Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection: which movies live up to the title?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by mdekoning, Jan 7, 2018.

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  1. profholt82

    profholt82 Resident Blowhard

    Location:
    West Michigan
    In no order (well, alphabetically), my Hitchcock Top 10:

    Foreign Correspondent
    North By Northwest
    Rear Window
    Rope
    Sabotage
    Shadow of a Doubt
    Strangers on a Train
    Suspicion
    The 39 Steps
    Vertigo


    And regarding the strongest stretches by other directors, I'd say that John Ford was arguably the greatest American director of all time; the Hitchcock or Kurosawa of the US. While my favorite period of his is probably 46-63 (My Darling Clementine through The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), his strongest decade span has to be 31-41, a stretch in which 5 of his films were nominated for Best Picture, and he garnered 3 of his 4 Director Oscars. This stretch included:

    Arrowsmith
    The Informer
    Stagecoach
    Young Mr. Lincoln
    The Grapes of Wrath
    How Green Was My Valley
     
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  2. profholt82

    profholt82 Resident Blowhard

    Location:
    West Michigan
    Dang it, this is hard. Ok, drop 'Foreign Correspondent' and replace it with 'Notorious.' I feel slightly better about that top 10 now.
     
  3. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
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  5. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
  6. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I had gone to bluray.com to look at a review of a blu-ray, and at the very top, there was a line that showed this lightning deal. This is not the parade of titles with great deals along the top, as there are always movies shown there. As of typing this, it is still there. This was a special one. I just got lucky and stumbled upon it.
     
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  7. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. .

    Location:
    .
    Shadow Of A Doubt: No. It's garbage, it's a joke.
    Rear Window: Yes, excellent film.
    The Trouble With Harry: No. Horrible. Comedy was not Hitchcock's forte and he proves it here. Terrible.
    The Man Who Knew Too Much: Great film but not a masterpiece.
    Vertigo: No way. Some incredible visuals but the story is poor, the most overrated film by Hitchock ever, one of the most overrated films in history.
    North By Northwest: Yes. Fantastic.
    Psycho: Yes. Hitchcock's greatest flim ever.
    Strangers On A Train: Yes, definitely; only Psycho deserves to mentioned in the same sentence as this. His second best film IMO.
    The Birds: No, this is garbage. Pointless terror captured on film for the art crowd.
    Marnie: No. Tippi's acting is terrible.
    Frenzy: No, a decent film though.

    Psycho, Strangers On A Train, North By Northwest, and Rear Window are his best in my opinion.
    The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps both were good entertainment but neither were classics to me. The former was the better of the two.
     
  8. mr_spenalzo

    mr_spenalzo Forum Resident

    I love this still from the film.

    [​IMG]
     
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  9. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    My Hitch top ten - in no particular order:

    Strangers on a Train
    39 Steps
    Blackmail
    Psycho
    North by Northwest
    Suspicion
    The Wrong Man
    Rear Window
    Vertigo
    Spellbound

    Ford, on the other hand:

    My Darling Clementine
    The Searchers
    They Were Expendable
    The Informer
    The Grapes of Wrath
    Stagecoach
    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
    Fort Apache
    Wagonmaster
     
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  10. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    How about the visual quality of this or any similar Hitchcock sets (not vis-a-vis DVD but what one would expect of a blu-ray upgrade)? I think I will get a blu-ray player soon and am considering what media to buy. The blu-ray World at War set is a no-brainer for me, but I'm considering other additions that could or should be worthy of a blu-ray purchase (and Hitchcock certainly rates strong consideration).
     
  11. Kyle B

    Kyle B Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    I also don’t care for Vertigo. The story isn’t great, and the leading lady, Kim Novak, was terrible.
     
  12. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    All true, but I think the visuals are excellent and would think a blu-ray version would be worth seeing.
     
  13. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    no Strangers on a Train? Bummer
     
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  14. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Looks like one would have to pick up another collection (below) to plug some holes. Though Dial M for Murder (like Rope) essentially is a filmed stage play, I would like to have that one as well.

    As an aside, I originally saw Rope in a movie theater back in the 1980s, but have not seen it since. One should not underestimate the power (for lack of a better word) of some of Hitchcock's films on a larger screen. As negative as the critics back then (in the 1980s) were about the re-release, there was a certain intense (or even claustrophobic) vibe about the movie that certainly made it a worthwhile experience. (I also first saw Rear Window on the big screen. One of the best movie-going experiences of my life! Blows away any TV version . . . though maybe blu-ray can recapture some of that magic.)

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. i agree with much of what you say here except for “Frenzy” with its dark undercurrent of humor, food humor and some terrific performances. It also demonstrated that Hitch had been aware of what his students were doing.
     
  16. Dial M has a couple,of brilliant sequences including when a Grace Kelly reaches directly out to the audience. I’ve seen it in 3D and regular and both work exceptionally Well but the 3D brings the audience into the film in many respects temporarily breaking the fourth wall.
     
  17. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    I dig top ten lists. My top ten Hitchcock films.....

    10. Psycho
    9. Spellbound
    8. Rope
    7. Rear Window
    6. Rebecca
    5. Strangers On A Train
    4. North By Northwest
    3. Dial M For Murder
    2. Notorious
    1. Vertigo

    Honorable mention:
    Frenzy
     
  18. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I saw it in 3-D as well. Although there were some good effects, I thought the actors mostly looked like cardboard cut-outs. It was sort of like watching a play with paper dolls moving around the stage.
     
  19. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Anyone able to comment on the quality of any of the blu-ray transfers?
     
  20. They vary.

    Vertigo looks quite nice. rear Window looks very nice.

    There are some problematic moments in The Man Who Knew Too Much and The Birds (partially due to all of the optical processing).

    Family Plot is a mess and needs restoration.
     
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  21. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    they all do..I love them all and they are his masterpieces...no need to add any negativity to this fine collection...the box is titled properly...
     
  22. Frangelico

    Frangelico Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Arguably his best film and also arguably the greatest horror film, especially within the context of when it was made. The ending (I assume your talking about the psychologist’s explanation), which is sort of an epilogue, can seem preachy when viewed from the context of the 21st century, but would be less obvious in 1960.

    It might not be a great ending, but it’s not a poor ending, although I would prefer not having the explanation. The scenes in the house preceding the “epilogue” are phenomenal and probably the best part of the film. The ending shot of Norman is also great. The overall ending “sequences” are very strong, with the exception of the psychologist scene IMHO.
     
  23. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    and they just released this again with extra features...I have no idea if the BD are identical between box sets? have you seen this release?
     
  24. MPLRecords

    MPLRecords Owner of eleven copies of Tug of War

    Location:
    Lake Ontario
    Top ten, alphabetically:

    The Man Who Knew Too Much
    North By Northwest
    Notorious
    Psycho
    Rear Window
    Rebecca
    Rope
    Shadow of a Doubt
    Strangers on a Train
    Vertigo
     
  25. I haven’t heard anything indicating it’s a new transfer and I would imagine they would tout if nothing else than to generate more sales.
     
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