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Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 remake of the 1916 U.K. drama The Manxman is no picnic: lives are destroyed, careers ruined, and hopes dashed. One of the director's harshest works, this silent film concerns two old school chums on the Isle of Man, Pete (Carl Brisson) and Phil (Malcolm Keen), who both love the same woman, Kate (Anny Ondra). Phil has been reared and educated to become an aristocrat--a successful lawyer and eventual judge. Pete, by contrast, is happy as a fisherman but cannot win Kate until he earns his fortune. (He also doesn't know how Phil really feels about his girl.) When word comes that Pete has died overseas, Phil and Kate consummate their passion, only to find that the news of their friend's demise has been greatly exaggerated. What follows is a doomed effort by the lovers to paper over what they've done: Pete marries Kate, all right, but Kate and Phil's deception not only doesn't go away, it just gets deeper. Hitchcock explores, though not too subtly, his developing preoccupation with shared guilt and secret selves, and he layers in strong hints of ever-deepening motivation behind so much self-destruction. (A suggestion that blue-blooded Phil is really using the barmaid Kate as a shield against his destiny is not only provocative but amplifies the tragedy.) Much of the film is set-bound, but there are also astonishing moments of Hitchcock working out early versions of visual ideas fulfilled up to 30 years later in such films as North by Northwest and Psycho. --Tom Keogh
Description
7 DVD SET INCLUDES:
The Secret Agent
The Skin Game
Number 17
The Ring
Jamaica Inn
Young and Innocent
The Cheney Vase
The Manxman
The 39 Steps
B&W/683 min.
Customer Reviews:
The Golden Era of Silent Hitchock Film.......2003-02-12
This is a tragic, woeful tale! Do not expect to leave this film unscathed by the brutal knife edge of Hitchcock. He wields the weapon of suspense and trauma even here, so very early in his career.
We are also introduced to the fine actor, Carl Brisson. His performance alone garners the worth of four stars. Each facial expression, every gesticulation is worth a thousand words in the medium of silent film, and Mr. Brisson flawlessly provides them all. He is, essentially, the backbone of this dreadully long, droll, tragedy.
You'll notice the pacing and editing of the movie are frustrating, however, in its entirety, i still believe this film works. It's a Lily in Winter: rare, rare, rare. I only wish Mr. Brisson had produced more than three films before his untimely (and early) death.
And you'll want this as a reminder that the fruits of Hitchcocks genius were in the larval stages and just absolutely fascinating to watch.
A Good Value for Hitchcock Fans.......2001-08-30
These DVDs (and The AH Collection II) are quite a good value. Iým a big Hitchcock fan, and before I bought them I had only seen cheapo VHS versions of a few of the movies (except for The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps, of which I had the Criterion editions). Anyway, I got the two box sets here on Amazon (theyýre also now available in one big set with 14 DVDs), and Iýve watched through all of them.
The first thing you need to know, and then promptly forget about, is that Tony Curtis provides an introduction to each DVD, and man is it brutal! There are a lot of pictures that were publicity stills for his later movies or his TV series, and Tony says things like, ýHitch liked to shock people. You know what itýs like when you have a good twist at the end of a film? Hitch had a lot of those. Shocking!ý His comments rarely relate to the movie. Anyway, I watched all the intros, but it was painful.
Several of the DVDs also have trailers for later Hitchcock films, all in horrible condition. Which makes the transfers of the actual movies all that much better, since theyýre quite acceptable. The worst transfer is the earliest film, The Lodger, and the worst movies are The Manxman and Easy Virtue. Besides that, it was a pleasure watching them. None of the films are at the level of the two Criterion releases, and there are certainly lines and scratches throughout, but you can enjoy them. The sound is generally okayývery little screeching as I recall from the VHS copies Iýve seen. Thereýs really no bass response at all, but thereýs not a whole lot of scratching either.
I think (a) except for the two Criterion ones, theyýre the best copies out there, (b) if youýre a Hitchcock fan, theyýre required viewing and you wonýt be disappointed in the movies themselves, and (c) at about $... a DVD, and with three or so of the discs containing a second, silent film (none of the silents stand alone on a DVD) and two of the discs containing an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (in probably the worst condition youýve ever seen them, especially if youýve been spoiled by the Universal-released episodes), theyýre a tremendous bargain.
Note, these arenýt all of Hitchcockýs early movies. Several, such as Champagne and Juno and the Paycock, arenýt out on DVD at all. Also note that these arenýt all mystery/suspense films. The Farmerýs Wife is a comedy, The Ring is a boxing/love story, Easy Virtue, Skin Game, and The Manxman are melodramas, and Jamaica Inn is a period piece. But itýs neat to finish one of these and then watch, say, The 39 Steps and see an early glimpse into the director Hitch would later become.
One painful caveat: The Farmerýs Wife, a silent comedy, was quite entertaining, but it was also nearly an hour longer than its 97-minute listed running time. Everytime I thought the farmer would finally choose a wife, another plot twist came up. After 2+ hours I started to consider hitting the FF button. I read somewhere that itýs a common error in silent films to have them run at the wrong speed--unfortunately this one runs too slow. If you can forego the music, Iýd consider watching it in a slight fast forward mode!
Wait for the new Hitchcock releases........2001-07-21
These DVDs are "Laserlight" releases which mean that they have very poor quality picture and sound.Wait for the new Hitchcock Box sets which have clear picture and sound plus documentaries and other extras.The superb Criterion versions are also a good choice.If it's introduced by Tony Curtis,then it's Laserlight,avoid it!
Half wonderful, all of great historical interest.......2000-12-02
Note: this review refers to the 14-DVD boxed set and not just to Volume 1.
No film buff and certainly no film major should be without the boxed set of 14 DVDs that Laserlight has issued under the umbrella title of
. The DVDs are organized in no particular order, some containing only one film, some two, while two of them have a full film and an episode from the old "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV series of the 1950s. They all have a trailer of more recent Hitchcock films and they all have an embarrassingly bad introduction by Tony Curtis, whose connection with these films and with English enunciation is vague at best.
The gems of the collection are "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1934), "The 39 Steps" (1935) and "The Lady Vanishes" (1939). Of the earlier talkies, "Young and Innocent" has the quintessential plot of an innocent man and a girl who somehow winds up with him being chased by the police. "Rich and Strange" (1932) is not a thriller but has a shivery sequence as a couple on a sinking boat sees the water seeping into their cabin--just before it stops sinking.
"Jamaica Inn" (1939) has an over the top performance by Charles Laughton (whose dialogue is hard to follow even on this restored version) and the first appearance of Maureen O'Hara. And for once, Robert Newton plays the Good Guy. "Sabotage" (1936) is based on a Joseph Conrad tale and has the famous scene of the boy on a bus with a bomb on his lap. (Later, Hitchcock commented he should not have let it go off.) "Secret Agent" (1936) gives us a young John Gielgud as a spy who kills the wrong man, Peter Lorre in a very bizarre role (helped or hindered by his drug-taking on and off the set), and the suavest villain of them all--Robert Young!
"Number 17" (1932) is one of the films Hitchcock did not want to film, and he gave us a great spoof on the genre of the spooky houses, diamond smugglers, and derring-do. "Murder" (1930) boasts a super cool Herbert Marshall as a jurist who reluctantly says guilty at a woman's murder trial and then spends the rest of the film proving her innocent.
More fascinating is "Blackmail" (1929), which existed in silent and talking versions. We have the latter and the often commented upon scene in which Hitchcock plays with the soundtrack so that only the word "knife" can be heard during the last part of a long monologue. Another trick he was forced into was the use of a British actress reading out the lines of the foreign-born heroine.
"The Skin Game" (1931) is weakest of the talkies included in this set; and indeed the dialogue is almost impossible to understand.
Of the silents, "The Lodger" (1927) is in the worst shape but it shows very clearly the influence of the silent German film on Hitchcock's early (and later) technique. Of course the long takes of a face staring into the camera are laughable today; but this is an historical document and demands a certain degree of detachment. "The Ring" (1927) does strain credibility, while it shows Hitchcock's love for show business of any sort, even circus freakshows and boxing.
"The Manxman" (1929) is slow and predictable with its love triangle, a misreported death, and the return of the husband. "Easy Virtue" (1927) is based on a Noel Coward play, which it follows only half way through the film, and shows a sympathetic view of the "woman with a past"--in this case, a divorce--together with a condemnation of those who cannot accept her. More Social Studies than good drama here.
However, "The Farmer's Wife" (1928) is quite funny once the somewhat jerky widower offers himself to three unlikely women while his housekeeper loves him in silence and has to assist him in his wooing spree.
One feature of these DVDs you will probably not need is the ability to hear the talkies in English, Spanish, Chinese or Japanese; or to subtitle the dialogue cards in the silents in the last three languages.
A strange feature of these DVDs is that they immediately take you into the film rather than into the menu. This should be changed in future printings.
So all in all, I would guess you would want to see some of the talkies many, many times, some of the silents less often, and some of them never again. But once more, this is a very valuable set for students and just plain lovers of film history, especially the part played in that history by Hitchcock.
Imperdible..........2000-09-25
En esta era de la tecnología y el gusto por lograr las mejores imágenes y los mejores efectos, esta colección nos lleva a darnos cuenta que las grandes obras de arte se deben edificar a partir de eso, "El Arte". Y esto es precisamente lo que demuestra este box set. El arte de la cinematografía puesta en las manos del genial Hitchcock. Ni que hablar de la producción: Siete discos, cada uno en su propio estuche, excelente sonido, y todo el material subtitulado (includo extras, introducción y trailers), además de que los discos son multizona. Cabe destacar que esto no fue obra de una gran empresa sino de LaserLight Video, pero es algo que los grandes estudios deberían tomar como ejemplo, hartos ya de ver películas con extras sin subtítulos. Si a eso le sumamos el costo del set, nos encontramos con una joya que no podemos desperdiciar. Muy recomendable.
Average customer rating:
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- Hitch With a Twitch
- Young and Innocent
- Overlooked masterwork
- A Charming Mystery
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Young & Innocent/The Cheney Vase
Starring:
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Similar Items:
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Blackmail/Easy Virtue
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Secret Agent
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Sabotage and The Lodger
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Number 17/The Ring
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Rich & Strange/ The Sorcerer's Apprentice
ASIN: B00000JQSJ
Release Date: 1999-07-24 |
Description
When a woman's body is found by her former lover, he races off to the police. Witnesses see him and think he is the killer. Features an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", an intro by Tony Curtis, and the trailer for the film, "Stranger On A Train".
Menus: English • Spanish • Chinese • Japanese
Subtitles: Spanish • Chinese • Japanese
B&W/113 min.
Customer Reviews:
Early genius.......2006-09-26
I saw this film on TV recently. It draws the viewer in right away with the dead body washing up on the beach and man who is wrongly accused. It has Hitchcock's trademark humor and suspense. It could have been more tightly edited in parts, but as I watched the ballroom scene near the end, all I could think was, Hitchcock is a genius. The camera scans the room and in a very restrained and patient way, zeros in on the killer as the characters try to do the same. There is also a little bit of Vertigo in the mine shaft scene.
Hitch With a Twitch.......2006-07-23
*** This comment contains spoilers ***
Many of Hitchcock's early films share story elements because he used the same writer (Charles Bennett) for the screenplays. So you find "Young and Innocent" sharing the beginning of "Sabotage" by immediately revealing the identity of the villain/murderer, turning both films from mystery/thriller into simple thriller. And it shares with "The 39 Steps" a hero on the run with a reluctant heroine, as they work to clear his name they fall in love.
A woman is found dead on a beach, the police determine that she did not drown but was strangled with the belt of a raincoat. Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) is the prime suspect, in part because he was observed running from the scene and in part because he is known to have owned a similar type of raincoat. Robert's claim that his raincoat was stolen at a lorry station a few days before is not believed and his court appointed barrister does not inspire confidence. So he escapes and with the help of Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam) dashes about the countryside seeking the elusive raincoat in order to clear his name. As a further complication Erica's father is the chief constable.
Like "The 39 Steps", the story has a lighter tone than most of Hitchcock's thrillers; nicely blending comedy with suspense. It lacks that films interesting technical elements but does feature a nice climatic sequence where a continuous crane shot moves slowly over a crowded dance floor to end inches away from the twitching eyes of the murderer who has not been shown since the opening scene of the film.
The film seems to be hacked up a bit, jumping in and out of scenes at inappropriate times as if a poor job of trimming was done and incompletely restored sometime in the almost 70 years since the original edit. This is disconcerting but not fatal, as the themes of disguise and visual impairment are still quite clear. Robert escapes from the courthouse by donning his defense lawyer's glasses-which impair his vision; Old Will dresses up in a new suit in order to infiltrate the hotel but is too concerned with the police to spot the murderer, the murderer appears in blackface but has trouble seeing because of a nervous tick in his eyelids. Ironically it is the medication he takes for this condition that causes Erika to finally notice him.
Hitchcock's skills in casting and directing actors is rarely mentioned but he had a amazing ability to select an actress at the perfect moment of her career for the performance he needed. Nova Pilbeam was only 18 during the filming but she had considerable experience as a child actress. This allowed her to play a confident and capable heroine, and yet project a charming naïveté. Her resemblance to Kiera Knightley is almost spooky, going beyond simple appearance into speech and mannerisms.
This time the "MacGuffin" is the raincoat and it enables Hitchcock to have a double chase for most of the film, as Robert pursues his raincoat he is being pursued by the police. For those who have never heard this, a "MacGuffin" is Hitchcock's term for a plot device (often used in thrillers) that motivates the characters and advances the story-but has little other relevance to the story itself. Unlike other types of plot devices it is not important what specifically the object is, anything that could serve as a motivator could be used. And from an audience perspective the MacGuffin is not the point of the story. Thus in "Young and Innocent" the hero and heroine pursue the raincoat only to discover than it will not be useful for the purpose they intended. It then goes from central focus to insignificance.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Young and Innocent.......2005-12-10
One of Hitchock's last pictures in England, and has wonderful touches of the Master. The dramatic-laden birthday party (not to mention Erica's lovingly, bemused father), the ground sinking of Erica and her doggie; and especially after the comedy of Edward Rigby's tight shoes, etc., the confusion, then the long pan shot of the d-d-d-d-drummer. Case solved after a wonderful between the wars view of good auld England. All together a wonderfully satisfying film, for running when, you, especially, can't sleep.
Overlooked masterwork.......2005-08-22
Maybe it's because this film is so overlooked and untouched by critics that makes it my favorite pre hollywood Hitchcock film. There's no need to go over the plot yet again. It's Hitchcock's love for film making. It's his charming characters especially Nova Pilbean the young girl from The Man Who Knew Too Much. It's all those little Hitchcock tricks and wit that would blossom in a few short years. Try not to miss this one.... Is there any reason why this film and other Hitchcock films have not been given a first rate remastering on dvd. I'm still waiting.
A Charming Mystery.......2005-08-21
While rarely mentioned in the same breath with "The 39 Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes," this is my favorite film from Hitchcock's British film catalog. It has charm, a great story, lots of atmosphere, a fine romance, and best of all, the wonderful Nova Pilbeam. Based on a Josephine Tey novel, "A Schilling For Candles," this story of an innocent man wrongly accused of murder and the young girl who aids his search for proof he did not commit the crime is a ton of fun.
This is a top-notch British production from the period. There is good photography from Bernard Knowles and a nice score from Louis Levy to make this one of Hitchcock's most enjoyable outings. Nova Pilbeam was a lovely young British actress who had worked for the director in a smaller role three years earlier, in his first version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much." She sparkles here as a strong and independent young heroine who comes to believe in someone and risks everything to aid him.
Derrick De Marney also shines as a young writer named Robert who happens upon the body of famous cinema star, Christine Clay (Pamela Carme), washed up on the beach. He had a passing acquaintance with her since she had purchased one of his stories. He is seen running from the scene to get help, and when it is discovered she was strangled with a belt from a coat he had stolen from him at a place called Tom's Hat, things don't look good for our hero.
It looks even worse that she left 1,200 pounds to him in her will, and when his attorney appears to be a boob, Robert escapes in order to prove his innocence. He gets the reluctant help of the Chief Constaple's daughter, Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam), in escaping to an old mill for the night, taking the chance she will not turn him in to her father. There is a romantic attraction between the two, and the independent young Erica decides she must help him avoid the gallows.
When she comes to bring him food and drive him around to search for the man who stole the jacket which will prove his innocence, she and her little dog get in deeper and deeper. There finally comes a turning point when Erica throws caution to the wind and zealously helps Robert pursue the man with a twitch in his eye who murdered Christine Clay. It becomes apparent to both her father and the police that she is aiding him willingly and not under duress. Since they have already slipped up and aroused suspicions at a birthday party her aunt and uncle were thowing for her niece, they know they can not remain at large forever and it becomes a race with time to find the real killer.
There is a very nice atmosphere of an English coastal town in the 1930's and all the trademark Hitchcock elements are here as well. This is one of the great Hitchcock films from his British period and stands with the best of them. Nova Pilbeam is terrific here and it is almost a shame she did not get to make more films like this one. If you enjoyed "The 39 Steps" you will probably like this as well. It does not quite have the tension of that great film but has a little more romance and charm. A real winner!
Description
Includes:
Young & Innocent
The Cheney Vase
Sabotage
The Lodger
B&W/272 min.
Description
Includes:
Jamaica Inn
Murder!
Young & Innocent
The Cheney Vase
B&W/303 min.
DVD:
- Axe
- Beautiful Weapon
- Big Boy Rides Again
- Black Book
- Blind Fear
- Bloodwork & Placebo Effect - 2 Seperate DVDs - Action & Adventure Set
- Brother Cadfael, Set 1 (One Corpse Too Many / The Sanctuary Sparrow / The Leper of St. Giles / Monk's Hood)
- Brother Cadfael, Set 2 (The Virgin in the Ice, The Devil's Novice, St. Peter's Fair)
- Brother Cadfael, Set 3 (The Rose Rent, A Morbid Taste for Bones, The Raven in the Foregate)
- Bullet Ballet
DVD
DVD
![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])](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00000JQSQ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
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])
The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection (Strangers on a Train Two-Disc Edition / North by Northwest / Dial M for Murder / Foreign Correspondent / Suspicion / The Wrong Man / Stage Fright / I Confess / Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
Alfred Hitchcock's Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache
Under Capricorn
Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection (Psycho / Vertigo / Rear Window / The Birds / Shadow of a Doubt / Family Plot / Frenzy / The Man Who Knew Too Much / Marnie / Rope / Saboteur / Topaz / Torn Curtain / The Trouble with Harry)
