"Marnie" (1964)
Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery star in this unsettling film. Hedren portrays a compulsive thief and liar, while Connery plays the businessman who falls for her and deals with her in disturbing ways.
"Torn Curtain" (1966)
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in this spy thriller. An American scientist (Newman) and his fiancée (Andrews) travel to East Germany, where they are in grave danger because of Cold War intrigue.
"Topaz" (1969)
This is a Cold War political thriller with a complex plot and a large cast of not-so-well-known actors. The story centers around an international crisis involving the United States, France, the Soviet Union and Cuba.
"Frenzy" (1972)
Set in London, this film is about a serial killer dubbed the "Necktie Murderer" because of the article of clothing he uses to strangle his victims. The movie got some Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture.
"Family Plot" (1976)
Starring Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, Karen Black and William Devane, Hitchcock's final movie is more of a comedy than a suspense film. A scamming couple goes looking for a missing heir and gets mixed up with kidnappers.
Each of the 14 movies listed above is on one disc with special features as detailed below. The 15th disc in the box set contains four bonus materials: (1) a 1997 making-of documentary for "Psycho" that is an hour and a half long; (2) a 1999 making-of "The Birds" that runs nearly an hour and 20 minutes; (3) a 15-minute film containing highlights of the 1979 ceremony in which Hitchcock was given the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award; and (4) "Masters of Cinema," a pair of 1972 interviews of Hitchcock—one conducted by Pia Lindstrom, the other by William Everson—totaling 34 minutes.
"Alfred Hitchcock — The Masterpiece Collection" is a terrific value, but by no means does it contain all the Hitchcock movies worth watching. For example, "North by Northwest" (1959), which is number 40 on AFI's list of Greatest American Films, is not included in this box set. And here are eight more Hitchcock movies I think are wonderful that are not included in this collection: "The Wrong Man" (1956), "Dial M for Murder" (1954), "Strangers on a Train" (1951), "Stage Fright" (1950), "Notorious" (1946), "Lifeboat" (1944), "Rebecca" (1940), and "The 39 Steps" (1935).
If you want to see how the 14 movies in the "Alfred Hitchcock — The Masterpiece Collection" fit into the context of Hitch's larger body of work, you can take a look at the list I've compiled on a separate page of his final 37 feature-length films.
But we have to keep all this in perspective. Hitchcock directed at least 35 films I would say are worth seeing, and those in "The Masterpiece Collection" box set comprise a solid beginning at becoming familiar with the body of work of this great director.
Below I've listed all the details for the "Alfred Hitchcock — The Masterpiece Collection" DVD box set.
DVD Details:
Release Date: October 4, 2005
Number of Discs: 15
Disc 1: "Saboteur" (1 hr. 48 min.)
Full-Screen (1.33:1), Black-and-White
MPAA Rating: PG
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
"Saboteur": A Closer Look (35 min.)
Storyboards
Alfred Hitchcock's Sketches
Production Photos
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 2: "Shadow of a Doubt" (1 hr. 46 min.)
Full-Screen (1.33:1), Black-and-White
MPAA Rating: PG
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, French
Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film (35 min.)
Production Drawings
Production Photos
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 3: "Rope" (1 hr. 20 min.)
Full-Screen (1.33:1), Color
MPAA Rating: PG
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English
"Rope" Unleashed (32 min.)
Production Photos
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 4: "Rear Window" (1 hr. 53 min.)
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1), Color
MPAA Rating: PG
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish
"Rear Window" Ethics: An Original Documentary (55 min.)
A Conversation With Screenwriter John Michael Hayes (13 min.)
Production Photos
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer, Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart
Disc 5: "The Trouble With Harry" (1 hr. 40 min.)
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
MPAA Rating: PG
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, French
"The Trouble With Harry" Isn't Over (32 min.)
Production Photos
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer
Continued on the Next Page: More DVD Details
