Universal released Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection this week, which includes fifteen of his films in one Blu-ray set. If you'd like to learn more about the release, we have a breakdown of all that is included in the collection, plus a set of clips:
Fifteen of the most acclaimed films by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock come together on Blu-rayTM for the first time ever when Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection is released on October 30, 2012 for a limited time only. Digitally restored from high-quality film elements and presented in perfect high-definition picture and sound, Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection brings the Master of Suspense’s best work to home audiences as it’s never been seen before. This ultimate collector’s set features 13 films previously unavailable on Blu-ray,TM a collectible 50-page book featuring storyboards, costume sketches, correspondence, photographs, and much more. Plus a treasure trove of over 15 hours of documentaries, filmmaker commentaries, interviews, screen tests, trailers and a new documentary “The Birds, Hitchcock’s Monster Movie,” enough to satisfy even the most ardent Hitchcock fan.
Spanning three-and-a-half decades of the director’s prolific career, Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection includes the classic thrillers Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, The Trouble with Harry, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot. The films feature performances from some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Tippi Hedren, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak and Sean Connery.
One of the most influential and revered cinematic innovators of all time, Alfred Hitchcock had a profound and lasting impact on modern moviemaking. Renowned for his signature wit, thrilling plots, pioneering camerawork and original editing style, Hitchcock’s masterful ability to wring every drop of suspense out of each scene is still studied and emulated by filmmakers around the world. He was nominated for five Best Director Academy Awards®, and four of his films (all of which are included in this collection) appear on AFI’s prestigious “100 Years…100 Movies” list.
Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection is the ideal gift for film lovers, Hitchcock fans—or anyone who wants to discover for themselves what makes him the undisputed Master of Suspense.
Synopses and Bonus Features
Saboteur (1942)
This riveting wartime thriller stars Robert Cummings as a factory worker who is falsely accused of sabotage and sets off on a desperate, action-packed cross-country chase to clear his name.
Bonus Features:
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
This thriller about a young woman (Teresa Wright) who comes to suspect that the uncle (Joseph Cotton) she idolizes may in fact be a murderer was considered Alfred Hitchcock’s personal favorite.
Bonus Features:
Rope (1948)
Two friends strangle a classmate and then hold a party for their victim's family and friends while their former teacher (James Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious that his students have turned his intellectual theories into brutal reality.
Bonus Features:
Rear Window (1954)
James Stewart and Grace Kelly star in this voyeuristic masterpiece about a photographer who becomes obsessed with watching his neighbors and discovers a possible murder.
Bonus Features:
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
While no one really minds that Harry is dead, everyone has a different idea about what should be done with his body in this quirky mystery starring Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe.
Bonus Features:
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
James Stewart and Doris Day star as a vacationing American couple who accidentally become involved in an international assassination plot and must take matters into their own hands after their son is kidnapped.
Bonus Features:
Vertigo (1958)
James Stewart and Kim Novak star in this dizzying web of mistaken identity, passion and murder involving an acrophobic detective and the mysterious blonde he rescues from the San Francisco bay.
Bonus Features:
North by Northwest (1959)
Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint star in this edge-of-your-seat thriller about an adman who gets plunged into a realm of spy and counterspy and is abducted, framed for murder, chased and crop-dusted.
Bonus Features:
Psycho (1960)
Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh star in this shocking classic about an unsuspecting visitor to the Bates Motel who falls prey to one of cinema’s most notorious psychopaths, Norman Bates.
Bonus Features:
The Birds (1963)
‘Tippi’ Hedren and Rod Taylor star in this horrific tale of nature gone berserk when thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.
Bonus Features:
Marnie (1964)
‘Tippi’ Hedren stars as Marnie, a compulsive liar and thief, who winds up marrying the very man (Sean Connery) she attempts to rob in this psychological thriller that races to an inescapable conclusion.
Bonus Features:
Torn Curtain (1966)
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in this action-packed thriller about a world-famous scientist who goes undercover to get top-secret information and ends up running for his life from enemy agents.
Bonus Features:
Topaz (1969)
John Forsythe stars as an American CIA agent who hires a French operative to travel to Cuba and investigate rumors of Russian missiles and a spy codenamed “Topaz”.
Bonus Features:
Frenzy (1972)
In this morbid blend of horror and wit, the “Necktie Murderer” has the London Police on red alert and an innocent man (Jon Finch) is on a desperate quest to find the real criminal and clear his own name.
Bonus Features:
Family Plot (1976)
Chaos ensues in this suspense-comedy when a phony psychic and her not-so-bright boyfriend cross paths with a slick diamond merchant and his beautiful girlfriend.
Bonus Features: