Bundle of Hitchcock classics worth cost
By Terry Lawson
Knight Ridder News Service
"We're working as fast as we can." That's the answer I receive almost every time I ask someone in the DVD business, usually at the request of a reader, why particular films and TV shows have yet to be released in the format.
But the wait is worth it when it comes to something like Warner's release of eight titles from Alfred Hitchcock, seven of which have never been released on DVD. The one that has, "Strangers on a Train," is easily the best of show and is now packaged, as are all the others, in boxes boasting the original poster art.
It is also now a two-disc affair, containing, as did the earlier release, two versions of Hitch's film about a tennis player, played Farley Granger, who meets chatty playboy Robert Walker on a train and becomes embroiled in a plot where each man would rid the other of someone who is making his life miserable.
Except for 1940's thrilling "Foreign Correspondent," with Joel McCrea caught up in a spy ring, the other six films are all lesser Hitchcock. That's to say they're mostly compelling and always entertaining, but not as rich. The wild card is the director's 1941 deviation from his usual themes to make a screwball comedy, "Mr. And Mrs. Smith," about married couple Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard, who via a technicality find themselves officially unhitched.
Also from 1941, "Suspicion" has that great scene with the glowing glass of milk. Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for her portrayal of the wallflower bride of dashing Cary Grant, who she's convinced is trying to kill her. From 1950, the overwrought and undernourished "Stage Fright" stars Jane Wyman as a drama student who attempts to clear framed Richard Todd of a murder charge by acting the role of a maid to theater star Marlene Dietrich.
From 1953, "I Confess" helped propagate the misconception that Hitchcock's movies (and later episodes of his TV series) hung on a twist, as in the case of Montgomery Clift's priest, who has heard a man confess a murder and is unable to exonerate himself when he is accused of the crime.
"The Wrong Man," from 1956, boils Hitchcock down to his filmmaking essence: Henry Fonda is a musician accused of a crime he didn't commit, and every move he makes to prove his innocence only gets him in deeper. Finally, there's the clever but vastly overrated "Dial M for Murder," an adaptation of a popular play about a man (played here by Ray Milland) plotting to have his rich, unfaithful wife (Grace Kelly) murdered.
If you're anything like a Hitchcock fan, you'll want all these, so you would be wise to invest in "Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection," which contains all seven movies as well as the previously released Special Edition of "North By Northwest." The box set lists for $99.92, but it will be discounted significantly at most stores and on the Internet, making it a very large bargain.
Live long and prosper
There will be a lot of Trekkies with hand-me-downs to distribute (or post on eBay) with the release of "Star Trek The Original Series — The Complete First Season" (Paramount). The next installments will follow in November and December, an obvious Klingon plot to bankrupt the good people of Earth.
The first season is in a plastic yellow case that contains eight discs; 28 of the original episodes (and the coming week's previews) are on the first seven. The season finale is on the eighth, which also contains about two hours of retrospective featurettes.
'The passion' is back
Fox did not supply reviewers with advance copies of "The Passion of the Christ," but we are assured this is the same version seen in theaters, available either letter-boxed or in full screen, with no extras.
Meanwhile, Paramount has been so kind as to collect three "South Park" episodes under the title "The Passion of the Jew" after last season's show in which Cartman sees Mel Gibson's movie and has even more ammunition with which to torture a Jewish friend. A crazed cartoon Gibson makes a guest appearance and has his wallet stolen.
