Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

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Martha
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#1 Post by Martha » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:23 pm

All nine Hitchcock films in one collectable package:
Dial M for Murder
Foreign Correspondent
I Confess
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
North By Northwest
Stage Fright
Strangers On A Train: Special Edition
Suspicion
The Wrong Man

peerpee
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#2 Post by peerpee » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:03 am

I agree about THE WRONG MAN. The whole film is framed too tight on the DVD.

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swingo
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#3 Post by swingo » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:07 am

peerpee wrote:I agree about THE WRONG MAN. The whole film is framed too tight on the DVD.

I own most of this Hitch's collection but on r4, I , however, did not knew the problem with the wrong man edition, since I haven't (and most probably never will) watched it on a theater can't tell the differences...

Axel.

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dvdane
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#4 Post by dvdane » Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:38 pm

The Wrong Man is cropped from its OAR of either 1.33:1 or 1.66:1 to 1.78:1 to allow 16x9 encoding.

I originally tried to get hold of the producer, but gave it up, as he was involved with Polanski in Europe at the time.

While Hitchcock wanted a documentaristic feel around the film, it is possible that the film was projected in 1.66:1, as Warner, before deciding on 1.85:1, had no real studio plan towards the widescreen agenda, and as they did hard matte some of their films in 56 to 1.66:1. But as this wasn't a major studio release from Warner, and was in black and white, even experimental in its production, it seems unlikely, that Warner would release it in 1.66:1. I've found no literature which seems to mention anything about its format. In any case, the 1.78:1 is wrong.

An even bigger crime is that Warner decided to release Dial M for Murder in 1.85:1 for R2 and R4, as the OAR is 1.33:1, which they kept on their R1 release.

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lord_clyde
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#5 Post by lord_clyde » Sun May 01, 2005 7:05 pm

The first time I've ever seen the wrong man is with this set, and I thought it was fantastic, so I guess for newcomers who haven't had the pleasure of a theatrical screening it's a-okay.

But I will watch it again to look at the scene you mentioned.

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otis
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:43 am

#6 Post by otis » Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:32 pm

Dan Auiler's Hitchcock's Notebooks reproduces a letter from Hitchcock to Sidney Bernstein dated July 1953, a couple of weeks before shooting started on Dial M for Murder, in which he mentions:

Screen size for Dial M. 1.75 to 1.00.

My memory of seeing the 3D version in Paris a few years ago is of a 1.37:1 ratio, but this seems to suggest it was made to be shown masked. So which DVD version more accurately presents the film as released in 1954, the Region 1 or the Region 2?

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#7 Post by Jeff » Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:55 pm

The Hitchcock Signature Collection has been discontinued by Warner. All individual discs from the box, except North by Northwest and Foreign Correspondent, are still available. North by Northwest has been replaced by a new 50th Anniversary Edition. Warner's license to distribute Foreign Correspondent (and the rest of the Caidin Trust library) has expired, and has apparently been picked up by Criterion.

(Edited on 10-20-09 to reflect the discontinuation of Foreign Correspondent)

duck duck
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#8 Post by duck duck » Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:23 am

Does anyone know if "Dial M" will be the original or a computer modified 3-D that only works with 3-D players?

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martin
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#9 Post by martin » Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:48 am

Rumours about an upcoming Blu-ray of "Dial M for Murder" have existed for years (a French release, supposed to happen in 2010, has never seen the light of day). The last thing I've heard is that Warner US will indeed release a 3D version! Presumably at the end of 2012 according to the link.

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Der Spieler
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#10 Post by Der Spieler » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:26 pm

dvdane wrote:An even bigger crime is that Warner decided to release Dial M for Murder in 1.85:1 for R2 and R4, as the OAR is 1.33:1, which they kept on their R1 release.
Might not be the most reliable source, but IMDB list the OAR as 1.85:1. And I always thought the framing looked odd on the R1 disc, much like Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt by Exposure. I'm not quite sure that 1.33:1 is right.

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manicsounds
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#11 Post by manicsounds » Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:38 am


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Der Spieler
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#12 Post by Der Spieler » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:18 am

Here in Canada "Dial" is priced super-high (40-ish) because of the inclusion of a 3D disc.

Bummer really as I can't see that much Hitchcock fans being really interested in that.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#13 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:38 pm

With Dial "M", that's the rub. I was never a fan of the film until I actually saw it in 3D (via the original process, which screened at Film Forum - FWIW, they're about to screen the film again, this time with digital 3D processing). Suddenly, the formal aspects became far more stunning and it really lifted the material.

However, generally speaking, I don't have any interest in 3D. Except for Hugo and Dial "M", there's no other film I'd like to see again in 3D. So the extra cost of owning a 3D TV, glasses, a Blu-Ray player with 3D capabilities, etc. is too much of a luxury.

So as much as I would like to own this film right now, I can't because I'd only want to see it in a format that I can't (and probably won't ever) support.

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scotty2
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#14 Post by scotty2 » Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:25 pm

A little bothersome that the British cut of Strangers on a Train is not in 1080 according to beaver.

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TMDaines
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#15 Post by TMDaines » Sat Nov 17, 2012 9:03 pm

Anyone know why that it's seemingly only the UK that isn't getting a standalone Strangers on a Train Blu-ray? The US has got it and France, Spain, Italy and Germany are all getting one too. Presumably the European release is the same as the US disc though?

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tenia
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#16 Post by tenia » Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:44 am

In France, it seems, on the contrary, that the stand alone release of Strangers on a train has been cancelled. Moreover, the French 3 Warner movies boxset (Dial M, Strangers, North by Northwest) has also disappeared from the pre-orders, meaning that in France, there will be no Strangers on a train release at all so far.

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TMDaines
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Re: Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

#17 Post by TMDaines » Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:17 am

Very strange and very frustrating. Oh well, an import it is at some point.

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