Famous for his expert and largely unrivalled control of pace and suspense,
Hitchcock movies draw heavily on both fear and fantasy, and are known for their droll humor and witticisms.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Chaney Vase, The
Sorcerer's Apprentice, Rich and Strange, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Secret Agent, Champagne, Blackmail, Easy Virtue, Jamaica Inn, The Lodger, The Ring, Young and Innocent, Juno, The Skin Game, Number Seventeen, The
Man Who Knew Too Much and BONUS: 55 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock Movie Trailers!Specifications:
- Video Format: NTSC, Region 1
- Format: 4-DVD Set
- Run Time: 26 Hours 54 Minutes
- Rating: NR - Not Rated
Movies Included:
1. Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Each week viewers were treated to a tale of suspense and the macabre hosted
by the master of terror, Alfred Hitchcock. These stories transported you to
interesting places and different times all with one thing in common, each had
some strange twists. Humor, horror and suspense were always on hand when those
famous words were spoken, "Good Evening"!
2. Blackmail
A shopkeeper's daughter meets her Scotland Yard detective boyfriend one
evening but leaves him to secretly see another man. While visiting the man's
flat, the secret suitor attempts to rape the young woman and she is forced to
defend herself resulting in the man's death. The young woman's boyfriend is
assigned to the case and she attempts to hide the truth from him but someone
else knows she did it and threatens to blackmail her.
3. Champagne (Silent)
A wealthy Wall Street philanthropist who made his money through is champagne
business is exasperated with his daughter's behavior and concerned about her
suitors' true intentions. Looking to teach her a lesson after she disobeys him
again, the man decides to test his daughter and her suitors. The man informs his
daughter the family's money is gone, forcing her to seek her way in the world.
4. Easy Virtue (Silent)
This film directed by Alfred Hitchcock is the tale of a woman who has an
affair with an artist painting her portrait and is subsequently caught by her
boorish husband, who drove her into the artist's arms due to his lack of
attention. The resulting divorce proceedings end up marking the woman with
shame, so she leaves England for the south of France and changes her name in the
hopes of starting her life over. While in France, the woman falls in love with a
wealthy younger man, the two wed and return to his father home in England. The
man's family is dismayed at his marriage and become even more outraged when the
woman's past becomes known to them.
5. Farmer's Wife, The (Silent)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this classic film tells the tale of a lonely
widowed farmer in search of a new bride. Looking for help with his search, the
farmer enlists the aid of his housekeeper, who is secretly in love with him, in
finding him a new wife. The farmer narrows his choices to three ladies but, they
either fail to meet his standards or they want no part of him, due to some help
from the housekeeper. When he is about to resign himself to the fact that he's
not going to wed ever again, he realizes the best choice for a bride has been
right there all along.
6. Jamaica Inn
Adapted from a Daphne Du Maurier story, the film takes place at a small inn
on the coast of Cornwall. The inn is the base of operations of a band of
criminals who deliberately shipwreck vessels for their cargo. The arrival of one
of the gang member's niece and a Lloyd's of London investigator disrupt the
gang's plans. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this feature stars Charles Laughton,
Robert Newton and Maureen O'Hara.
7. Juno and the Paycock
This Alfred Hitchcock early talkie has the story center upon a family of
Dublin tenement dwellers. The mother tries to hold the family together in spite
of the chaos surrounding her. The family receives word of a possible inheritance
causing all sorts of hope for the good life. Their dreams are dashed when the
inheritance rumors prove to be false and the family must contend with their
actions.
8. Lady Vanishes, The
During a transcontinental train trip in Europe, the train is forced to stay
a night in a small village due to inclement weather. A young socialite meets and
befriends an elderly governess during their overnight stay but, the young woman
is alarmed to discover the governess has disappeared once the train resumes its
journey. Desperate to find out what happened to the governess, the young woman
is shocked when her fellow passengers deny ever seeing the older woman.
9. Lodger, The (Silent)
In Alfred Hitchcock's first thriller, you find the city of London in the
grips of fear as a killer known as "The Avenger" murders young blonde women
during foggy evenings. While this is going on, a mysterious gentleman arrives at
the home of the Buntings and rents the extra room they have available. The
stranger shows some interest in his landlords' daughter Daisy, the young blonde
model who is dating one of the detectives investigating "The Avenger" murders.
Jealousy on the part of Daisy's boyfriend and suspicions on the Buntings behalf
draw interest of both parties into the activities of the lodger.
10. Man Who Knew Too Much, The
This feature was Alfred Hitchcock's first internationally successful film
and was eventually re-made by him in 1956 with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. This
original version features Peter Lorre, Leslie Banks and Edna Best in a story
about a British businessman on vacation in Switzerland with his wife and teenage
daughter. While dancing with Jill Lawrence (Edna Best), a French secret agent is
shot. With his dying breath, the Frenchman tells Bob Lawrence (Leslie Banks)
about a plot to assassinate a diplomat at London's Albert Hall during a concert
in a few days. Seeing this conversation and fearing their plot would be exposed,
some foreign agents kidnap the Lawrence's daughter in hopes to keep them quiet
until after the assassination. Prevented from contacting the police for fear of
their daughter's safety, the couple returns home to London and begins an attempt
on their own to rescue their daughter in hopes they can prevent the
assassination.
11. Manxman, The (Silent)
In filming his final silent feature, Alfred Hitchcock shifted from his usual
suspense genre of films to romantic intrigue. In this tale, the film centers on
three residents of the Isle of Man. Peter (Carl Brisson) is a local fisherman
who is in love with Kate (Anny Ondra), the daughter of the local innkeeper.
Peter's best friend is Philip, a lawyer with aspirations towards being a judge
one day. Peter sets sail in order to earn enough money to satisfy Kate's father
that he can support his daughter. Peter asks Philip to look after her while he's
gone and the two become romantically involved after reports of Peter's demise
reach their town. Problems arise when Peter returns alive and marries Kate, who
then finds out she is pregnant with Philip's child.
12. Number Seventeen
This early Alfred Hitchcock thriller has a vacant house, Number 17, as the
location for the story in which several individuals all gather at the
aforementioned house for various reasons. A recent jewel heist, where a valuable
necklace was taken, has captured the interest of the public as well as the
police searching for the perpetrators. After our group of visitors has arrived
at the vacant house, it becomes apparent that some of the individuals have a
strong connection to the jewel heist, in one manner or another.
13. Rich and Strange
This Alfred Hitchcock directed title tells the story of a couple living in a
working-class section of town that receive an inheritance and decide to use
their windfall to take a cruise. While aboard ship, the couple's faithfulness is
tested when they both pursue romantic relationships with other passengers. When
the couple ends up losing all of their funds, they begin a trip back home full
of interest and dread, hoping to take the lessons they've learned with them.
14. Ring, The (Silent)
This film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and the story centers upon a
fighter who boxes in small venues and his eroding marriage to his wife. It seems
that a champion fighter has taken a liking to the woman and is pursuing her
behind the back of the fighter, who has been hired as his sparring partner.
After the wife leaves her husband for the other man, the fighter challenges the
champion to a fight, in order to get his revenge for the man taking his wife
away.
15. Sabotage
This classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller centers upon the operator of a local
cinema who also works with a group of saboteurs. His wife and his young
brother-in-law living with them don't know about his alternate life, though his
wife is beginning to suspect something. An undercover Scotland Yard investigator
moves into the neighborhood to investigate the cinema manager. The saboteurs
order the man to place a bomb on the metro, which he hides in a film reel can
and sends his brother-in-law to deliver, hoping that he will drop it off before
the bomb explodes.
16. Secret Agent
Set during World War I, a British author is recruited to assassinate a
German spy operating out of Switzerland. The author is given a false identity,
partnered up with a female agent and sent to Switzerland to meet up with a third
agent in order to complete their mission. Problems arise for the author turned
spy, when his conscience begins to conflict with his assigned task, placing him
at odds with his superiors and one of his fellow agents.
17. Skin Game, The
A land use dispute comes to the English countryside and pits a land
speculator and his family against the tradition-bound local landowner and his
family. The speculator buys up farmland from the local owners and evicts the
tenant farmers in order to build factories, which puts him at odds with the
community's largest property owner, who is steeped in tradition. Secrets
surrounding both families add fuel to the fire when the two opposing families
battle for control of the community's future.
18. Thirty-Nine Steps, The
This classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller tells the story of a Canadian
gentleman visiting London, who gets mixed up with some foreign espionage. While
visiting a music hall, our gentleman meets a young woman who's running away from
some men, who happened to be foreign agents. Agreeing to aid the woman by hiding
her out, he brings her back to his rented flat, unaware that they've been
followed. When he finds that the woman has been killed over night, the man must
go on the run from the police and the real killers, all the while trying to
clear his name.
19. Young and Innocent
A writer discovers the body of his girlfriend, an actress and rushes off to
the police. Witnesses mistake him for the killer and he is subsequently arrested
for the crime. Due to a mix-up at the courthouse, the writer is able to escape
with an innocent young woman in tow. The writer and the young woman attempt to
stay one step ahead of the law while they try to find the real killer to prove
the man's innocence.