Welcome to the new site! As well as a new web domain (hitchcock.zone), the site has been moved to a new dedicated web server hosted by the lovely people at Linode. We’re still in the process of moving everything across from the old web server but, if you spot any problems, please feel free to leave feedback :-) As a bit of background to the move, my attempt to pre-register the domain hitchcock.wiki was rejected… (read more)
The British Film Institute‘s excellent recent restoration of Downhill (1927) has been released on Blu-ray in Spain. Extras: Apuntes sobre Hitchcock: Sus primeros años (aka “Hitchcock: The Early Years”) Escalera al infierno Galeria Fichas Filmografias
Criterion have just announced that they’ll be releasing Hitchcock’s original 1934 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much on DVD and Blu-ray. The features are listed as: New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition New audio commentary featuring film historian Philip Kemp New interview with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro The Illustrated Hitchcock, an extensive interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from 1972, conducted by journalist Pia Lindstrom and film historian… (read more)
Since 1962, “Citizen Kane” had topped the Sight & Sound Greatest Films poll, but that run came to an end this year when “Vertigo” finally ousted Kane from the top spot, rising up from the #2 spot in the previous poll. The full Top 250 is now available, with 5 Hitchcock films making the list: #1 Vertigo (1958) #34 Psycho (1960) =#53 North by Northwest (1959) =#53 Rear Window (1954) =#171 Notorious (1946)
As mentioned previously, Bernard Herrmann‘s original score for “Psycho” was recently put up for auction at Bonhams. Unfortunately, it failed to reach the minimum price of £30,000… Psycho music score fails to sell The score to Alfred Hitchcock’s horror movie Psycho, failed to be sold recently, Bonhams auction house said. The 20-page work has been withdrawn from a sale after it failed to make its minimum price of £30,000. The music for the 1960 thriller,… (read more)
Reading the advert, I’m not 100% sure if the seller is claiming this is the actual car used in the film or not, but the Marreyt Classics web site has a LHD Aston Martin DB 2/4 Convertible up for sale… Whether or not it was used in the film, it would be the ideal car for a quick weekend jaunt up to Bodega Bay… The fully retractable hood would come in handy should the local… (read more)
It’s been rumoured for a while now that “North by Northwest” will be getting a Blu-ray release this year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film. Eagle-eyed John Hodson has spotted that HMV UK has added the following Hitchcock films to their Blu-ray pre-release list: Universal: The Birds, Torn Curtain, Family Plot, Frenzy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Mr and Mrs Smith, Psycho, Rear Window, Rope, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Topaz,… (read more)
It’s beginning to look like the new MGM “Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection” 8 DVD set might be a victim of poor quality DVD manufacturing. The packaging, lovely though it is, is a poor design for keeping the DVDs in pristine condition — the rigid cardboard sleeves can easily scuff the playing surface of the DVDs…. Not only that, it would appear that the discs themselves suffer from poor construction and/or poor quality control. Quite a… (read more)
Just spotted today that the The McGuffin Film Society is producing a film about Hitchcock’s early years… Work is currently underway on the McGuffins third film… an in-depth documentary about director Alfred Hitchcock’s early days – and particularly his origins in East London. The film will explore the lesser known facts about his early life and work, while identifying the key sites from his youth which still exist today. Initial filming has already taken place… (read more)
I think it’s a given that any Hitchcock fan who’s seen the 2007 film “Disturbia” (co-produced by Steven Spielberg) will know that it owes more than a little to “Rear Window“… Well, the current owners of the rights to Cornell Woolrich‘s original short story (“It Had to be Murder” or “Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint”) aren’t happy about that and filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court yesterday… What the defendants have been unwilling… (read more)
