the Criterion Rebecca disc, so that one's gonna be a keeper. Even with my reservations, compared to the shitty extras on the other Universal (and WB) set, this is actually a really great package.

[wpqx]

I remember the original rumors about this years ago and I can't say I'm too excited now. None of the releases are really new considering there are still a few of Hitchcock's British films unavailable.

[Svevan]

I think Young and Innocent got a bit of a revival thanks to DVD and Truffaut's book: it really is one of his best British period films. As far as I know, all the Region 1 copies of this film are very poor (I saw it on a twofer disc with The Cheney Vase ep of Hitch Presents).

edit: Sabotage, on the other hand, is a very poor film with only one or two pure-Hitch scenes.

Too bad on the double-dip for Lifeboat; identical special features to the current release. Doubt they'll be "remastering" that any further than they did two years ago. Paradine Case could use a Region 1 cleanup though, and it'll be interesting to see if they trump the Criterion transfers or any of the various DVD versions of The Lodger.

double edit: I clicked the link thinking to myself that MGM surely would feature better cover art than the many poor Hitch Compilation DVDs that are out there. How wrong was I? Here's hoping each film has an individual case, but from the looks of the box I doubt that.

[sevenarts]

I wouldn't mind seeing The Paradine Case.

If you haven't seen it before, don't set your hopes too high-- Hitchcock somehow fills a movie with two of the most entertaining character actors of the time, Laughton and Coburn, and wastes both on a dull dull dull film.

Oh yeah, I know its reputation, but it's Hitchcock and I'd like to see/have everything by him eventually -- and I believe that one doesn't currently have a good DVD release, right?

[domino harvey]

It was released on Image, I got the OOP DVD thru ILL and the PQ wasn't all that bad, but you're right in that it is currently unavailable in R1. I've seen every Hitchcock film he made since coming to Hollywood and I'd rank the Paradine Case (several notches) below Topaz as his two worst post-British films. But it's worth seeing to be able to fit it into future auteurist arguments and I'm glad it's being thrown in with movies I want so that it'll be there to refer to later.

double edit: I clicked the link thinking to myself that MGM surely would feature better cover art than the many poor Hitch Compilation DVDs that are out there. How wrong was I? Here's hoping each film has an individual case, but from the looks of the box I doubt that.

LOL @ Joan Fontaine's eyes and the key from Notorious comprising almost the entire cover-- what's the third picture, the hand silhouette, from?

[PillowRock]

LOL @ Joan Fontaine's eyes and the key from Notorious comprising almost the entire cover-- what's the third picture, the hand silhouette, from?

I find myself wanting to say that the hand is from the Dali dream sequence in Spellbound.

[Magic Hate Ball]

Heh, when I saw the missing Criterions were here I actually said "YES" and pumped my fist.

[Joe Buck]

I have all the Criterion Hitch films. I'm thinking maybe I should quickly try to sell them on eBay before demand goes down. I really liked the Criterion discs, especially Rebecca, which had very attractive packaging, but with things the way they are, maybe I should just take the money and run. You can't take it with you, you know? If these new discs were barebones I wouldn't do it, but there appears to be sufficient enough extras to fill the void. What do you think? Am I foolish to part with them?