Alfred Hitchcock: The Early Years: Volume 1 (1931-1935)

Five-disc set includes: The Skin Game (1931)Early Hitchcock drama, based on John Galsworthy's popular stage play, that was decidedly atypical of the Master's subsequent suspensers. The aristocratic patriarch of one of two rival families resorts to blackmail to settle a dispute over land rights. Stars Edmund Gwenn, Phyllis Konstam, and John Longden. 82 min. BW/Rtg: NR Rich And Strange (1931)Middle-class Londoners Fred (Henry Kendall) and Emily Hill (Joan Barry) inherit a large sum of money and decide to travel the world. But they soon discover that their newfound wealth doesn't bring them the happiness they were expecting and, in fact, could wind up endangering their marriage. Alfred Hitchcock's drama, based on the novel by Dale Collins, also stars Percy Marmont, Betty Amann, Elsie Randolph. 83 min. BW/Rtg: NR Number Seventeen (1932)An early Hitchcock effort that mixes the suspense, scares, and humor prevalent in his later masterpieces. A stolen diamond necklace is at the center of a mystery involving a tramp, a group of thieves, a pretty deaf-mute girl, and a detective. But which members of this disparate group are not who or what they claim to be? Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, John Stuart, Donald Calthrop, Barry Jones star. 63 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)While on holiday in Switzerland, Britons Bob and Jill Lawrence (Leslie Banks, Edna Best) are told by a dying government agent of a plot to kill a diplomat in London. When the would-be assassins kidnap the Lawrences' daughter (Nova Pilbeam) to prevent them from revealing the plan, the couple must race against time to save her and the intended victim. Groundbreaking effort from Alfred Hitchcock's British period, the international thriller co-stars Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper, Hugh Wakefield. 75 min. BW/Rtg: NR The 39 Steps (1935)This original film version of the mystery classic became one of Alfred Hitchcock's early triumphs, spinning the suspenseful yarn of a vacationing Canadian man (Robert Donat) accused of murder. Pursued by both the police and enemy spies at the same time, he attempts to unravel the dangerous enigma of "the 39 steps," with humorous and hair-raising predicaments befalling him at every turn. With Madeleine Carroll, Godfrey Tearle, and Peggy Ashcroft. 86 min. BW/Rtg: NR Standard; Soundtrack: English; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; featurettes; archival Francois Truffaut audio interviews; radio broadcast; image gallery; more. Region Free.