Search - Alfred Hitchcock: The Collection (The Lady Vanishes / The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) / Blackmail / The Farmer's Wife / Murder! / Sabotage / The Lodger / Easy Virtue / Rich and Strange / The Sorcer's Apprentice [TV Episode]) on DVD
7 DVD SET INCLUDES:
Sabotage
The Lodger
Blackmail
Easy Virtue
Rich and Strange
The Sorcerer?s Apprentice
The Farmer?s Wife
Murder!
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Lady Vanishes B&W/826 min.
Alfred Hitchcock The Collection The 39 Steps / Jamaica Inn / Young and Innocent / The Manxman / The Secret Agent / Number 17 / The Ring / The Skin Game / The Cheney Vase Director:Alfred Hitchcock
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - Old School Alfred Hitchcock Black and White that was not great but also not terrible.
Movie Reviews
Wrong running time
keviny01 | 01/21/2001
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Even though the film originally ran about 97 minutes, and even though Amazon's info shows the running time to be 93 minutes, this Laserlight's DVD version of THE FARMER'S WIFE runs 129 minutes. Apparently, the wrong film speed was used in transferring the film to DVD, stretching the film by an additional half hour. The film's tempo is therefore slowed down a great deal, and the pacing and timing of the various comedy scenes are very much ruined. The DVD does have decent picture and sound (mono) quality.This dated and predictable film was nevertheless well-acted by Jameson Thomas as the farmer and Lillian Hall-Davis as his housekeeper. Hall-Davis also starred in another Hitchcock's silent comedy "The Ring" (a much better film), also available as a Laserlight DVD."
A Hitchcock Film In Name Only That Goes On For Ever
E. Parsons | 06/25/2000
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I have nothing against silent films. In fact Clara Bow's 'It', Lon Chaney's 'The Phantom of The Opera' and Louise Brooks's 'Pandora's Box' are amongst my all-time favourites. But with the exception of 'The Lodger', Hitchcock never really got going in silent films. 'The Farmer's Wife' certainly had the potential for an easy going, enjoyable comedy, but NOT when it lasts over 2 hours. I challenge anyone to watch this film in one sitting without their eyelids feeling increasingly heavy. On the plus points, Laserlight has dispensed with one of those embarrassing Tony Curtis introductions, and has provided us with a newly recorded (and very good) score. The picture quality is also very good. If you're tempted to buy this DVD because it's a Hitchcock film, I'd say don't. It is only worth a look to anyone with an interest in silent films or a genuine Hitchcock enthusiast."
A bargain for aficianados
Keith Nelson | Monmouth, NJ | 06/18/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For the hard-core Hitchcock fan, I recommend getting this set of eight of his early films plus an episode of the TV show. The best of these (39 Steps, Lady Vanishes, Blackmail) all bear the Hitchcock stamp of his finest work inthe 50s and 60s. I especially enjoyed Easy Virtue (1927), an unremarkable film on its own - I had never seen it before, yet could start seeing signs of his masterpieces to come. Although none in this collection is as excellent as North by Northwest or Psycho (although 39 steps isn't far off), where else can you get this much Hitchcock for $30? Buy it!"
Nicely integrated package, image quality lacking
dannerx | Toronto | 06/20/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"A solid collection of lesser known titles that are definitely worth the price if you are a true Hitchcock fan. Image quality and extras are lacking when compared with your typical Criterion Collection dvd but for this price you can't complain."
Comedy for die hard fans or the easily amused only.
dannerx | 08/10/1999
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This is an early entry into the British tradition of class based comedies. A one-joke film that drags on for an interminably long 115 minutes, the film was however an un-surprising hit upon it's original release, thanks largely to the performance of it's excellent cast.Thomas portrays Sweetland so completely without charm, tact or grace it is easy to see why the women all reject him. Unfortunately he manages this so completely it is impossible to feel any pathos for the man, and one can feel only sympathy for the woman who eventually consents to be his bride. Gill, Pounds, Slade and Bassett are all uniformly excellent as the various objects of Sweetlands pursuits, while Hall-Davies and Harker who were so good in "The Ring" are largely wasted in this coarse script.Hitch, well aware of the built in popularity of the film seizes the opportunity to experiment behind the camera, the fluid camera movements owe much to Hitch's hero Murnau and the film features one of the first rapid dolly shots.Hitch's broadest of comedies has dated badly, while it is a highly polished exercise in commercial film production, there are only so many laughs to be gained from watching Harker repeatedly drop his trousers."