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


The Ring (1927)        The Farmer’s Wife (1928)         Champagne (1928)

 

The Manxman (1929)           The Skin Game (1931)

 

 

Before he became known as the Master of Suspense in Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock had already established himself as a precociously talented filmmaker in England. Hitchcock: British International Pictures Collection brings together five features he directed for the production company that first displayed his talents. Four of them are visually dynamic silent films: atmospheric boxing drama The Ring, sprightly comedies The Farmer’s Wife and Champagne, and a love triangle set on the Isle of Man, The Manxman. Also included is the 1931 sound feature The Skin Game, a rousing melodrama about feuding families. These features display Hitchcock’s command of visual language long before his Hollywood sojourn, proving he was a master from the beginning.

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 1st, 1927 - February 26th, 1931

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:45:44.880 / 1:52:12.976  / 1:45:37.706 / 1:40:36.739 / 1:22:34.950
Video

The Ring

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,599,570,032 bytes

Feature: 23,558,811,648 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.98 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

The Farmer's Wife

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,599,570,032 bytes

Feature: 23,954,141,184 bytes

Video Bitrate: 24.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
 

Champagne

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,427,367,204 bytes

Feature: 17,759,318,016 bytes

Video Bitrate: 17.00 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

The Manxman

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,427,367,204 bytes

Feature: 16,953,329,664 bytes

Video Bitrate: 16.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
 

The Skin Game

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,427,367,204 bytes

Feature: 12,415,027,200 bytes

Video Bitrate: 16.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate The Ring Blu-ray:

Bitrate The Farmer's Wife Blu-ray:

Bitrate Champagne Blu-ray:

Bitrate The Manxman Blu-ray:

Bitrate The Skin Game Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1992 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1992 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentaries;

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1997 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1997 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles English, None (on The Skin Game), the rest have English intertitles
Features Release Information:
Studio: Kino

 

Edition Details:

• New scores by Meg Morley (The Ring), Jon Mirsalis (The Farmer’s Wife), Ben Model (Champagne), and Andrew Earle Simpson (The Manxman)
• Hitchcock/Truffaut: Icon interviews Icon (Archival Audio) (7:33 / 12:17)
• Audio commentary on The Ring by film critic Nick Pinkerton
• Audio commentaries on Champagne and The Manxman by film historian Farran Smith Nehme


 Blu-ray Release Date: December 10th, 2019
 Standard Blu-ray Case inside cardboard sleeve

Chapters 11 X 5

 

 

Comments:

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

Kino Lorber present five Hitchcock films on two dual-layered Blu-rays in their Hitchcock: British International Pictures Collection. There was some speculation is they were using the BFI restorations, but each film starts with the Studio Canal logo:


The transfers are 1080P with The Ring (1927) The Farmer’s Wife (1928) housed on the first Blu-ray and Champagne (1928) The Manxman (1929) and The Skin Game (1931) sharing the second Blu-ray and having smaller bitrates. Generally the HD image is lighter and, I find, tends to improve as the film get 'younger' with only The Ring looking a bit marginal. The Farmer’s Wife (1928) Champagne (1928) The Manxman (1929) and The Skin Game (1931) all are notable improvements over the Studio Canal (and one Lionsgate) DVDs that I still own. We have compared some captures below. Grain is abundant and the image sharpness cannot advance more than the original production. I was very pleased to see this in 1080P and was especially impressed with my two favorites The Manxman and, the talkie, The Skin Game. 

The five films is presented in 24-bit DTS-HD Master Audio tracks with the four Silent films sporting new score; by Meg Morley (The Ring), Jon Mirsalis (The Farmer’s Wife), Ben Model (Champagne), and Andrew Earle Simpson (The Manxman) The audio quality with these scores is wonderful, usually simple piano support and adding to the presentation in subtle ways. The dialogue on The Skin Game suffers from the original production limitations with some background hiss but is generally consistent and audible. There are English intertitles for the four Silents and optional English (SDH) subtitles for The Skin Game - and these two Blu-ray discs are Region 'A'-locked.

Extras include audio commentaries on The Ring by film critic Nick Pinkerton - who can be educational and amusing - he is well prepared pointing out interesting minutia, citing Hitchcock interviews etc. I really like his work. On Champagne and The Manxman there are commentaries by film historian Farran Smith Nehme who seems to be enjoying her viewings, narrating a bit and providing occasional details. There are also two audio-only Hitchcock/Truffaut: Icon interviews running about 20-minutes in total. Unfortunately, there are no liner notes booklets included.

Kino's Hitchcock: British International Pictures Blu-ray Collection is certainly a must-have for fans of the director and the era of films. I appreciated seeing these in HD with lossless new scores (for the four Silent movies, their vast improvement over SD, the commentaries and the audio interviews. I loved tucking into this package. Immense value here. Our strong recommendation!

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

 

The title actually refers to a boxing ring (but could also serve as a metaphor for the loveless central marriage). Brisson is the prize-fighter whose union with Hall-Davis falls flat when his career starts to waver; she dumps him for fellow punch-puller Bob (Hunter), but soon begins to regret her actions. An early, silent, Hitchcock (co-scripted with his then wife Alma Reville), this is a dark tale whose central relationship, as in so many of his movies, thrives on danger.

 

 

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

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

(CLICK to ENLARGE)

 

 

 

Early Hitchcock adapted from a play by Philpotts, this is a sweet rural comedy which tells the story of a grumpy widowed farmer (Thomas) who decides to take a new wife but can't find a woman to live up to his impossible standards. Despite the early plot give-away (he spends the whole film searching for the right woman but finds her to be his housekeeper) the film's robust caricatures and gentle humour keep things bowling along nicely.

 

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

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

(CLICK to ENLARGE)

 

 

 

An early Hitchcock offering, this is a silent from the days when he was learning his craft in London. The story isn't overly developed: a wealthy man who worries about his daughter's irresponsible attitude tells her that his champagne business has gone bust and that she will have to seek her own fortune. The daughter in question is Balfour, who had a reputation for being a 'difficult' actress, but Hitchcock obtains a spirited performance from her and she virtually carries the movie - apart from some good visual drunk jokes thrown in by her director.

 

 

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

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

(CLICK to ENLARGE)
 

 

 
Hitchcock's final silent film is the story of two friends on the Isle of Man, lawyer Phillip (Keen) and fisherman Pete (Brisson), who both fall in love with the daughter of the local landlord, Kate (Ondra). When Pete asks the girl to marry him, her father will not hear of it until he can support her, so he sets off from the island to earn some money and prove himself, asking his friend to look out for his sweetheart. Inevitable consequences lead to the birth of an illegitimate baby, suicide attempts and final pleas for happiness.
 

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

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Lionsgate - Region 1- NTSC MIDDLE

3) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Lionsgate - Region 1- NTSC MIDDLE

3) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

(CLICK to ENLARGE)
 

 

 

Made for British International Pictures, The Skin Game (1931) was adapted by Hitchcock himself, with a scenario by Alma Reville, from the successful stage play by John Galsworthy. A melodrama of rural class conflict, the film has been dismissed by some as too theatrical, and the work of a Hitchcock disengaged from his subject matter. Certainly, by this stage in his career, Hitchcock was becoming frustrated at the number of stage adaptations he had to take on.

The Skin Game has been criticized for an over-reliance on dialogue and performance and a lack of Hitchcock's usual visual flair. Others however have praised the film for its powerful and convincing portrayal of industrial encroachment on the rural gentry, noting also the confident mix of long-take dialogue scenes and montage.

According to biographer Donald Spoto, Hitchcock was thoroughly bored by the project, but entertained himself with one particular shot. In the climactic scene, Chloe, played by Phyllis Konstam (who had previously starred in Murder! (1930)), attempts to drown herself in a garden pond. Hitchcock, with characteristic cruelty, made the actress shoot the scene - and be thrown into the water by his stage hands - a full ten times. In the end, the shot didn't even make it into the completed film.

Hitchcock cast two actors from the preceding stage and screen versions: Edmund Gwenn as the industrialist Hornblower, and Helen Haye as Mrs Hillcrist. Hitchcock made further use of Gwenn in Waltzes from Vienna (1934), and in two Hollywood films, Foreign Correspondent (1940) and The Trouble with Harry (1956), while Haye appears in The 39 Steps (1935).

Excerpt from BFI Online located HERE  
 
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Studio Canal (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL TOP
2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

(CLICK to ENLARGE)
 

 

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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