Join the legendary "Master of Suspense", Alfred Hitchcock, in all 39 original episodes of the first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the Emmy Award-winning murder-mystery series that, in the words of Hitchcock himself,... more » "brought murder back into the home where it belongs." This spectacular collection includes exclusive never-before-available bonus features, including in-depth interviews with Alfred Hitchcock's daughter, Pat, and associate producer Norman Lloyd. Join stellar guest stars including Cloris Leachman, Charles Bronson, Claude Rains, Lorne Greene, Joanne Woodward, Vera Miles and more in over 16 hours of the most captivating, intriguing, suspenseful television ever aired.« less
"After releasing only selected episodes in volumes (4 episodes in 1 DVD), it is good to see that Universal Home Entertainment is finally releasing this show in season box sets (and hope that they continue to release the remaining seasons in the future).
Premiered on October 1st, 1955, this wonderful series ran for seven seasons, and afterwards for another 3 seasons as "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour". This set contains the first 39 episodes of Season 1, told by the `Master of Suspense', Alfred Hitchcock. The episodes include:
01. Revenge 02. Premonition 03. Triggers in Leash 04. Don't Come Back Alive 05. Into Thin Air (aka The Vanishing Lady) 06. Salvage 07. Breakdown 08. Our Cook's a Treasure 09. The Long Shot 10. The Case of Mr. Pelham 11. Guilty Witness 12. Santa Claus and the 10th Avenue Kid 13. The Cheney Vase 14. A Bullet for Baldwin 15. The Big Switch 16. You Got to Have Luck 17. The Older Sister 18. Shopping for Death 19. The Derelicts 20. And So Died Riabouchinska 21. Safe Conduct 22. Place of Shadows 23. Back for Christmas 24. The Perfect Murder 25. There Was an Old Woman 26. Whodunit? 27. Help Wanted 28. Portrait of Jocelyn 29. The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby 30. Never Again 31. The Gentleman from America 32. The Babysitter 33. The Belfry 34. The Hidden Thing 35. The Legacy 36. Mink 37. The Decoy 38. The Creeper 39. Momentum
Along with the above episodes, this DVD also contains a featurette called "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Look Back" on the show. Compared to the Season Sets of "The Twilight Zone" (which ranges from $75-100), I feel the price for this DVD is very decent and is worth buying.
All in all, this is a great release and I hope Universal will continue releasing more seasons of this show in the future. "
Good Evening, Mr. Hitchcock!
pestcomics | Long Island, New York USA | 08/01/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I haven't seen "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" since it was last shown on TV Land quite a few years back. This show is one of the best anthology series ever and deserves to be shown and enjoyed. Thankfully Universal has seen fit to release season one on DVD. All 39 episodes (yes, 39!) of this incredible show.
The one constant element throughout the series is the presence of Alfred Hitchcock with his dry, macabre sense of humor. This show made the well-respected film director a huge TV personality of the 50s and 60s. It was part of his deal with CBS that he would direct many of the episodes but as it turned out he directed only 17 segments during the series entire run.
Many well-known actors from film and television made appearances on the show during it's run. In this season one set you can expect to see Aunt Bea (Frances Bavier), John Forsythe, Cloris Leachman, Joseph Cotten, Peter Lawford, Barry Fitzgerald, Carolyn Jones, John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, Claude Rains and many others. There was also a bit of nepotism afoot as Pat Hichcock made numerous appearances on her dad's show. Fortunately, she was a pretty good actress.
The episodes are based on great short stories by writers such as Alexander Woollcott, Ambrose Bierce, Cornell Woolrich, Frederic Brown, Henry Slesar, H.H. Munro (aka Saki), John Cheever, John Collier, John Wyndham, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch and Roald Dahl. Yes, that's the same Roald Dahl who wrote those entertaining children's stories (you've heard of Willy Wonka, I presume). He wrote one of the series most famous episodes "Lamb to the Slaughter."
I have read that Hitchcock actually filmed two openings and closings for each episode. The ones Americans are familiar with feature Hitch sarcastically commenting on the show's sponsors and TV in general. The other openings and closings were created for the European market and featured Hitch poking fun at Americans. I don't know if any of these alternate scenes are included but they would be fun to watch.
A price tag of under $30 for 39 episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" is a great bargain compared to the ridiculously overpriced "The Twilight Zone" seasons. As much as I like "The Twilight Zone" I refuse to pay those prices. As for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," I'll be the first in line to drop my $30 for these great shows."
Beware! Some episodes are edited
Larry J. Commons | Arlington, TX USA | 10/09/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"It's very hard for me to type this, because I thought this was going to be a stellar set -- but alas some episodes are indeed edited.
Example: "Salvage" ends with Gene Barry shooting Nancy Gates. After he pulls the trigger, the next scene on the DVD is Hitchcock saying (after the usual comedy), "We'll be back next week." Then the end credits roll. I knew something was missing, so I went back to my 10-year-old VHS recording (syndicated TV version) of this episode and played it. There, Hitch does indeed come back BETWEEN the end of the show and the farewell till next week outro. It's about 30 seconds of footage with Hitch explaining, "He would have gotten away with murder, but ..." This is CRUCIAL footage! And since it's included in the syndicated TV version, Universal can't say it isn't included on the DVD because the footage is "lost."
Sigh. Why can't Universal get it right? Double-sided discs are one thing; releasing edited shows is another. What, exactly, is the problem? "
Before you buy this set . . .
Michelle K Vinje | Baltimore, MD | 08/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First of all I want to state that ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS is a superbly entertaing program. Hitchcock himself did not want to host his own television program until 1955, when Lew Wasserman, then head of Universal Studios (then known as Universal International), convinced Hitchcock to market his name and his movies by hosting his own television series. Thus ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS was born.
Hitchcock himself directed four of the 39 episodes of the first season. There is a book, authorized through Universal, entitled THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS COMPANION by Martin Grams and Patrik Wikstrom, with a foreward by Patricia Hitchcock, Hitchcock's daughter. This book was published two years ago and is 660 pages thick and highly detailed covering everything you could want to know about the program.
This book is also available on Amazon so when you buy Season One of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I recommend you buy the book as a companion piece. My only question is whether the DVD will feature the alternative openings Hitchcock filmed. You see, the program became so popular that three different openings and closings were filmed for most of the episodes. One in English, one in French (Hitchcock could speak French), and the other also in English but instead of making fun of the sponsors, he made fun of the Americans cause when the show aired in Britain, those alternative openings and closings were aired overseas. I only hope Universal features the alternative versions. Thankfully the book I described lists those alternatives."
Freezing DVD - True Terror
vlad48 | Vancouver, BC | 10/12/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"After being thrilled to find this classic Hitchcock series available, we are also plagued with problems of episodes freezing and being impossible to watch. Universal always seems to have been the low-budget studio, compared to Warner and Paramount, and it seems their low-ball production methods are now leading to flawed dvds. I recommend never buying one of their products unless you find sufficient reviews to show they have improved their quality-control and production standards. Whatever minor saving Universal gained from cheapo production standards is going to cost them in negative brand recognition and bad word-of-mouth. Beware!"