Lionsgate: Alfred Hitchcock Collection

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daveyp · #51 Post by **daveyp** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:26 am

unclehulot & Kinsayder -- here's some good news: the Lionsgate version of "Rich and Strange" doesn't have the heavy footsteps in the "After Dinner" segment, and (to my ear) also has the original squeeze box tune

Kinsayder · #52 Post by **Kinsayder** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:54 am

daveyp wrote:the Optimum version of "Rich and Strange" doesn't have the heavy footsteps

Thanks, Dave. That is indeed good news - though I'm not sure I can justify buying the Optimum just to get rid of those darn footsteps! The Lionsgate looks more tempting with its sharper image. Have you had a chance to listen to the After Dinner scene from Rich and Strange in that edition?

daveyp · #53 Post by **daveyp** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:52 pm

D'oh -- I typed "Optimum" but really meant "Lionsgate"

Just to confirm -- the footsteps are there in the R2 Optimum, but are missing in the R1 Lionsgate!

unclehulot · #54 Post by **unclehulot** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 3:57 pm

daveyp wrote:D'oh -- I typed "Optimum" but really meant "Lionsgate"

Just to confirm -- the footsteps are there in the R2 Optimum, but are missing in the R1 Lionsgate!

Looking more and more like I'm going to pick up the Lionsgate...thanks for the report! Would be nice to hear of a 2nd boxed set announcement, and for that matter what else they have in the pipeline. That Jean Renoir set they have on the way is certainly sounding better all the time!

Kinsayder · #55 Post by **Kinsayder** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 2:12 pm

denti alligator wrote:The Pleasure Garden is curiously only available in bootleg form. Anyone know why?

It has just been released in France in a Hitchcock partwork collection:

kevyip1 · #56 Post by **kevyip1** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:42 pm

daveyp wrote:Murder!:
01:37:56 - R2 PAL Studio Canal
01:38:00 - R2 PAL Optimum Releasing
01:32:48 - R1 NTSC Delta/Laserlight

Nice to see Dave come over here, as I go to his Hitchcock site a lot. But his post above doesn't mention the Madacy DVD version of "Murder!", which has a running time of 104 minutes (1:44:xx), longer than all the other discs, and does have the scene that features Una O'Connor as the lodging house owner, a scene that is not on most DVDs. I mentioned this to Dave at his forum a while ago. Well, he didn't/doesn't seem to believe me as this info page on his site still shows the wrong running time for the Madacy DVD.

So do the R2 and the Lionsgate R1 discs have the Una O'Connor scene? I own the R1 Laserlight disc and I know it doesn't.

daveyp · #57 Post by **daveyp** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:34 pm

Consider that running time corrected

The Lionsgate and R2 releases do indeed have the Una O'Connor scene.

I've also just got hold of that French release of "The Pleasure Garden". The DVD uses the Rohauer collection print of the film but doesn't have the Japanese subtitles that appear on the previous bootleg. I'll try and get some screen grabs added to the site over the weekend. Out of interest, the Rohauer collection print is an edited version of the film and has different intertitles to the original cinema release.

dx23 · #58 Post by **dx23** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:16 pm

This set is getting a price drop.

htdm · #59 Post by **htdm** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:56 pm

daveyp wrote:I've also just got hold of that French release of "The Pleasure Garden". The DVD uses the Rohauer collection print of the film but doesn't have the Japanese subtitles that appear on the previous bootleg.

Thanks for this, I've been considering the French edition. I imaging (hope) that this French addition also doesn't have the TV watermark in the upper right corner, can you confirm?

Kinsayder · #60 Post by **Kinsayder** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:38 pm

No watermark. Some screencaps here.

htdm · #61 Post by **htdm** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:24 pm

Thanks, Kinsayder.

daveyp · #62 Post by **daveyp** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:57 pm

I haven't had chance to add the DVD details to the site, but I've used the French DVD to create the film frames on this page. Be aware that the page is bandwidth intensive so will take a while to load (even with a fast broadband connection). If you're on a dial-up connection, it'll probably take about 2 months to load

If you don't fancy loading the page, here's a few sample grabs:

When I get enough spare time, I'm going to try and list all the differences between this version and the other one that's available on a bootleg DVD (taken from a German TV broadcast). I made a start with this page.

I've just started reading Charles Barr's "English Hitchcock" and he notes that the version used for the German TV broadcast appears to be missing around 30 minutes of footage (compared to the length of the original theatrical release)!

I'm sure I also read recently that a "full" version of the film (minus the opening credits) had been discovered in the US and that the BFI had kindly provided them with the missing credits. I wonder if that version has a longer running time than the existing transfers?

He also provides some tantalising evidence that both "The Lodger" and "The 39 Steps" might be missing footage that was there in the theatrical versions

kevyip1 · #63 Post by **kevyip1** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:11 pm

Anyone know if Lionsgate will release the other 4 films on the Optimum set: Champagne, Farmer's Wife, Blackmail!, Number 17?

jmj713 · #64 Post by **jmj713** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:03 pm

kevyip1 wrote:Anyone know if Lionsgate will release the other 4 films on the Optimum set: Champagne, Farmer's Wife, Blackmail!, Number 17?

Bump to ask the same question. With the news of the new MGM set, I'm quite eager to complete my Hitchcock collection. This set would be very very welcome. Then we'll just need someone (Criterion?) to release the other remaining odd films that haven't been presented well: The Pleasure Garden, Downhill, Easy Virtue, Juno and the Paycock, Waltzes from Vienna, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Secret Agent, Jamaica Inn, and Under Capricorn.

cinemartin · #65 Post by **cinemartin** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:25 pm

Why am I under the impression that I own a region 1 Under Capricorn? It was released, I think. Image maybe?

#66 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:32 pm

It was but it's OOP

Svevan · #67 Post by **Svevan** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:39 am

I know this DVD set is very old now, but it is still in print and therefore something needs to be said since there was no conclusion on the matter: the foley problem mentioned earlier in the thread is real, as it pertains to the soundtrack of Murder!. It has obviously newly recorded footsteps, teacup clinks, paper crinkles, etc; these noises contrast severely with the soundtrack's actual sound effects, which are covered by hiss and muffled by age. The new effects have no such problems. The status of the soundtrack on Murder! is really abominable and it makes the film unwatchable.

The best example is Chapter 21, the scene in the interrogation room; the footsteps are loud and pronounced while the door to the room is open, but when the door closes the footsteps suddenly sound different, as if they're actually on the soundtrack rather than floating above it. I've seen lots of early talkies that lack detailed soundtracks, so silence during these parts would not have surprised me; seems someone at Lionsgate or Studio Canal thought most people would consider it awkward. Another example is the sound of the papers shuffling during the jury scene. This can't just be remastering, it seems to be much more than that.

Fortunately, I hated Murder!, so I can move on with my life. As a document for scholars, or for those who actually like the movie, this is dreadfully unfortunate. It's also pertinent because Studio Canal/Lionsgate have other Hitchcocks that we thought Criterion or someone else might release, and now that they seem to be making their own specialty label, we may see a re-release of these plus the other titles. If they're all butchered like this, we'll need to raise some hell.

(A quick scan of The Skin Game and Rich and Strange indicated no similar sound problems, but I haven't watched the entirety of either flick yet. Also, the transfer of The Ring is fantastic, as is the film itself.)

jsteffe · #68 Post by **jsteffe** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:13 am

Out of curiosity, what is the best version Murder! that has the unaltered soundtrack? I wasn't able to access the images in this thread to see the comparisons.

EDIT: BTW, I finally got around to exploring the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki- it's a beautifully organized site. I was especially impressed by the comprehensive information about all the different DVD releases and the way all the box sets and individual DVDs link together. Dave obviously put a lot of care and thought into this!

Svevan · #69 Post by **Svevan** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:37 am

Perhaps someone else can answer - as far as I know, this is/was in the public domain, so there's lots of shitty R1s floating out there, but if there really is soundtrack modification on the Studio Canal (and I'm 99.8% sure there is), the shitty R1s will have the proper soundtrack. In fact, I know someone with a shitty R1 that I may just do a comparison with, for accuracy's sake.

Forrest Taft · #70 Post by **Forrest Taft** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 1:32 pm

david hare wrote:Universal France (and I believe Germany) released last year a new source print of Under Capricorn (Fr. title les Amants du Capricorne). It's a cheapie no frills at 10.99 Eu and the print is excellent (bin the crap Image disc.)

I posted screencaps from it on the Screencaps sticky. God knows what page they're on.

Kinsayder wrote: Waltzes from Vienna has been scheduled by Universal France for 1 March. It's coupled with a restored edition of Downhill (already available on the German Early Years set).

Are these still the preferred releases of these movies? I'm thinking of getting them, along with the Universal France versions of Jamaica Inn and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). But: Does anyone know if the French subs are removable?

Jonathan S · #71 Post by **Jonathan S** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 2:25 pm

The French subs are certainly removable (in normal playback) on my copy of Waltzes from Vienna/Downhill. Quality is very good, though Downhill isn't restored and it seems reasonable to assume there may a better edition of that forthcoming, thanks to the BFI.

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