STUDIOCANAL are delighted to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the birth of Alfred Hitchcock, one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema, with the release in December of a Special Edition 11 Disc Blu-ray Boxset of Hitchcock’s early works. For the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, featuring new restorations and scores, viewers can experience 10 of the cinematic legend’s early masterworks. From the silent film era to the first talkies, the 11 disc Blu-ray box set also contains a newly commissioned documentary BECOMING HITCHCOCK, exploring the director’s first sound picture BLACKMAIL plus a 64-page booklet and poster.
Hitchcock’s silent films including THE RING (1928), THE FARMER’S WIFE (1929) and CHAMPAGNE (1928) were greeted with great enthusiasm by critics and were heralded as evidence that British films had reached an international standard of artistry. Hitchcock’s final silent film THE MANXMAN (1930) was also a considerable commercial success. In 1929, Hitchcock directed BLACKMAIL, the first British sound feature, hailed as a film which “used sound and dialogue with more flair and imagination than any Hollywood or European film of the time.” Hitchcock’s inventive and expressionist use of sound demonstrated that the new technology opened a new realm of possibilities. In the wake of BLACKMAIL, there were searches for new challenges. These included adaptations of two high profile plays, JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK (1930) and THE SKIN GAME (1931), two more thrillers MURDER! (1930), NUMBER SEVENTEEN (1932), and an intriguingly odd marital drama, the appropriately titled RICH AND STRANGE (1932).
