Hitchcock - The British Years [DVD]

First of all let me express my thoughts regarding this Granada-Network release, which I kind of waited a year to purchase.It includes some of the early works of the Master. To begin with these are the titles as described also by the trader: The Pleasure Garden (1925); The Lodger (A Story of the London Fog) (1926); Downhill (1927); The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934); The 39 Steps (1935); Sabotage (1936); Secret Agent (1936); Young and Innocent (1937); The lady vanishes (1938) and The Jamaica Inn (1939).I have to say that I was more than impressed with The Pleasure Garden which has its roots in the German Expressionism, and within this field in the works of FW Murnau, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch. Up to a point it seems a melodrama but it becomes more than this... I don't want to spoil for you. Regardless of what one of the fellow reviewers said I should like to point out that the movie has its own soundtrack (but its a normal soundtrack for a silent movie). Also the quality of the image is very good. The cast of the film is entirely American and the movie is made mostly in Germany (Munich).The Lodger is also a movie which had only been available in poor quality until this collection was issued. It is the first purely Hitchcock movie, as many critics considered although parts of his style can be observed in his first movie even. The theme is the innocent man accused of murder (this leit motif will appear in most of Hitch's work). A peculiar aspect about the Lodger is related with the main character which is played by an idol matine actor from the British silent era, Ivor Novello. Watch it closely because it is fantastic. If you want a more complete version (the purest ever issued) you should also purchase The Premiere Collection Hitchcock from amazon.com.Downhill is the third silent of this pack and I can not really say something as I did not have the chance to see it yet. I think it is the first time on DVD in the UK.After the silent part we get the talkies which are early faces of film noir and thriller (as Hitch is inventor of the Thriller genre). The man who knew too much represents the first out of Germany movie made by Hungarian born actor Peter Lorre. It is quite different from the US version made in 1956 with Doris Day and James Stewart because it is much darker.Then we come to 39 Steps which many considered to be the milestone movie for Hitch.I agree with this term because because it is a mix with Hitch's favourite themes which from that moment on will develop his career in the US as well. Great performance from Robert Donat and the Secret Agent women character Madeleine Carroll. Both movies are somehow spy movies with a noir drop and a thriller sparkle. To this category we can add also Sabotage which is an authentic spy movie with a kind simbolic meaning to the upcoming second World War. The final spy movie with its sarcastic and humorous accent is The Lady Vanishes which is a pure delight.Young and Innocent is a tale of wrongly accused with murder. Also, it is a love story and the end of the movie is great (story wise and filming it wise).The last one, Jamaica Inn is a different kind of movie involving pirates, murderers and a beatiful woman (Maureen O'Hara). The justice has its ugly side.To conclude with the aulity of the restoration is amazing, the bonus features are great and BFI's involvement in this is cheerful. Collect this box if you love the Master.**UPDATE** 30/01/2009I had the chance to watch other movies from the collection and as it seems Downhill is missing soundtrack and I think the Lodger as well. Such a shame for Network and Granada

This is a DVD box set of Hitchcock's earliest films. Indeed it bridges his first, 1925's The Pleasure Garden and his last Jamica Inn. And between these two films are some genuine delights, and a notable exception. There are spruced up versions of most of the films here, notably Hitchcock's calling card, The Lodger, which also has the archival version. Hitch's third film, The Lodger deals with Hitchockian themes, mainly, blondes, murder, and an innocent man on the run (see also Young & Innocent, The 39 Steps, etc). On first look, The Lodger still seemed a bit ropy, (especially compared to Eureka's Masters of Cinema version of Fritz Lang's Metropolis - a film of similar age with a bitingly clear transfer), but viewing it against the previous available copy there is a marked difference. Ivor Novello stars as a suspicious character who could be a Jack the Ripper-type killer, but being as Norvello was the biggest matinee idol of the day... Although this box set spans the whole of his British out put, there is one notable exception, and that is the film that cemented his reputation as a maker of thrillers, the seminal Blackmail. Downhill, the follow up to The Lodger also stars Ivor Novello.Also included are, Sabotage, based on the Joseph Conrad novel, The Secret Agent, the film The Secret Agent based on a story by Somerset Maughan, The Man Who Knew Too Much featuring Peter Lorre in an early role (hot from starring in Fritz Lang's M), the classic, and template for a lot of following Hitchcock films, The 39 Steps [first of three versions and the best!] starring the great Robert Donat and the sexy Madeleine Carroll. The under appreciated, but a firm favourite of mine, Young and Innocent, with attractive leads and a great innocent-man-accused-of-murder chase story. One of Hitch's finest comedy-thrillers, The Lady Vanishes, about mysterious goings-on in Europe, a whistled code, the cricket loving pair Charters and Caldicott...and a vanishing lady!The DVDs are presented two per jewell case, and all five cases are collected in a cardboard slipcase - a digipack would have been better, but at least they all share the same design and actually look like a proper box set and not just a collection of films bunged together. Extras include an introduction to every film, two Cinema programmes from the sixties [not full programmes but rough cuts - the second only has Hitch's responses, no questions!, a 25 minute docu on the making of his British films before going to Hollywood on the eve of war, a short but informative booklet written by Charles Barr, who also gives the to camera intros to the films, an Aquarius programme from the early seventies, made at the time Hitch was filming Frenzy, and picture galleries. All in all a worthy set from Network (shame about the missing Blackmail, though) of an important period not only in Hitchcock's career but in that of British Film.

I had been waiting for years for the release in decent presentations of some of these great films, particularly The Lodger, available so far on DVD only in terrible transfers of very poor copies. So I was thrilled when I heard of this box-set and ordered a copy immediately. I won't repeat what previous customers wrote about the films and contents of this package, because I generally agree with them. But I must say I am very disappointed with the disc of The Lodger, for me the main attraction of this set. The picture looks very good in the new BFI restoration, considering the state of the film elements available, but how on earth Network and Granada considered acceptable for this release on DVD a mute presentation (with no soundtrack at all) of this gem o a film? Silent films were never silent! Was so expensive to record at least a simple piano score with out of copyright material? This is sloppy if not shameful. You only have to watch the archival copy of the film, included as a bonus, with much poorer picture and just a mediocre soundtrack, to realize how music improve the enjoyment of a silent film. I guess I'll have to wait for Eureka or any other responsible company to give The Lodger the treatment it deserves. Also, the box and all five individual cases share the same rush and cheap looking design. I cannot give this release more than 3 stars. What a shame.