Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Hitchcock The Beginning (1927-1932)

Contents: The Ring (1927), Champagne (1928), The Farmer’s Wife (1928), Blackmail (1929), The Manxman (1929), Juno and the Paycock (1929), Murder! (1930), Mary (1931) [German language version of Murder!], Rich and Strange (1931), The Skin Game (1931) and Number 17 (1932).

While most of these films have been available for years on Blu-ray Disc in the USA and England, this boxset contains the first BD release of Hitchcock’s early sound film, Juno and the Paycock (1929).

This Region B Blu-ray Disc boxset has been mastered from archival 35mm print materials. It is not yet known if Juno and the Paycock (1929), available for years on home video from 16mm reduction prints, has been mastered from 35mm materials. It is not yet known if the silent version of Blackmail (1929) has been included.

The silent era films are accompanied by music scores composed and performed by Neil Brand and Stephen Horne.

Supplemental material includes audio comentaries by Farran Smith Nehme, Tim Lucas, Troy Howarth, Peter Tonguette and Nick Pinkerton; introductory comments by Noël Simsolo; audio excerpts from Hitchcock/Truffaut; extracts from an audio interview with Hitchcock conducted by Ronald Neame; featurettes by Charles Barr, Jo Botting with Natalie Morris, Jonathan Croall, and Davina Quinliven; a full-length documentary Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail (2024), directed by Laurent Bouzereau and narrated by Elvis Mitchell (72 minutes); featurettes on the music scores by Neil Brand and Stephen Horne; stills galleries; an insert booklet; and a poster.

North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc player to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

Other BRITISH FILMS of the silent era available on home video.