Hitchcock: The Beginning

Blu-Ray Rating: *****

Reviewed by: Amber Wilkinson

Read Amber Wilkinson's film review of Hitchcock: The Beginning
Blackmail
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The most enjoyable additional extras on this disc, aside from Becoming Hitchcock, are interviews with Neil Brand about the scores. Even on The Ring, which is presented here with a score he didn't write, he proves an excellent guide to the mood of the film. Melodrama à la Manx: Stephen Horne on scoring Hitchcock is less detailed in terms of the film itself, but offers an insight into Horne's working on the score.

Davina Quinliven's conversation on Hitch's Leading Ladies - which can be found on The Manxman - is an excellent and accessible dive into the stars of the films on this set and their thematic connections to Hitchcock's later work. From Silent Film Idol to Superman: John Stuart by Jonathan Croall also gets down to specifics about John Stuart, whose long career would extend to Richard Donner's superhero film of 1978.

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Charles Barr provides excellent additional insight into Rich And Strange, Champagne and Juno And The Paycock, with the new extras rounded out by Alma Reville: Jo Botting & Natalie Morris in Conversation.

Even if you have the 2016 edition, this set is well worth the additional investment.

These are restoration copies, including 2024 4k restorations of the silent and sound versions of Blackmail and Juno And The Paycock. There are also 2021 restorations of Rich And Strange and Number Seventeen.

Reviewed on: 18 Dec 2024
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Hitchcock: The Beginning packshot
Collection of early Alfred Hitchcock films, released to celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth.

Region: B

Extras: A Knockout Score: Neil Brand on The Ring, Hitchcock/Truffaut: Archival Audio Interviews, Introductions by Director/Film Historian Noël Simsolo, Hitch in the Countryside: Neil Brand on The Farmer's Wife, Extract from BEHP Audio interview with Ronald Neame, Hitchcock/Truffaut: Archival Audio Interviews, Melodrama à la Manx: Stephen Horne on scoring Hitchcock, Hitch's Leading Ladies by Davina Quinliven, Audio commentary by film historian Farran Smith Nehme, 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, Murder! Alternate Ending, Audio Commentary by film critic Nick Pinkerton, Hitch & The Irish Players - An Interview with Charles Barr, Stills Galleries, Unexpectedly Personal: Charles Barr on Rich and Strange, Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, Alma Reville: Jo Botting & Natalie Morris in Conversation, From Silent Film Idol to Superman: John Stuart by Jonathan Croall, Audio Commentary by film historian and critic Peter Tonguette, lobby cards gallery


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