Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

[Martha]

All nine Hitchcock films in one collectable package:
Dial M for Murder
Foreign Correspondent
I Confess
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
North By Northwest
Stage Fright
Strangers On A Train: Special Edition
Suspicion
The Wrong Man

[peerpee]

I agree about THE WRONG MAN. The whole film is framed too tight on the DVD.

[swingo]

I agree about THE WRONG MAN. The whole film is framed too tight on the DVD.

I own most of this Hitch's collection but on r4, I , however, did not knew the problem with the wrong man edition, since I haven't (and most probably never will) watched it on a theater can't tell the differences...

Axel.

[dvdane]

The Wrong Man is cropped from its OAR of either 1.33:1 or 1.66:1 to 1.78:1 to allow 16x9 encoding.

I originally tried to get hold of the producer, but gave it up, as he was involved with Polanski in Europe at the time.

While Hitchcock wanted a documentaristic feel around the film, it is possible that the film was projected in 1.66:1, as Warner, before deciding on 1.85:1, had no real studio plan towards the widescreen agenda, and as they did hard matte some of their films in 56 to 1.66:1. But as this wasn't a major studio release from Warner, and was in black and white, even experimental in its production, it seems unlikely, that Warner would release it in 1.66:1. I've found no literature which seems to mention anything about its format. In any case, the 1.78:1 is wrong.

An even bigger crime is that Warner decided to release Dial M for Murder in 1.85:1 for R2 and R4, as the OAR is 1.33:1, which they kept on their R1 release.

[lord_clyde]

The first time I've ever seen the wrong man is with this set, and I thought it was fantastic, so I guess for newcomers who haven't had the pleasure of a theatrical screening it's a-okay.

But I will watch it again to look at the scene you mentioned.

[otis]

Dan Auiler's Hitchcock's Notebooks reproduces a letter from Hitchcock to Sidney Bernstein dated July 1953, a couple of weeks before shooting started on Dial M for Murder, in which he mentions:

Screen size for Dial M. 1.75 to 1.00.

My memory of seeing the 3D version in Paris a few years ago is of a 1.37:1 ratio, but this seems to suggest it was made to be shown masked. So which DVD version more accurately presents the film as released in 1954, the Region 1 or the Region 2?

[Jeff]

The Hitchcock Signature Collection has been discontinued by Warner. All individual discs from the box, except North by Northwest and Foreign Correspondent, are still available. North by Northwest has been replaced by a new 50th Anniversary Edition. Warner's license to distribute Foreign Correspondent (and the rest of the Caidin Trust library) has expired, and has apparently been picked up by Criterion.

(Edited on 10-20-09 to reflect the discontinuation of Foreign Correspondent)

[duck duck]

Does anyone know if "Dial M" will be the original or a computer modified 3-D that only works with 3-D players?

[martin]

Rumours about an upcoming Blu-ray of "Dial M for Murder" have existed for years (a French release, supposed to happen in 2010, has never seen the light of day). The last thing I've heard is that Warner US will indeed release a 3D version! Presumably at the end of 2012 according to the link.

[Der Spieler]

An even bigger crime is that Warner decided to release Dial M for Murder in 1.85:1 for R2 and R4, as the OAR is 1.33:1, which they kept on their R1 release.

Might not be the most reliable source, but IMDB list the OAR as 1.85:1. And I always thought the framing looked odd on the R1 disc, much like Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt by Exposure. I'm not quite sure that 1.33:1 is right.

[manicsounds]

Strangers On A Train BD and Dial M For Murder BD reviews at DVDBeaver.

[Der Spieler]

Here in Canada "Dial" is priced super-high (40-ish) because of the inclusion of a 3D disc.

Bummer really as I can't see that much Hitchcock fans being really interested in that.

[hearthesilence]

With Dial "M", that's the rub. I was never a fan of the film until I actually saw it in 3D (via the original process, which screened at Film Forum - FWIW, they're about to screen the film again, this time with digital 3D processing). Suddenly, the formal aspects became far more stunning and it really lifted the material.

However, generally speaking, I don't have any interest in 3D. Except for Hugo and Dial "M", there's no other film I'd like to see again in 3D. So the extra cost of owning a 3D TV, glasses, a Blu-Ray player with 3D capabilities, etc. is too much of a luxury.

So as much as I would like to own this film right now, I can't because I'd only want to see it in a format that I can't (and probably won't ever) support.

[scotty2]

A little bothersome that the British cut of Strangers on a Train is not in 1080 according to beaver.

[TMDaines]

Anyone know why that it's seemingly only the UK that isn't getting a standalone Strangers on a Train Blu-ray? The US has got it and France, Spain, Italy and Germany are all getting one too. Presumably the European release is the same as the US disc though?

[tenia]

In France, it seems, on the contrary, that the stand alone release of Strangers on a train has been cancelled. Moreover, the French 3 Warner movies boxset (Dial M, Strangers, North by Northwest) has also disappeared from the pre-orders, meaning that in France, there will be no Strangers on a train release at all so far.

[TMDaines]

Very strange and very frustrating. Oh well, an import it is at some point.