UK Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection From Universal October Pre-order
Posted June 20, 2012 03:21 PM by Webmaster
Universal's 14-movie Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Blu-ray set is available to pre-order for the
first of October on Amazon UK now. The handsome package includes hours of bonus features, a collectible 15 page hardback book, art cards, costume sketches, correspondence, photographs and more.
Full Movie List:
Saboteur (1942) - Starring Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane. Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane goes on the run across the United States when he is wrongly accused of a fire that killed his best friend.
· Bonus Features: Saboteur: A Closer Look, Storyboards: The Statue of Liberty Sequence, Alfred Hitchcock's Sketches, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - Starring Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright. A young woman discovers her visiting "Uncle Charlie" whom she idolizes may not be the man he initially seemed to be.
· Bonus Features: Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film, Production Drawings by Art Director Robert Boyle, Production Photographs , Theatrical Trailer
Rope (1948) - Starring James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger. Two young men strangle their classmate, hide his body in their apartment and invite his closest friends and family to a dinner party as a means of proving the "perfection" of their crime.
· Bonus Features: Rope Unleashed , Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer
Rear Window (1954) Widescreen - Starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his window and becomes convinced one of them has committed a serious murder.
· Bonus Features: Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary, A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes, Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of The Master, Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock, Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts, Masters of Cinema, Feature Commentary with John Fawell, author of Hitchcock's Rear Window: The Well-Made Film, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer, Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart, BD Live, Pocket Blu (Blu-ray Exclusive)
The Trouble with Harry (1955) Widescreen VistaVision - Starring John Forsythe and Shirley MacLaine. The trouble with Harry is that everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body.
· Bonus Features: The Trouble with Harry Isn't Over, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Widescreen VistaVision - Starring James Stewart and Doris Day. A family holidaying in Morocco stumble on to an assassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering.
· Bonus Features: The Making of The Man Who Knew Too Much, Production Photographs, Trailers
Vertigo (1958) Widescreen VistaVision - Starring James Stewart and Kim Novak. A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the activities of an old friend's wife, whilst becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
· Bonus Features: Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece, Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators, Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts, Foreign Censorship Ending, The Vertigo Archives, Feature Commentary with Associate Producer Herbert Coleman, Restoration Team Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz, and Other Vertigo Participants, Feature Commentary with Director William Friedkin, 100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era, Theatrical Trailer, Restoration Theatrical Trailer, BD Live, Pocket Blu (Blu-ray Exclusive)
Psycho (1960) Widescreen - Starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, A young woman steals $40,000 from her client and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor who has been too long under the presence and domination of his mother.
· Bonus Features: The Making of Psycho, Psycho Sound, In The Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy, Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts, Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho, The Shower Scene: With and Without Music , The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass, The Psycho Archives, Posters and Psycho Ads, Lobby Cards, Behind-the-Scenes Photographs, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer, Re-release Trailers, Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho)
The Birds (1963) Widescreen - Starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren. A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a Northern California town that takes a bizarre turn when birds of all kinds begin to attack people in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.
· Bonus Features: Deleted Scene, Original Ending, The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie – New! (Blu-ray Exclusive), All About The Birds, Storyboards, Tippi Hedren's Screen Test, Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts, The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel), Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel), Production Photographs, 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics, 100 Years of Universal: The Lot, Theatrical Trailer, BD Live, Pocket Blu (Blu-ray Exclusive)
Marnie (1964) Widescreen - Starring Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren. Mark marries Marnie, although she is a thief and possesses serious psychological problems, Mark tries to help her confront and resolve the issues.
· Bonus Features: The Trouble with Marnie, The Marnie Archives, Theatrical Trailer
Torn Curtain (1966) Widescreen- Starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. A US scientist defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin and has to figure out a plan to escape back West.
· Bonus Features: Torn Curtain Rising, Scenes Scored by Bernard Herrmann, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer
Topaz (1969) Widescreen - Starring Frederick Stafford and Dany Robin. A French intelligence agent becomes embroiled in Cold War politics first uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and then back to France to break up a Russian spy ring.
· Bonus Features: Alternate Endings, Topaz: An Appreciation by Film Historian and Critic Leonard Maltin, Storyboards: The Mendozas, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer
Frenzy (1972) Widescreen - Starring Jon Finch, Barry Foster and Alec McCowen. A serial killer is murdering women in London with a necktie, the police have a suspect but is he the correct man…?
· Bonus Features: The Story of Frenzy, Production Photographs , Theatrical Trailer
Family Plot (1976) Widescreen - Hitchcock's last movie, starring Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, Karen Black and William Devane. A suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while following a missing heir in California.
· Bonus Features: Plotting Family Plot, Storyboards: The Chase Scene, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailer
U.S. PLEEEEEEEASE. Been holding off buying ANY Hitch titles (except Criterions) precisely because I have the DVD version of this box set and I want to replace ALL the titles.
I assume we'll hear a US announcement soon. Probably come out around the same time or November. I had a feeling there was going to be a Hitchcock announcement this year since it's Universal's 100th. Ugh I'm gonna be broke this fall.
Everyone calm down. Universal has always been Region Free. And I'm sure Universal here in the States will announce this soon as well. They better anyway. And there are no visible Region Coding symbols anywhere so this may very well BE the US release picture but not formally announced yet. UK Amazon does that sometimes.
Oy vey!! Universal is really hitting it out of the park this year! This is gonna be very tempting but my wallet won't be able to handle this AND the James Bond set which I want more. The good thing is that it means the Universal Hitchcock library is all transfered to Blu-ray. Will get The Birds once it sells individually
I know that the david lynch set was a case of many studios films liscensed out to universal but that set just came out region locked. of course i highly doubt that universal will give Hitch the same shoddy treatment
It looks amazing and I can upgrade my "Masterpiece Collection" DVD set. I hope a US announcement comes soon and that some restoration was applied to all the films (although I expect Rear Window, Vertigo and The Birds to have fully restored picture and audio).
oh my god this is one of the best news of the year so far! i can't wait! certainly going to purchase this. may have to cancel my Street Fighter 25th Anniversary set afterall.
of course I am beyond excited about this set, but I do have fears that other than the "big 4" the other titles will be simply based on the old dvd masters. Even with Hitch being arguably the greatest director of all time, I still have a hard time believing that Universal did the right thing and created new masters for every single title.
Really hope I'm wrong.
@markedouglas - Seriously!?! 3 of the 14? Hard to believe you've seen the same films as I did. There are SO many great films in there... and Frenzy is pretty damn good, too!
IMO, ALL of these are worth having because they are Alfred Hitchcock and I will be getting this and I haven't seen all of them. But most definitely will be watching them all. Can't wait!!!!
This is very good news, indeed, presumably for both UK *and* US fans. It's definitely a good looking package, arguably even better than the Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection DVD box Universal released a few years ago — and from which I'll gladly upgrade to this blu-ray version.
I'm definitely pleased that Universal is upgrading this entire set to blu-ray, rather than gradually releasing each title separately, like MGM is doing. For those who want all of Hitchcock's films, it's probably more economical. And it definitely makes more sense for people like me, who prefer box sets. Looks as if I won't have to buy any more Universal-controlled Hitchcock BD titles separately (aside from Psycho, which I already own).
Now I just hope the picture and sound quality on all the films is of a caliber that fits Hitchcock.
I'm hoping it will come to the US. It seems all the good limited editions is over seas and not here. Hope Universal brings out the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece to the United States.
I'm sceptic. Universal made a big thing about their 100th Anniversary and proudly presented a list of classics to be restored, not mentioning anything about Vertigo or Rear Window. Makes me wonder if a new 2012 restoration was made of these, done in 4K. I mean, that is the only way to go for these prestigious masterpieces.
I resisted buying many Hitchcock films on DVD because they never seemed to have produced particularly great transfers or essential extras. But I think it could be time to buy now! I like the way it spans all the way from the 1940s to the end of Hitchcock's career, including Frenzy, my personal favourite.
2. Oh goody, another over-sized package with unnecessary book - and slots leading to potentially scratched discs! I don't like this trend, not one little bit. And look, this one has an outer case making it even bigger!
Vertigo!?! This went through extensive restoration several years ago (documented at the time on The Digital Bits), even got a theatrical release. But there was never any word about digital transfer. This one needs special handling
-->>> IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT THIS: ALL of these same Hitchcock titles have been showing on the Retro HD Network (a US cable channel for Universal), in stunning fresh looking HD transfers, for the past six weeks or so. Many of the titles look fantastic, Vertigo and The Birds in particular look superb in HD. I hope this set or the stand alone titles will come to the US soon, but this set is a huge bargain from the UK...
Much of this discussion and comments elsewhere on the forum remind me of one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons. Two guys standing at the water cooler, one speaking to the other: "Oh, can't complain...but I will."
A fascinating and informative thread on Lawrence of Arabia in Robert A. Harris's blog over at HTF includes the revelation that David Lean (and the film's restorers, Harris and James C. Katz) intentionally retained subtle white lines that showed up in the film stock as a result of the intense desert heat. Lean, according to Harris, rather liked the imperfection, as he viewed the film as "hand-made, like a Navajo blanket." Yet I'm sure that once the LoA Blu-ray is released, there will be many (you know who you are) that will whine and complain about them. Somehow we've lost our collective ability to celebrate the 90 percent of what's good in the world and acquired the habit of complaining about the 10 percent that's not.
An aside to rocklandsboy: slots do not scratch BRDs. The discs are coated with a super-hard polymer, invented especially for the Blu-ray format, that makes them virtually impervious to damage from this sort of contact.
I can see one thing I don't like. It appears that the Blu discs are going to be in slots at the tops of the page. Even with Blu's protective coating, those kind of slots have scratched many a DVD.
I usually detest big box sets, but this one looks pretty nice. That said, I would prefer something more "shelfable", but if this is the only option, I'll definitely purchase.
What I usually do with monster box sets like this one is just relocate the discs to however many six disc cases it takes, and shelf the original package with the boks and so forth....
@Philly Q - I didn't even think about that... I just had a look at the link that dsman71 posted, saw that it mentioned 15 movies and compared the list until I came to the difference that was "North By Northwest". Later there was a News-post here on Blu-ray.com with information on the US set and that also mentioned 15 movies including NBNw.
But, you are right, NBNw is a WB title, so maybe Universal in US has been able to strike a deal with WB for its inclusion but the UK branch has not (don't even know if it works that way...).
For my part it is actually better that NBNw isn't included in the UK set! I like the way the UK set looks the best (yes, I am one of the few that like the bulky sets as long as they look cool) and I already have the Digibook of NBNw making Psycho the only double-dip in the whole set (I have The Birds on pre-order, but it will be cancelled very soon).
It is indeed a good price. Love the artwork, and since I already have the separate edition I couldn't care less about the lack of North by Northwest. I guess it's like the Kubrick box-set released by Warner, which presented Spartacus and Dr. Strangelove under license in the US edition and only the Warner titles in European editions.
Hm, 'tis a bit strange. The picture of the German release looks pretty much exactly like the UK release, but a page in the German book shows North by Northwest, then the next page is The Birds, whereas The Birds page in the UK set is preceded by Psycho, but the specs for the German release don't mention that it contains North by Northwest.
So you were right about "North by Northwest" in the US set!
I think the UK set looks classier, but in a way I prefer the retro styling of the US set. I guess I'll decide on price, which'll probably mean UK for me.
This 14 disc set does not include North By Northwest... The US release has north By Northwest included and is a 15 Disc set. Lucky I have it as a seperate release.
