Best of course would be Criterion DVDs, but so far as I can tell Criterion doesn’t include these early films (someone please post if I’m wrong.)
In situations like this, I go to amazon.com and search for relevant DVDs. (There may be other vendors that work as well, but that’s the one I use.) If it’s in print at all, it will usually be listed, along with reviews that discuss the DVD’d quality.
And in addition to this Auteurs forum, such questions are often posted under the film’s discussion board on IMDB.com.
>>>
If you’re looking for R1, I recommend starting with the Lion’s Gate set The Alfred Hitchcock Box Set . It contains The Ring, The Manxman, Murder!, The Skin Game, and Rich and Strange. These films are out of public domain as of 2005 when Canal Plus (a French company) recovered the rights. Lions Gate has licensed these five films, so the print/transfer quality is much better than what you’ll get buying from public domain copies. Not much in the way of extras, however. I’m not sure about good sources for some of the other films, but I hope this helps.
In a related question, I DVDRed a bunch of these early Hitchcock titles from TCM a couple years ago & was astounded by the quality of their prints (better than I’d ever seen in many cases), but in many cases there was no indication of where TCM got them.
Anybody know? That would be the label (or labels?) to check out.
I’ve done some additional research on this and here’s what I’ve found regarding US rights:
Granada International (formerly Carlton Film Distributors, Ltd)
The Lodger (1927)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Sabotage (1936)
Secret Agent (1936)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Young and Innocent (1937)
Studio Canal (UGC UK)
Blackmail (1929)
Champagne (1928)
Elstree Calling (1930)
Juno and the Paycock (1930)
The Manxman (1929)
Murder! (1930)
Number Seventeen (1932)
Rich and Strange (1931)
The Ring (1927)
The Skin Game (1931)
Of the remaining films:
The Pleasure Garden (1925) — the US rights appear to have been held by the Estate of Raymond Rohauer[
The Farmer’s Wife (1928) — the US rights appear to have been held by Warner Brothers, Inc.
Jamaica Inn (1939) — the US rights appear to have been held by the Estate of Raymond Rohauer
Note: in addition to the set noted above, MGM has licensed and released:
Young and Innocent
The Lodger
Sabotage
. . . so this should be fairly good in terms of print/transfer since they are the “official” version of the films.
so that leaves only:
The Pleasure Garden (1925)
The Farmer’s Wife (1928)
Champagne (1928)
Blackmail (1929)
The Manxman (1929)
Elstree Calling (1930)
Juno and the Paycock (1930)
Number Seventeen (1932)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
out of the public domain and not available in a respectable DVD editiion.
.
Respectable DVD edition, no, but the budget collection from Mill Creek covers those in … well, semi-watchable quality: http://www.amazon.com/Alfred-Hitchcock-Legend-Begins-Classics/dp/B000UVV25Q
1. Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Chaney Vase
2. Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
3. Blackmail
4. Champagne (Silent)
5. Easy Virtue (Silent)
6. Farmer’s Wife, The (Silent)
7. Jamaica Inn
8. Juno and the Paycock
9. Lady Vanishes, The
10. Lodger, The (Silent)
11. Man Who Knew Too Much, The
12. Manxman, The (Silent)
13. Number Seventeen
14. Rich and Strange
15. Ring, The (Silent)
16. Sabotage
17. Secret Agent
18. Skin Game, The
19. Thirty-Nine Steps, The
20. Young and Innocent
I had been looking at the millcreek edition, but was unsure of quality.
What we really need is a Early Hitchcock Eclipse set!
mmm, sounds nice.
Yeah, the Mill Creek set is all public domain stuff, so adjust your expectations accordingly.
Spencer Draper
Simply wondering what is the best way to watch the early British films of Hitchcock. (before The 39 Steps) Since these have fallen into the public domain it makes it very had to find complete and decent looking prints.