The Alfred Hitchcock Collection: The Best of Hitchcock, Vol. 1 (Psycho / Rear Window / Shadow of a Doubt / The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) / Rope / Topaz / Family Plot / Alfred Hitchcock Presents Vol. 2)

Heaping praise on Hitchcock's works is an unnecessary task. He is among the top 5 directors of the 20th Century. This collection has four movies which are rightly considered amongst the best movies made (Psycho, Rear Window, The Man who Knew Too Much, and Rope). As a collection, it is a treat to have an assortment of videos that include so many truly excellent titles.Rope deserves special mention. It was filmed in its entirety as a continuous shot. Watch it for the chilling, engaging plot the first time. Watch it for the compelling direction. In a movie era dominated by montage, Rope stands out in stark contrast.

Everything I expected it to be. Great service.

Those who would like to own an overview of Alfred Hitchcock's work surely can't go wrong with the Best of Alfred Hitchcock Collection sets issued by MCA home video. Like its companion set, Volume 1 offers viewers a wide variety of types of movies Hitchcock made during a period spanning thirty years. This set offers suspense, horror, comedy, drama, romance, and mystery. I won't rehash the plots, just give you my opinion of each movie offered.1) Shadow of a Doubt- Lots of mystery and more than a little suspense. One of my favorite Hitchcock films. Five stars.2) Rope- A philosophical murder story in which the question of whether some people should be allowed to kill their inferiors with impunity is revisited. The outcome was never really in doubt as one of the killers did not have the nerves of steel needed to successfully follow through on what was planned. Not a favorite. Two stars.3) Rear Window- One of Hitchcock's best known films. Enforced idleness allows Jimmy Stewart to give rein to voyeuristic tendencies. There is murder, romance, and some dark comedy, but not enough action for me. Four stars.4) The Man Who Knew too Much- A thriller with suspense, murder, treachery being the main elements. I like the Moroccan setting of the first part of the movie and the surprise ending. Five stars.5)Psycho- Perhaps Hitchcock's most famous film. Believe it or not, I saw it for the first time after I bought this set. Lots of horror. Good plot, great acting, and magnificent camerawork. The Bates Motel and Psycho have earned their place in film history. Five stars.6)Topaz- Lots of critics did not like it, I think it is a magnificent Cold War thriller. Here again the story and acting are first rate. I often felt as though I was in Cuba myself during the spying sequences. Loads of romance and suspense. Five stars.7) Family Plot- To me, a very silly movie. Karen Black's character is obnoxious as far as I am concerned and boyfriend Bruce Dern is the bumbling dolt his character calls for. The worst part to me is that the story line is not credible. I suppose its meant to be a dark comedy, and there are a few light moments, but overall I was bored. Best scene is when the brakes fail in Dern's car and he struggles to stay on the road. Two stars.8)Alfred Hitchcock Presents #2- Four Episodes from the old show. The best are Revenge and Breakdown. Three stars.These films, as well as those contained in the companion set, should be regarded as the foundation to any Hitchcock film collection. The problem is that both have been withdrawn from the market and have become collectors items. I got mine for less than half the price I last saw it here. The solution is to buy Alfred Hitchcock-The Masterpiece Collection instead. It contains nearly everything the Best of Alfred Hitchcock Collection Vols 1 and 2 contain at less than half the price. If you can't get this, go for that!

This box set is, by far, my most favorite. Not just because it includes my favorite movie of all time, REAR WINDOW, but because it includes a great combination of Hitchcock's greatest works. You definatly get your money's worth in this deal. This is an excellent box set to either start your DVD collection with, or add to your collection with. Enjoy!

Alfred Hitchcock was a brilliant and innovative filmmaker as this collection can attest to. 1943's SHADOW OF A DOUBT is an allegorical study of Americana seen through the naivete of a typical family in a quiet and slumberous community. When evil comes to town in the embodiment of the beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) it is the perceptive niece Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) that slowly uncovers his true identity as the Merry Widow murderer. Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn spend their evenings concocting ways to commit the perfect murder unknowingly under the watchful eyes of the genuine article. Evil takes many shapes and hides behind many facades in broad daylight. Would the wholesome average American community recognize such evil and be willing to deal with it? Dimitri Tiomkin, composed a brilliant score utilizing American idioms laced with the darkness of the tainted soul. This remains one of Hitchcock's best films. It works, as a thriller yet remains a true reflection of a good-natured but generally complacent lifestyle of sleepy suburbia America during the 1940's. 1948's ROPE is a thoroughly enthralling and disturbing look at a thrill killing perpetrated by two prep-school chums (John Dall and Farley Granger) possibly suggested subconsciously by their unwitting professor (James Stewart). This film has often been characterized notably only as Hitchcock's great experiment. He shot it in ten-minute takes contrary to his stylistic use of effective story telling through editing. This was a technique that he also employed to a lesser degree by Hitchcock in 1949's UNDER CAPRICORN. However, ROPE is first and foremost a riveting tale bordering on the perverse. The DVD transfer of ROPE is one of the best I have ever seen. 1954's REAR WINDOW is a brilliant study on voyeurism and insatiable curiosity. Wheelchair bound James Stewart spies on his neighbors in the courtyard from the window of his Greenwich Village apartment. Convinced that he has uncovered a murder, Stewart maintains his vigil with his society girlfriend (Grace Kelly) by his side. Hitchcock asks the viewer about the ethics of interpreting what goes on behind the closed doors of our neighbors, as his courtyard is an allegorical cross section of American society and mores during the 50s. 1956'S THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is another good DVD transfer and is Hitchcock's effective remake of his 1934 version. An American couple (James Stewart and Doris Day) visiting Morocco have their young son kidnapped as part of an international murder plot which they can not help but be drawn into. Doris Day's performance is brilliant as the mother whose son has been taken from her. Her initial reaction to the news is almost unbearable to watch. This film is very suspenseful and disturbing, as the odds against the family regaining their boy seem insurmountable as the film progresses. This is reinforced by Bernard Herrmann's almost minimal score, which adds an undercurrent of discomfort to the psyche of the viewer. There are some very memorable scenes such as when James Stewart is followed by echoing footsteps in the empty London streets on his way to finding Ambrose Chappell. The suspenseful Albert Hall assassination scenes are brilliantly filmed and edited. The face of Reggie Nalder as Rien the Assassin is unforgettable. Brenda de Banzie turns in a complex performance as Mrs. Drayton. Bernard Miles as Mr. Drayton also gives an effective performance through the various identities he goes through. And that is one of the strengths of this film: people and places are not exactly as they seem. Characters constantly evolve. Some grow in strength while others are mere shadows of virtue. 1960'S PSYCHO is probably Hitchcock's best known film. Its images and sounds are indelibly etched into the psyche of our culture. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, the Bates Motel, Bernard Herrmann's score, Saul Bass' main title designs, the shower scene and many other elements are cinematic icons. One element of this film that has not been given due recognition is Martin Balsam's performance as Milton Arbogast the private investigator. Balsam embodied the personification of professionalism and determination yet he was cut off in mid stream. I think there is a statement being made about the very nature of justice and fate and that life is not always fair. 1969's TOPAZ was Hitchock's second return in that decade to his earlier spy thriller films. Shot directly after 1966's TORN CURTAIN Hitchcock TOPAZ is a more matter-of-fact tale than a genuine thriller where real lives were at stake. Essentially an American intelligence head (John Forsythe) uses his friend in the French Intelligence (Frederick Stafford) to spy for the United States in Cuba and at the same time they try to ferret out a high French official passing on secrets to the Soviets. Roscoe Lee Browne as Philippe Dubois has the best scenes in the film as he has to get close to the Cubans visiting New York to photograph some secret papers from a high official (John Vernon as Rico Parra). These scenes were what Hitchcock called pure cinema. TOPAZ contains an interesting score by Parisian Maurice Jarre and the DVD contains the 3 alternate endings that Hitchcock filmed. 1976's FAMILY PLOT was Hitchcock's final film. In an interview with François Truffaut, Hitchcock stated that in today's films you no longer had to close the picture with a kiss. The audience no longer needed it or expected it. The romanticism of the motion picture was dead. If not for the performances of Barbara Harris as a phony psychic and Bruce Dern as her taxi driving-detective-boyfriend this film would have indeed lacked any hint of romanticism. In a complex plot that involves the location of a missing heir the lives of Harris and Dern become intertwined with the villains of the piece (William Devane and Karen Black). Ultimately the film seems more akin to ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS than to Hitchcock's previous films. And there's nothing wrong with that DVD either.