Wrong Men & Notorious Women - Five Hitchcock Thrillers 1935-1946 (The 39 Steps / The Lady Vanishes / Rebecca / Spellbound / Notorious) - Criterion Collection DVD
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780026698
Format: Box set, Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
ISBN: 0780026691
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 6
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 13, 2003
Running Time: 526 minutes
Sales Rank: 88453
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: September 06, 1946
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Editorial Review:
Description:
A supreme technician and innovative stylist, Alfred Hitchcock always left his indelible stamp on his productions. From the wit, romance, and fast-paced action of 1935’s British-made The 39 Steps to the bittersweet blend of lush romance and spy- thriller in the 1946 Hollywood production Notorious, Hitchcock continually flaunted a peerless formal mastery as he capitalized on a wide variety of genres. In the 1940 Academy Award™ -winning Rebecca and 1945 psychoanalytic thriller Spellbound, Hitchcock also proved himself a keen surveyor of the human mind, incisively exploring the psychology of fear and sexual repression within the context of films that both entertained audiences of the day and ensured that his career would be one of the most illustrious in the history of cinema.
Starring Robert Donat, Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Claude Rains, and Cary Grant, these five acclaimed films bridge Hitchcock’s early British masterworks with his triumphant American collaborations with producer David O. Selznick, and present the legendary director at his unparalleled best, creating films that are exemplars of suspense and cinematic virtuosity.
Oscar™ , Academy Award™ , and Academy Awards™ are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Amazon.com:
Wrong Men & Notorious Women is an irresistible set: five early Alfred Hitchcock thrillers--The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious--in sumptuous Criterion Collection editions that offer pristine transfers, commentary tracks by film scholars, and other bonus features such as screen tests, essays, rare photos, and radio broadcasts.
The 39 Steps (1935) is a prime example of the MacGuffin principle in action. Robert Donat is Richard Hannay, an affable Canadian tourist in London who becomes embroiled in a deadly conspiracy when a mysterious spy winds up murdered in Hannay's rented flat--and both the police and a secret organization wind up hot on his trail. It's classic Hitchcock all the way, a seemingly effortless balance of romance and adventure set against a picturesque landscape populated by eccentrics and social-register smoothies, none of whom is what he or she appears to be.
The Lady Vanishes (1938) begins innocently enough, as a contingent of eccentric tourists spend the night in a picture-postcard village inn nestled in the Swiss Alps before setting off on the train the next morning. Attractive young Iris (Margaret Lockwood) clashes with brash music student Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) when his nocturnal concerts give her no peace. True love is inevitable, but not before they are both plunged into an international conspiracy. Hitchcock effortlessly navigates this vivid thriller from light comedy to high tension and back again, creating one of his most enchanting and entertaining mysteries.
Rebecca (1940) is an ageless, timeless adult movie about a woman who marries a widower but fears she lives in the shadow of her predecessor. This was Hitchcock's first American feature, and it garnered the Best Picture statuette at the 1941 Academy Awards. In today's films, most twists and surprises are ridiculous or just gratuitous, so it's sobering to look back on this film where every revelation not only shocks, but makes organic sense with the story line. Laurence Olivier is dashing and weak, fierce and cowed. Joan Fontaine is strong yet submissive, defiant yet accommodating. Brilliant stuff.
Hitchcock takes on Sigmund Freud in Spellbound (1945), in which psychologist Ingrid Bergman tries to solve a murder by unlocking the clues hidden in the mind of amnesiac suspect Gregory Peck. Among the highlights is a bizarre dream sequence seemingly designed by Salvador Dali--complete with huge eyeballs and pointy scissors. Spellbound is one of Hitchcock's strangest and most atmospheric films, providing the director with plenty of opportunities to explore what he called "pure cinema"--i.e., the power of pure visual associations.
Notorious (1946) features a cast to kill for: Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, and Claude Rains. Bergman plays the daughter of a disgraced father who is recruited by American agents to infiltrate a post-World War II spy ring in Brazil. Her control agent is Grant, who treats her with disdain while developing a deep romantic bond with her. Her assignment: to marry the suspected head of the ring (Rains) and get the goods on everyone involved. Danger, deceit, betrayal--and, yes, romance--all come together in a nearly perfect blend as the film builds to a terrific (and surprising) climax. Grant and Bergman rarely have been better.
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
MGM dvd is set to to release these same titles later sometime this year (2007). So be on the look out. I already own this Chriterion collection and it is great, but it lacks any documentaries on the films. I'm sure the new MGM dvd releases will more than likely put this on them and hopefully more features too, like Warner dvd did with the rights they own of Hitchcock now.
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Hitch, Cary, Ingrid, Olivier, Whitty, Du Maurier,Fontaine. The list goes on. All these great talents combined to make a great package for Hitch fans.A selection of fabulous noir, that is definitive of all things Hitch. The suspense, the shadows and light, the camera angles, the sly humor, his trademark sequences, all here, for one great Hitch film-fest. A mix of his vintage British films, and the great classics of Hollywood.
Here are the "wrong men" and "notorious women" that make up this great ... Read More
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This impressive DVD box set showcases some of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest work in the 1930s and 40s, where the young director was not only breathing new life into Hollywood, but also displaying his enthusiasm for macabre tales of murder and mystery. By 1935 Hitch already had 19 films under his belt, however for the most part, his earlier work (The 1920s films THE LODGER, THE RING, BLACKMAIL and MURDER in 1930) was more experimentation that art, but THE 39 STEPS was the landmark film that put Hitch on ... Read More
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Amazon lists this as a five-disc set. Actually it includes six discs since Rebecca comes on two.
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When I read the reviews and saw that Amazon no longer carried this, I was disappointed. Only disappointed until I purchased this item new from a different vendor. I don't know why Amazon does not carry it.
In any event, when you get your opportunity pounce! The quality of these movies is amazing, the extras extraordinary and the price a steal. These movies are a feast for the eyes and ears. The images are beyond crisp and the sound is beyond clear. What more can be said. This set is ... Read More
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