List Price: $19.99 Our Price: $17.99YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
DVD Under Capricorn
With the long-take experiment of Rope still fresh in his mind, Alfred Hitchcock turned his attention to romantic melodrama: Under Capricorn, a novel of 1830s Australia. Having little of the usual suspense to rely on, Hitchcock used the elegant long-take method to draw out Ingrid Bergman's harrowing performance. As a fallen aristocrat who married a former stable boy (Joseph Cotten) and moved Down Under, Bergman gives a fine portrayal of a woman hemmed in by a sour marriage and a guilty secret. The actress also felt hemmed in by Hitch's elaborate camera movements; she hated them. This expensive picture flopped on its first release, but it has a hypnotic flow despite a tendency toward talkiness. Hitchcock fans will recognize, beyond the details of plot, a couple of the director's key motifs: the jaundiced view of marriage, and the anxieties underlying social status. And, of course, the worship of an actress. --Robert Horton
This is, as far as I know, the only period film Hitchcock ever made. Being very familiar with most of his movies for many years I was excited to finally see another one from a high point in his career that I had never seen. I think it's interesting that he tried something new and different, for him, but it doesn't completely work. It's always a pleasure, though, to watch Ingrid Bergman in anything, and Joseph Cotten for that matter. And this isn't horrible, just definitely a failed attempt. I think "Saboteur" is another failed attempt by Hitchcock and this isn't even as good as "Saboteur". Still, all things considered, die hard Hitchcock fans should see it - to me it's interesting to watch anything he attempted.
yak yak yak
Hitchcock did this film as a favor to Bergman. A boring costume picture, the only saving grace is Joseph Cotton. Anything with Cotton in it is worth watching just for his unequaled screen presence. The 'loser' sort of wins in the end, giving Cotton a rare, cheery ending. To be fair, the acting in this film is really good, as is the cinematography. But the story, pacing, and overall energy of the film falls flat. "Under Capricorn" would be the next to last picture I'd ever recommend to anyone unfamiliar with Hitchcock ("Jamaica Inn" still the lamest of the bunch).
Solid, But Flawed
A Hitchcock film that I'd never seen. Many of them I've viewed a dozen or more times so I'm no stranger or newcomer to his films. DVD transfer is quite good and the color very saturated. It certainly held my attention and has some wonderful performances. Standouts are Bergman and Leighton as the strange housekeeper, ala Mrs. Danvers. I thought Joseph Cotton and Michael Wilding were very good, too.
Next is the camerawork that is astonishing at times. Considering this was made decades before the Stedicam, this film is remarkable for the dolly and tracking shots. Amusing and at times beautiful are the process shots of early Sydney in the opening sequence. Either glass paintings or mattes were used but the shot when Adare first arrives at the Flusky mansion was clearly a painting that must've been laughable when seen projected on the big screen. The matching of color and mood of the painting during the transition to the set was done very well. A later shot of that same painting of the mansion with some fluttering leaves on the trees in the foreground make it much more believable. Previous reviewers here remark on the budget and cheapness of Hitchcock on this film since it was an independent production and it shows clearly at times. Bergman is stunning in many of the scenes. Hitch was clearly smitten with her during the production.
It's quite set-bound with very few real exterior shots that I could find which gives it a very theatrical look. An artificiality that can be found in many of his films right up until the last ones. Overall, well worth seeing.
Part mystery, part wartime polemic, Lifeboat finds director Alfred Hitchcock tackling a cinematic challenge that foreshadows the self-imposed handicaps of Rope and Rear Window. As with those subsequent features, Hitchcock confines his action and characters to a single set, in this instance the lone surviving lifeboat from an Allied freighter sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. A less confident, ingenious filmmaker might have opened up John Steinbeck's dialogue-driven character study beyond the battered boat and its cargo of survivors, but Hitchcock instead revels in his predicament to exploit the enforced intimacy between his characters.
While Alfred Hitchcock made several well-known wartime films with intrigue and ambiguous love themes at their core (Saboteur, Notorious), he also made a pair of far less familiar works: two French-language propaganda shorts, Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache. The two rarely screened works were actually official productions of the British Ministry of Information, designed as tributes to the Resistance movement against the occupying Nazi forces in France. Hitchcock was paid a token fee, but they were really a labor of love for him. Despite that, Bon Voyage received limited play in France and Aventure Malgache was shelved completely by the Brits. Neither movie played in America. It's easy to see why: Bon Voyage, the better of the two, concerns... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Blythe Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 13 November 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $24.99 Your Price: $22.49YOU SAVE $2.5!
Buy it
This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $8.98YOU SAVE $6!
Buy it
I love all of Hitchcock's movies, so it's hard to pick a favorite, but this one would be near the top. The plot is full of suspense and humor, the actors are perfect in their respective parts, especially Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman. Any movie where Marlene sings is a must-see anyway, much less in a Hitchcock movie! Lots of comic bits sprinkled throughout the movie offset the suspense and deadly points perfectly. When I first saw the movie years ago, I was completely fooled right up to the point with Wyman and Richard Todd hiding beneath the stage. But I still watch the movie about once a year and thoroughly enjoy it every time. A must for any Hitchcock fan who may have never seen this true gem. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jane Wyman - Marlene Dietrich - Richard Todd Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.97 Your Price: $16.38YOU SAVE $3.59!
Buy it
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbor (Hume Cronyn). Charlie was named after her favorite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Teresa Wright - Joseph Cotten Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 06 March 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.98 Your Price: $14.99YOU SAVE $4.99!
Buy it
