Movie Description
This compilation from Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, features four films from his pre-Hollywood years in Britain.
THE SECRET AGENT: It's 1916 and Edgar Brodie, an accomplished novelist, returns to England from a tour of duty in the war only to discover that he is officially dead. Given a new name, Brodie is sent into Switzerland with a small entourage to kill a German secret agent. Mistrust and tragedy complicate the mission, which proves to have serious political as well as romantic stakes.
NUMBER 17: Alfred Hitchcock demonstrates once again his brilliance in creating visual suspense in this film from his British period. NUMBER 17 tells the story of a young detective who stumbles across a stash of jewel thieves hiding out in an abandoned house near a railway. Multiple identities and confusion are the background for this early Hitchcock thriller. The story, based on a play by J. Jefferson Farjeon, was previously filmed as a 1928 silent picture and was a studio assignment Hitchcock initially resented.
THE SKIN GAME: This early Hitchcock talkie tells the tale of old money and new money feuding over a family estate in jolly class-conscious England. THE SKIN GAME closely follows the hit London play by John Galsworthy; for the film, Hitchcock was able to elicit superb performances from his stars in this study of the English family and the English class system. The film tracks a fierce rivalry between a landowner and his immediate neighbor, complete with nasty tactics, class-based hostility, and dirty secrets that beg to be unearthed.
THE RING: The film, like its title, oscillates between marriage and boxing--the dramas of a boxing ring and the troubles of the heart. The story follows two fighters who are in love with the same woman. One man is a title holder, while the other is a carnival booth fighter hired to be his boxing partner. Hitchcock's small visual touches underscoring the complexities of emotions and his symbolic use of objects such as the snake bracelet make this a classic silent film. THE RING's cast includes Gordon Harker in his first screen appearance, as a cynical trainer with an acute sense of comedic timing.
Notes
DVD Features:
Region 0
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Interactive Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
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