Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Der Mann, der zuviel wußte' or 'L'Homme qui en savait trop')

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/hitchcock.htm
UK 1934

An ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination. This fleet and gripping film is the first of the early thrillers the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, made during the fertile phase of his career spent at the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. Besides affirming Hitchcock’s genius, it gave the brilliant Peter Lorre his first English- speaking role, as a slithery villain. With its tension and gallows humor, it’s pure Hitchcock, and it set the tone for such films as The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes.


Posters

Theatrical Release: December 1934 - UK

Reviews                      More Reviews                         DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Whirlwind /RYKO Region 0 - NTSC vs. Laserlight - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Carlton - Region 2 - PAL vs. Concorde - Region 2- PAL vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Rich Deming for the Whirlwind captures and Markus of ChiaroScuro  for the Carlton Screen Captures and Pavel Borodin for Concorde screen captures!

1) Whirlwind/RYKO - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT

2) Laserlight- Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Carlton - Region 2- PAL  THIRD

4) Concorde - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH

5) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

 

Box Covers

 

Distribution

Whirlwind /RYKO Video

Region 0 - NTSC

Laserlight Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC

Carlton Visual Entertainment

Region 2 - PAL

Concorde Home Entertainment (Germany)
Region 2 - PAL
Criterion Spine #643 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:15:30 1:15:42 1:12:09 (4% PAL speedup) 1:12:09 (4% PAL speedup) 1:16:04.865
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio

average Bitrate: 5.7 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio

average Bitrate: 6.71 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio

Average Bitrate: 6.97 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio

Average Bitrate: 7.20
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.33:1 - 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 46,326,654,104 bytes

Feature: 25,599,449,088 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.98 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Whirlwind /RYKO

+

 Laserlight

   

Bitrate:

Carlton and Concorde

 

 

   

Audio English (Dolby Digital 1.0) English (Dolby Digital 1.0) English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles None Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, none English (captions) and none German and none English and none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Ryko Distribution - Video

Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Young and Innocent

• Newsreel Footage (1937)

• Prest-O Change-O Cartoon

 

DVD Release Date: July 25th, 2000
Keep Case

Chapters 11

 

Release Information:
Studio: Laserlight Video

Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Introduction by Tony Curtis
• Bonus clip of the original theatrical trailer for Saboteur (1942)
• Menus in English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese

DVD Release Date: June 19, 1998
Snap Case

Chapters 20

Release Information:
Studio: Carlton Visual Entertainment

Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Trailer


DVD Release Date: 31 January 2000
Keep Case
Chapters: 15

Release Information:
Studio: Concorde Home Entertainment (Germany) 

Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

Edition Details:

None

DVD Release Date: October 20th, 2003
Digipack foldout with cardboard case

Chapters 11

 

This disc is only available as part of the 6 disc pack Alfred Hitchcock - The Early Years, released in Germany by Concorde. The Early Years box set contains the following discs: The Lodger / Downhill, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Sabotage, Secret Agent, Young and Innocent and The Lady Vanishes. 

Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion

 

1.33:1 - 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 46,326,654,104 bytes

Feature: 25,599,449,088 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.98 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

New audio commentary featuring film historian Philip Kemp
New interview with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (17:40)
The Illustrated Hitchcock, an extensive interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from 1972, conducted by journalist Pia Lindstrom and film historian William K. Everson (49:48)
Audio excerpts from filmmaker François Truffaut’s legendary 1962 interviews with Hitchcock (22:56)
Restoration demonstration (5:12)
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

 

Blu-ray Release Date: January 15th, 2013

Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 15

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - December 2012: After watching the restoration supplement on Criterion's 1080P transfer it's easy to ascertain that this is 'as good as it gets' for The Master's first kick at the can for the title feature - which, incidentally, I prefer to the 56' version. Being a Public Domain title we have seen the gamut of SD transfers with the PAL Carlton and the Concorde DVD versions topping the list. The Blu-ray does look quite good - excessive grain has been controlled but pleasing textures are still present. It's clean and represents detail as well as one could expect from the 1934 original. It's history makes it imperfect but it was a true pleasure to see the film looking so much better than all the other versions I own.

Audio is lossless and while also less than perfect dialogue is more discernable without egregious flaw. There are optional English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Extras are great with a new audio commentary featuring film historian Philip Kemp informing us of extraneous aspects of production, The Master and some of the performers. There is a new 17-minute interview with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro - a Hitchcock expert in his own right - author of the book Hitchcock. The Illustrated Hitchcock, is an extensive 50-minute interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from 1972, conducted by journalist Pia Lindstrom and film historian William K. Everson. There are also 22-minutes of the last section of audio excerpts from filmmaker François Truffaut’s legendary 1962 interviews with Hitchcock as well as a 5-minute Restoration demonstration and a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme.

I've watched this Blu-ray twice now and can't wait for the third time - what a gem...with the lackluster DVDs floating around - the Criterion hi-def is such a welcome pleasure to all digital libraries. Strongly recommended!   

***

ON THE DVDs: Firstly the Tony Curtis intro'ed Laserlight version can be thrown right out of the picture and although it is better we can do the same with the Whirlwind / RYKO edition, but it does win the Extras with Young and Innocent and a cartoon. Looks like Region 1 gets screwed with this film as the only real contenders are both in Region 2.

Looks like the Carlton and the Concorde have used the exact same print (same damage on capture #2 below), but the Concorde have done some obvious boosting in the brightness dept. Quite bad actually (look at the title captures below!). I don't know who in their organization is responsible, but it is quite a contrast to their "The Lady Vanishes" DVD. I was expecting the Concorde to be superior to the Carlton after seeing other examples in their Boxset and it being newer. Believe it or not the Laserlight wins the Extras as the other two have absolutely none - bear in mind the only way to get the Concorde is in their wonderful Boxset - but I don't consider that an "Extra". I think all three editions are single layered (not that it mans too much). Stick with the Carlton, but you may still wish to spring or the German Boxset. More comparisons and reviews from that will follow. 

 - Gary W. Tooze





DVD Menus

(
Whirlwind/RYKO - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Laserlight- Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Carlton - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Concorde - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)


 NOT AVAILABLE at time of posting

 

Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) Whirlwind/RYKO - Region 0 - NTSC TOP

2) Laserlight- Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Carlton - Region 2- PAL  THIRD

4) Concorde - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH

5) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


 

1) Whirlwind/RYKO - Region 0 - NTSC TOP

2) Laserlight- Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Carlton - Region 2- PAL  THIRD

4) Concorde - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH

5) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Whirlwind/RYKO - Region 0 - NTSC TOP

2) Laserlight- Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Carlton - Region 2- PAL  THIRD

4) Concorde - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH

5) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 


 Hit Counter


Report Card:

 

Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray

Extras: Blu-ray
Box Covers

 

Distribution

Whirlwind /RYKO Video

Region 0 - NTSC

Laserlight Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC

Carlton Visual Entertainment

Region 2 - PAL

Concorde Home Entertainment (Germany)
Region 2 - PAL
Criterion Spine #643 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

 CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!