Description

WITNESS THE BIRTH OF A CINEMATIC LEGEND 

For the first time on Blu-ray, featuring new restorations and scores, experience 10 of Alfred Hitchcock’s early works. From the silent film era to the first talkies, this 11-disc set also contains a newly commissioned, full-length documentary, Becoming Hitchcock, exploring the director’s first sound picture, Blackmail. In 1929, Hitchcock directed Blackmail, the first British sound feature, hailed as a film which “used sound and dialogue with more flair and imagination than any Hollywood or European film of the time.” Hitchcock’s inventive and expressionist use of sound demonstrated that the new technology opened a new realm of possibilities.

FEATURES:
THE RING (1927)
A Knockout Score: Neil Brand on The Ring
Hitchcock Truffaut: Archival Audio Interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

THE FARMER S WIFE (1928)
Hitch in the Countryside: Neil Brand on The Farmer s Wife
Extract from BEHP audio interview with Ronald Neame
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

CHAMPAGNE (1928)
Hitch & Champagne: Neil Brand on music for Silent Film
A Heady Cocktail: Charles Barr on Champagne
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Audio commentary by film historian Farran Smith Nehme
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

THE MANXMAN (1929)
Melodrama à la Manx: Stephen Horne on scoring Hitchcock
Hitch s Leading Ladies by Davina Quinliven
Audio commentary by film historian Farran Smith Nehme
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

BLACKMAIL (1929)
Silent into Sound: Neil Brand on Blackmail
Anny Ondra’s Screen Test
Extract from BEHP audio interview with Ronald Neame
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

JUNO & THE PAYCOCK (1930)
Hitch & The Irish Players – An Interview with Charles Barr
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Stills Gallery

MURDER! (1930)
MARY: 1931 German version of Murder!
Alternate Ending
Audio Commentary by film critic Nick Pinkerton
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

THE SKIN GAME (1931)
Alma Reville: Jo Botting & Natalie Morris in Conversation
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

RICH AND STRANGE (1931)
Unexpectedly Personal: Charles Barr on Rich and Strange
Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Stills Gallery

NUMBER SEVENTEEN (1932)
From Silent Film Idol to Superman: John Stuart by Jonathan Croall
Audio Commentary by film historian and critic Peter Tonguette
Hitchcock Truffaut: archival audio interview
Introduction by Director Film Historian Noël Simsolo
Lobby Cards Gallery

BECOMING HITCHCOCK – THE LEGACY OF BLACKMAIL, a brand new 72-minute documentary from award-winning filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau (Faye, Music by John Williams, Five Came Back) and narrated by historian, critic and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell, reflects the development of Alfred Hitchcock’s signature style, through the making of one of his benchmark films, Blackmail (1929). The documentary highlights the birth of the “Hitchcock Touch” at a period when talking pictures first emerged and explores his trademark themes, such as murder, suspense and cool blondes. While focusing on Blackmail, the documentary reveals how this film also foreshadows the director’s later masterpieces, from Psycho to North by Northwest and from The Birds to Frenzy.