Kino: Two Early Alfred Hitchcock Films Detailed for Blu-ray
HomeKino: Two Early Alfred Hitchcock Films Detailed for Blu-ray
Posted May 25, 2019 08:11 PM by Webmaster
Kino Lorber have dated and detailed for Blu-ray two early Alfred Hitchcock films: Blackmail (1929) and Murder! (1930). The two releases will be available for purchase on August 13.
Murder!
Synopsis: From Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director of Number Seventeen, Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window and The Birds. Hitchcock's third sound film was a return to the crime genre, adapted by Hitchcock and Walter Mycroft (Champagne) from the play Enter Sir John, written by Clemence Dane (A Bill of Divorcement) and Helen Simpson (Sabotage). An actress, Diana Baring (Norah Baring, A Cottage on Dartmoor) is convicted of the murder of another actress in the same touring company. But the distinguished actor Sir John Menier (Herbert Marshall, The Letter), who served on the jury at her trial, becomes convinced of her innocence and decides to solve the case. Beautifully shot by Joel E. Cox (The Lady Vanishes). This special edition also includes Mary, the 1931 German version of the film also directed by Hitchcock and starring Alfred Abel as Sir John Menier and Olga Tschechowa as Mary Baring.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Synopsis: From Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director of Notorious, Lifeboat, North by Northwest and Psycho comes this thriller about a woman fighting off a sleazy blackmailer. Blackmail was Hitchcock's first full-length sound film and was only his second foray into the suspense genre. A grocer's daughter, Alice White (Anny Ondra, The Manxman) kills a man in self-defense when he tries to sexually assault her. Her policeman boyfriend, Detective Frank Webber (John Longden, The Skin Game) covers up for her, but she has been spotted leaving the scene by a petty criminal who starts to blackmail her. Based on a play by Charles Bennett (Foreign Correspondent, The 39 Steps) and co-starring Sara Allgood (The Lodger).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Murder!
Synopsis: From Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director of Number Seventeen, Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window and The Birds. Hitchcock's third sound film was a return to the crime genre, adapted by Hitchcock and Walter Mycroft (Champagne) from the play Enter Sir John, written by Clemence Dane (A Bill of Divorcement) and Helen Simpson (Sabotage). An actress, Diana Baring (Norah Baring, A Cottage on Dartmoor) is convicted of the murder of another actress in the same touring company. But the distinguished actor Sir John Menier (Herbert Marshall, The Letter), who served on the jury at her trial, becomes convinced of her innocence and decides to solve the case. Beautifully shot by Joel E. Cox (The Lady Vanishes). This special edition also includes Mary, the 1931 German version of the film also directed by Hitchcock and starring Alfred Abel as Sir John Menier and Olga Tschechowa as Mary Baring.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- RESTORED BY THE BFI
- Audio Commentary by Film Critic Nick Pinkerton
- Hitchcock/Truffaut: Icon interviews Icon (Archival Audio)
- MARY: 1931 German version of 'Murder!' also directed by Hitchcock (Up-res)
- Introduction by Noël Simsolo
- Alternate Ending
- Hitchcock: The Early Years - Documentary (52:22)
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
Synopsis: From Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director of Notorious, Lifeboat, North by Northwest and Psycho comes this thriller about a woman fighting off a sleazy blackmailer. Blackmail was Hitchcock's first full-length sound film and was only his second foray into the suspense genre. A grocer's daughter, Alice White (Anny Ondra, The Manxman) kills a man in self-defense when he tries to sexually assault her. Her policeman boyfriend, Detective Frank Webber (John Longden, The Skin Game) covers up for her, but she has been spotted leaving the scene by a petty criminal who starts to blackmail her. Based on a play by Charles Bennett (Foreign Correspondent, The 39 Steps) and co-starring Sara Allgood (The Lodger).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- RESTORED BY THE BFI
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
- Hitchcock/Truffaut: Icon interviews Icon (Archival Audio)
- The Silent Version of the Film - Score by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
- Introduction by Noël Simsolo (6:12)
- Anny Ondra's screen test (0:57)
- The Knife Scene - silent version (1:15)
- The Knife Scene - sound version (1:30)
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature