Alfred hitchcock in Drama DVDs & Videos

Description:

See another side of the Master of Suspense with this collection containing seven films as well as a two-hour documentary feature about the filmmaker, entitled "More Than Just A Profile." Featured films include THE 39 STEPS, THE LADY VANISHES, EASY VIRTUE, BLACKMAIL, THE CHENEY VASE, MURDER!, and SABOTAGE.

Description:

The weather is getting hotter, and photographer L.B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart) is stuck in his apartment with a broken leg and nothing to do--that is, nothing to do but spy on his neighbors through their open windows across the way in the apartment complex. There's an attractive and scantily clad dancer, a songwriter, a lonely woman, and the Thorwalds (Raymond Burr and Irene Winston), a bickering couple, among others. But when Mrs. Thorwald disappears, Jefferies is sure that something's wrong. Soon, despite the warnings of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and his motherly nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), Jefferies has out his binoculars and telephoto lens and is studying his neighbor "like a bug under glass." However, looking in from the outside might not be as safe as Jefferies assumes. REAR WINDOW is not only a gripping story of murder and suspense, it is a celebrated allegory on the nature of film itself, a story in which the audience watches Jefferies watch the story unfold. The different windows represent the various different stories that are often told on film and also can be seen as representing the coming of television, as Jefferies can watch a multitude of "shows" from the comfort of his own apartment.

Description:

If you like Hitchcock, then this is a great collection for you. Ten of his early movies collected on five double-sided DVD discs. The movies include: YOUNG & INNOCENT, BLACKMAIL, JUNO & THE PAYCOCK, RICH & STRANGE, THE RING, LODGER, SECRET AGENT, THE LADY VANISHES, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and SABOTAGE. See individual titles for descriptions.

Description:

British film director Alfred Hitchcock was known as the master of suspense and his legendary career spanned over six decades. THE LEGEND BEGINS compiles 20 of his earlier movies including JAMAICA INN, THE LADY VANISHES, THE 39 STEPS, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, and THE LODGER.

Description:

Master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock was as prolific as he was brilliant, producing not only dozens of award-winning films but also a few excellent television series. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, which won the Golden Globe Award for "Television Achievement," was arguably the best of his small-screen triumphs. Hosted by the man himself, the series offered viewers short audiovisual stories on a weekly basis, mixing the genres of horror, drama, suspense, and fantasy. The third season of the show is collected here in its entirety.

Description:

The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, was as prolific as he was brilliant, producing not only dozens of award-winning films, but also a few excellent television series. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, which won the Golden Globe Award for "Television Achievement," was arguably the best of his small-screen triumphs. Hosted by the man himself, the series offered viewers short dramatized stories on a weekly basis, mixing the genres of horror, drama, suspense, and fantasy. Season two is collected here in its entirety, with 39 episodes featuring guest stars Rip Torn, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Vic Morrow, and others.

Description:

The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, was as prolific as he was brilliant, producing not only dozens of award-winning films, but also a few excellent television series'. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, which won the Golden Globe Award for "Television Achievement," was arguably the best of his small screen triumphs. Hosted by the man himself, the series offered viewers short audiovisual stories on a weekly basis, mixing the genres of horror, drama, suspense, and fantasy. SEASON ONE is collected here in its entirety.

Description:

Containing 14 of the cinematic gems that earned Alfred Hitchcock his reputation as the Master of Suspense, ALFRED HITCHCOCK - THE MASTERPIECE COLLECTION is the ultimate collection for fans of the legendary director. Created across three major decades in filmmaking history, the films included here range from the witty, fashionable, and funny, to the truly terrifying and macabre. Showing Hitchcock's great breadth as a director, these works star such screen icons as Grace Kelly, James Stewart, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, and Doris Day. Contents include SABOTEUR, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, ROPE, REAR WINDOW, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, VERTIGO, PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, MARNIE, TORN CURTAIN, TOPAZ, FRENZY, FAMILY PLOT, plus a special program featuring segments on the making of THE BIRDS and PSYCHO, and an American Film Institute tribute to the director himself. Each film included in the collection also features bonus materials such as director's notes, trailers, extra and deleted scenes, storyboards, and extended/alternate endings.

Description:

This collection from the LEGENDS OF HOLLYWOOD series spotlights the work of the master of suspense himself, featuring 10 films in all: YOUNG & INNOCENT, BLACKMAIL, JUNO & THE PAYCOCK, RICH & STRANGE, THE RING, LODGER, SECRET AGENT, THE LADY VANISHES, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, and THE SABOTAGE, as well as two additional bonus films.

Description:

This pristine collection features eight early masterworks from the oft-silhouetted auteur. If the 1927 silent thriller THE LODGER showed the world what a young Hitchcock was made of, then the crime tales YOUNG AND INNOCENT and SABATOGE ushered his craft into the world of sound, and Laurence Olivier helped the master bring it to new heights in the romantic mystery-thriller REBBECA (1940). A pair of classics featuring the radiant Ingrid Bergman--the psychological thriller SPELLBOUND and the quintessential spy noir NOTORIOUS--are also included in this collection, as is the Gregory Peck legal drama THE PARADINE CASE. The set also features LIFEBOAT, the unconventional World War II thriller that does wonders with just one waterlogged set and Tallulah Bankhead. Almost every one of the films is supplemented with extensive featurettes, vintage trailers, restoration comparisons, commentary from film historians, and more. See individual titles for more detailed information.

Description:

Cinephiles can sate their desire for the work of the "Master of Suspense" with this three-volume collection. This set includes JAMAICA INN, YOUNG AND INNOCENT, THE SKIN GAME, HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: THE SORCEROR'S APPRENTICE, THE MANXMAN, JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, CHAMPAGNE, HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: THE CHENEY VASE, THE FARMER'S WIFE, EASY VIRTUE, and THE RING. Please see individual titles for synopsis information.

Description:

Widely considered the greatest director of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's fifty plus year career is highlighted in ALFRED HITCHCOCK: THE SIGNATURE COLLECTION. Titles in the collection include STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951), DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954), FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), I CONFESS (1953), MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941), STAGE FRIGHT (1950), SUSPICION (1941), THE WRONG MAN (1956), and NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959). See individual titles for descriptions.

Description:

Based on Joseph Conrad's SECRET AGENT, this thriller is about a woman who suspects that her kindly husband may actually be a dangerous foreign agent. Hitchcock creates an atmosphere of claustrophobic fear while depicting a mysterious conspiracy to blow up Londoners in the places they gather. Behind the suspense premise, one can imagine Hitchcock enjoyed unfolding this story in front of his captive theater-bound audiences.

Description:

Alfred Hitchcock demonstrates once again his brilliance in creating visual suspense in this film from his British period. NUMBER 17 tells the story of a young detective who stumbles across a stash of jewel thieves hiding out in an abandoned house near a railway. Multiple identities and confusion are the background for this early Hitchcock thriller. The story, based on a play by J. Jefferson Farjeon, was previously filmed as a 1928 silent picture and was a studio assignment Hitchcock initially resented.

Description:

This boxed set collects 12 films from the early part of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock's career, all made in Great Britain. Included are THE SKIN GAME, NUMBER 17, THE RING, JAMAICA INN, MURDER!, SABOTAGE, THE LODGER, BLACKMAIL, EASY VIRTUE, RICH & STRANGE, THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, and THE FARMER'S WIFE. See individual titles for more details.

Description:

This video 3-pack includes the following: REAR WINDOW - Collector's Edition, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, VOL. 4: "Arthur,""The Crystal Trench,""The Horseplayer,""Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat,""Bang! You're Dead". See individual titles for details.

Description:

Three disc collection that contains VERTIGO: COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Rated PG), PSYCHO: COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Rated R), and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS ("Lamb to the Slaughter," "The Case of Mr. Pelham," "Banquo's Chair," and "Back For Christmas," Not Rated). See individual titles for contributors and notes.

Description:

The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, weaves a knotty yarn of intrigue in this early outing. Young, beautiful, and spoiled Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) is wrapping up a ski vacation before unenthusiastically returning to London to be married. In the hotel, she meets an elderly governess en route to home, Miss Froy (Dame May Witty), as well as an unbearably rude music scholar named Gilbert (Michael Redgrave). Then, just before boarding the train, Iris receives a blow to the head and is taken under the protective wing of Miss Froy. Their conversation is polite and uneventful. Iris finally dozes off and when she comes to, Miss Froy is nowhere to be found, and no one on the train recalls seeing the governess. Thwarted at every turn in her search, Iris finds only one ally, the unbearable but handsome Gilbert. As their search begins to seem futile, Iris starts to suspect she is losing her mind. Then several people on the train--including a shifty physician and a mysterious nun--reveal nefarious motives beneath their innocent facades.

Description:

The weather is getting hotter, and photographer L.B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart) is stuck in his apartment with a broken leg and nothing to do--that is, nothing to do but spy on his neighbors through their open windows across the way in the apartment complex. There's an attractive and scantily clad dancer, a songwriter, a lonely woman, and the Thorwalds (Raymond Burr and Irene Winston), a bickering couple, among others. But when Mrs. Thorwald disappears, Jefferies is sure that something's wrong. Soon, despite the warnings of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and his motherly nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), Jefferies has out his binoculars and telephoto lens and is studying his neighbor "like a bug under glass." However, looking in from the outside might not be as safe as Jefferies assumes. REAR WINDOW is not only a gripping story of murder and suspense, it is a celebrated allegory on the nature of film itself, a story in which the audience watches Jefferies watch the story unfold. The different windows represent the various different stories that are often told on film and also can be seen as representing the coming of television, as Jefferies can watch a multitude of "shows" from the comfort of his own apartment.

Description:

Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) is about to be convicted of a murder on circumstantial evidence. Rather than pay for a crime he didn't commit, he escapes, determined to find the guilty man. While hiding out and lying low, the fugitive enlists the assistance of Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam), a comely country lass too kindhearted to turn him in. Little does he know, she's also the chief constable's daughter. Together, Erica and Robert embark on a mission to prove his innocence and bring the real murderer to justice.

Description:

FRENZY was Alfred Hitchcock's next-to-last film--and the first film he'd made in England in 20 years. It was based on an Arthur La Bern novel and focuses on many of the same motifs that Hitchcock had obsessively examined throughout his life's work: the wrong man theme, the doubling theme (in which one person acts out the repressed violence of another), and the general public's thirst for sex and violence. Hitchcock had made films featuring Jack the Ripper-type killers before, including THE LODGER in 1926, a silent movie about a series of murders in London and a mysterious man who appears to be guilty of the crimes. In FRENZY, Hitchcock goes mod with this blackly comic story about a sex criminal--the Necktie Killer--plaguing post-Carnaby London. An innocent man who is suspected by police as the murderer must fight to nab the real perpetrator and clear his name. Though lesser known, FRENZY marked a striking return to form for the famed director. It was also his first R-rated picture. Anthony Shaffer's script is excellent, and Jon Finch brings distinctive qualities to his role as the classic Hitchcock man-accused hero.

Description:

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, quickly became one of Alfred Hitchcock's most successful thrillers and remains one of his most popular films. En route from Washington, D.C., champion tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) meets pushy playboy Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker). What begins as a chance encounter turns into a series of morbid confrontations, as Bruno manipulates his way into Guy's life. Bruno is eager to kill his father and knows Guy wants to marry a senator's daughter (Ruth Roman) but cannot get a divorce from his wife, Miriam (Laura Elliot). So Bruno suggests the men swap murders, which would leave no traceable clues or possible motives. Though Guy refuses, it will not be so easy to rid himself of the psychopathic Bruno. The film is tightly paced and disturbing from beginning to end, an effect heightened by Hitchcock's inventive camera work, including a terrifying sequence shot through a pair of eyeglasses that have been knocked to the ground.

Description:

I CONFESS, from the play by Paul Anthelme, is based on a premise custom made for Alfred Hitchcock's fascination with the dilemma of an innocent man accused of a crime. Montgomery Clift plays Father Michael Logan, a priest who hears the confession of a murderer and soon finds himself framed for the crime. Circumstantial evidence mounts, painting an ever more damning picture of the priest's crime while he is bound by his priestly vows not to reveal what he has learned in confession. If other Hitchcock dramas such as SABOTEUR follow the plight of the innocent man through breakneck pursuits, I CONFESS succeeds on the strength of Clift's ability to convey the real anxiety of the moral dilemma he faces and the effects of the widening chasm between pious intentions and social disgrace. Strong performances are also given by O.E. Hasse as the bitter and murderous gardener Otto Keller and by Anne Baxter as the woman whose faith in Father Logan also threatens scandal.

Description:

Joan Fontaine's fabulous performance as a woman who grows to fear the man she loves anchors this compelling story in which Alfred Hitchcock shows his love for playing with the audience's expectations. Perfectly cast is the dashing Cary Grant, whose lovable and charming persona is on full display while being completely transformed through Hitchcock's eerie camera work and visual innuendo--to the point that the simplest gesture takes on a new and malevolent aspect. SUSPICION lives up to its title's promise, weaving dread and ambiguity into a potent psychological net. Fontaine is the beautiful daughter of a wealthy, landed English family. Grant is the lighthearted and irreverent wastrel who charms Fontaine into elopement and succeeds in introducing the young woman to the pleasures of a more carefree outlook on life. However, as Fontaine discovers the legacy of Grant's carefree ways--his numerous debts and pursuers--she begins to suspect a darker past and must confront the horrible implications this has for her future.

Description:

VERTIGO is Alfred Hitchcock's haunting tale of deception, madness, and death--a masterful exploration of fantasy and anxiety. The film ranks with REAR WINDOW as one of the director's most closely studied films for its psychological complexity, while the obsession of its protagonist--John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart)--can also be seen to parallel that of Hitchcock's own fascination with the icy-blonde leading lady he re-created at the center of so many of his films. Ferguson is a retired detective, his career ended by the onset of a paralyzing fear of heights. An old friend, the wealthy Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), hires Ferguson to follow his wife (Kim Novak), whom, he explains, has grown obsessed with an ancestor of hers. The assignment, however, draws Ferguson out of his comfortable role as observer and into a complex web of intrigue, mingled with the detective's own fantasies and fears. Stewart gives an exceptional performance as the disintegrating detective, while Novak, who was left largely undirected by Hitchcock, conveys a subtle and powerful psychological journey. Another star of the film is its San Francisco setting. VERTIGO is considered one of Hitchcock's most complex, finest films.

Description:

Alfred Hitchcock had already begun work on REAR WINDOW when he took on the project to direct DIAL M FOR MURDER, based on the successful play by Frederick Knott. For the film, Hitchcock chose to cast his favorite leading lady of the time, Grace Kelly, as the embattled Margot Wendice. Kelly would also star in REAR WINDOW and Hitchcock's subsequent TO CATCH A THIEF. It wasn't Hitchcock's preference to shoot DIAL M FOR MURDER in Warnercolor 3D (the cameras were large and unwieldly), and the film is seldom screened in 3D, but Hitchcock's use of the technique is notable for its service to the story rather than just being a gimmick. In the film Margot Wendice is a wealthy heiress whose playboy husband, Tony (Ray Milland), recognizes his dependence on his wife's fortune. When Tony begins to suspect he is losing Margot's affection to writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), he also begins to fear he will lose her wealth. This leads the callous husband to craft a plan for his wife's death. However, when the plan goes awry, Tony is quick to turn circumstance into a second opportunity to destroy his wife.

Description:

FAMILY PLOT was Alfred Hitchcock's 54th and final film; he died on April 29, 1980. The film was Hitchcock's second biggest box office success. Once again the master has made a film that involves one of his favorite themes--doubling--with one character providing a dark counterpoint to the hero, acting out all his or her repressed, negative desires, as in SHADOW OF A DOUBT and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. In this film, the two couples, one criminal but amiable and the other criminal but violent, provide a stark contrast with one another. The parallel couples also provide emotional counterbalance to one another as Hitchcock weaves alternating threads of humor and cruelty to create this layered story. When a rich, guilt-ridden dowager visits a psychic (Barbara Harris) for help in finding her family's long-abandoned heir, she sets off more than a search for a missing person. Unbeknownst to the lady, the psychic is a phony, and the lure of dollars sends her, along with her cabdriver husband (Bruce Dern), in hot pursuit of the lost beneficiary. Their bumbling search, however, threatens to interfere with established criminal interests, and, unknowingly, the couple's doggedness leads them into harm's way. The film was based on THE RAINBIRD PATTERN, a novel by Victor Canning.

Description:

TORN CURTAIN was Alfred Hitchcock's 50th film and signals a return to the espionage-romance theme the director showcased in such films as SECRET AGENT and THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. Hitchcock created a distinct look for the film, subduing lighting and gauzing the lens to give a more natural, less studio-produced feel. Notably, it was the strength of studio influence that contributed another change in the look of the film relative to most Hitchcock pictures, casting leads that departed from traditional Hitchcock types. Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, both at the heights of their popularity when the film was released, anchor this cold war spy thriller. An American scientist (Newman) attends a convention in Copenhagen with his fiancée-assistant (Andrews). While there, she picks up a message meant for him and is drawn into a complex web of espionage behind the Iron Curtain that he had intended to face alone. Her presence throws all his plans into disarray, and the two lovers discover too late that it's easier to get in than to get out again. In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Hitchcock shows his audience just how difficult murder can be when opposed by the will for survival.

Description:

A favorite of Alfred Hitchcock himself, with an exceptional script by the playwright Thornton Wilder, SHADOW OF A DOUBT anticipates such family menace dramas as CAPE FEAR. Young Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) lies on her bed in Santa Rosa, California, bored with her small-town life and family. Meanwhile, her namesake, Uncle Charlie, lies on another bed thousands of miles away in Philadelphia surrounded by discarded bills, deep in secret thoughts. The two are linked, psychic twins, and when Charlie goes to send for her uncle, she finds a telegram announcing his visit already waiting for her. Uncle Charlie brings happiness into the Newton home and a special pleasure to Mother. Yet Charlie feels a tension--as if her double, played with razor-thin menace by the mild-mannered Joseph Cotten, has brought violence into her home as well. Subtle clues add weight to Charlie's vague doubts. This growing knowledge shocks her out of the warm sense of safety that she held in her small world. However, her intuitive understanding is a long way from allowing the young niece to challenge her uncle, and the tense cat-and-mouse play between the two is powerfully dramatized, showing Hitchcock in his best form.

Description:

In terms of psychological power and innovative visual techniques, MARNIE ranks alongside VERTIGO and PSYCHO as one of Alfred Hitchcock's most exceptional films, though it is less well known than these classics. This thriller, based on a best-selling novel by Wilson Graham, revolves around a pathological liar and compulsive thief (Tippi Hedren) who is befriended by her latest victim, Mark Rutland (Sean Connery). The core of the story concerns a wealthy man who marries a beautiful woman who steals from his business. Despite his sincere love, dashing looks, and wealth, some deep-seated neurosis makes her emotionally inaccessible, causing him to search her past for an explanation. This is Connery's American film debut, and he portrays his character's fascination with Marnie with a conviction that allows the psychological turmoil of the young woman to emerge. Hedren's performance as the deeply conflicted and emotionally scarred woman walks the fine line favored by Hitchcock, balanced between an icy sexuality and emotional fragility. The director wants to show the audience Marnie's world and fears, so he uses a range of innovative visual techniques--including awkward rear projections, flashes of color, and a menacing atmosphere of storms--to convey her troubled state of mind. MARNIE is one of Hitchcock's most underrated and underappreciated films.