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Alfred Hitchcock's directorial brilliance is undeniable, especially in these five taut thrillers. Full of classic great actors like Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Laurence Olivier and Gregory Peck, "Wrong Men & Notorious Women" gives a glimpse not only into how good Hitchcock was, but how wide his cinematic range was. "The 39 Steps" is the cryptic phrase that Richard Hannay (Robert Donay) gets, along with a map and a lot of people on his trail. A woman has been murdered in his apartment, and now he's on the run from police and spies alike. He ends up handcuffed together with another woman (Madeleine Carroll), on the lam, in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. "The Lady Vanishes" on a train, when elderly Mrs. Froy (Dame May Whitty) mysteriously vanishes. Iris (Margaret Lockwood) and music student Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) must band together to unravel what happened, even though they have a back history of driving each other nuts. They must learn who Mrs. Froy was, why nobody wants to be involved -- and what happened to the military secrets she was hiding. "Spellbound" opens with the cool, professional Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) as the new head of a psychiatric hospital arrives. She's immediately attracted to Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck), but his increasingly odd behavior leads her to think that he isn't who he says he is. She learns that he's an amnesiac, who is somehow linked to the real Dr. Edwardes. Taking the man under her wing, she leads him on a desperate search for the memory -- and sanity. "Rebecca" still haunts the vast manor of Manderly. When a timid young woman (Joan Fontaine) suddenly marries the moody, handsome Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), she finds herself in over her head. His late first wife -- beautiful, vibrant and mysterious -- still lingers in the minds of those who knew her, especially the icy housekeeper Mrs. Danvers. When she learns the truth about what Rebecca was really like, and how she died, it might tear her away from Maxim forever. "Notorious" again stars Ingrid Bergman, here as Alicia, a young woman seeking to prove her patriotism after her dad turns out to be a spy. She's sent by agent Devlin (Cary Grant) into the thick of the Nazis, even to the point of marrying Alex (Claude Rains). Problem is, she's fallen for Devlin, but obeys him anyhow. Except that when Alex catches on to her plans, he plans to kill her... Hitchcock had a rare talent for making romantic and/or spy movies, without making anything in them seem silly. While three of the movies are spy-romance films, where two people fall for one another while embroiled in dangerous international schemes, it also includes two very different stories. One is an exploration of psychoanalysis and the human mind (and a romance), and the other is simply the unravelling of an unsupernatural haunting (and a romance too). These two aren't just different; they also show the range of what Hitchcock could do. The quality and the kind of writing varies from movie to movie (some are subtle and sophisticated, some are almost slapstick in places), since they came from different parts of his career. The acting is fantastic in almost every movie; at times some supporting characters can be slightly flat, but the leads are perfectly chosen. These are some of Hitchcock's best movies (although viewers should also check out stuff like "Rear Window"). Dark, funny, romantic, complicated and always suspenseful, these are well worth it.Read full review
THIS COLLECTION OF BOTH LATE BRITISH AND EARLY HOLLYWOOD FILMS BY ALFRED HITCHCOCK IS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL DONE BY THE CRITERION COLLECTION. BOTH SELECTION AND QUALITY IS WITHOUT EQUAL. THE EXTRA COMMENTARY, INTERVIEWS, TRAILERS, ALTERNATE ENDINGS, AND AN ARRAY OF INFORMATION ASIDE FROM THE FILM PRINT QUALITY, IS ASTOUNDING. MUCH OF THIS BONUS MATERIAL ADDED TO EACH DVD HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BY THE PUBLIC BEFORE. THE TRY-OUTS FOR REBECCA ARE SOME OF THE MOST UNUSUAL AND FASCINATING CLIPS OF FILM THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN! THE CRITERION COLLECTION COMPANY IS TO BE CONGRATULATED FOR PUTTING TOGETHER A SUPERIOR QUALITY DVD FILM AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL RELATING TO EACH OF THE FILMS IN THIS FIRST VOLUME OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILMS. THIS IS OUT OF PRINT AT THE PRESENT TIME, AND ONLY USED OR OLD STOCK IS AVAILABLE, BUT WELL WORTH THE PRICE, WHICH IS OFTENTIMES VERY HIGH. FOR SUCH QUALITY, THE PRICE IS WORTH EVERY PENNY! I FIND THIS PARTICULAR CRITERION COLLECTION VOLUME IN BOTH QUALITY AND ADDITIONAL FILM FOOTAGE RELATING TO EACH INDIVIDUAL FILM, TO BE OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED OVER ANY OTHER COMPANY'S DVD'S OF HITCHCOCK FILMS. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THE ASIAN IMPORTS, WHICH ARE A DEFINITE DISAPPOINTMENT, EVEN WITH THE LOW PRICE WHICH CORRESPONDS WITH THE LOW DVD QUALITY, AND NONE OF THE BONUS MATERIAL EVEN AVAILABLE ON ANY OF THE OTHER DVD'S FROM COMPANIES OUTSIDE OF THE CRITERION COLLECTION. FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, ANY OF THE FILMS PUT OUT ON DVD BY THE CRITERION COLLECTION CAN WITHOUT A DOUBT, BE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ONCE YOU SEE WHAT THE CRITERION COLLECTION HAS PUT TOGETHER IN ALL OF THEIR FILMS OFFERED, IT IS INDEED HARD TO MAKE ANY OTHER PURCHASE FROM A DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTOR!Read full review
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