Alfred Hitchcock: Signature Collection - Alfred Hitchcock [DVD]

A collection of six classic films directed by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.

In 'Strangers on a Train' (1951), Guy Haines (Farley Granger) and Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) meet by chance in a train carriage. After some idle chat in which it transpires that each man has someone in their lives they would like to dispose of, Bruno proposes that he kills Guy's wife, in return for Guy murdering Bruno's father. Guy is appalled, but when his wife is murdered he realises that Bruno is intent on carrying out the 'deal' whether Guy wants to or not.

'Stage Fright' (1950) is set in London's theatreland. On the run from the police, Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd) takes refuge in the home of his former girlfriend, RADA student Eve Gill (Jane Wyman). Although Cooper has been spotted fleeing the scene of a murder, he insists that he is innocent. Eve believes his story, but knows that the police won't, so she decides to play detective herself. Marlene Dietrich co-stars as Charlotte Innwood, a seductive star of the stage whom Eve eventually pinpoints as the real murderer.

In 'I Confess' (1953), Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift) faces a crisis of conscience when his caretaker, Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse), confesses to him that he has committed murder. Logan's dilemma intensifies when he himself comes under suspicion of the killing by police inspector Larrue (Karl Malden). Should Logan break with the sanctity of the confessional to prove his own innocence, or be hanged for a crime he did not commit? Hitchcock keeps us guessing till the very end...

In 'Dial M For Murder' (1954), an adaptation of Frederick Knott's successful stage play, former tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) hatches a cunning plot to get rid of his socialite wife, Margot (Grace Kelly), when he discovers that she has been unfaithful. Wendice blackmails a corrupt former schoolmate into murdering Margot, but the fellow bungles the job, and Margot, having killed her would-be assailant in self-defence, then finds herself under suspicion of premeditated murder.

In 'The Wrong Man' (1957), musician Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda) finds himself imprisoned after being wrongly accused of theft. Allowed out on bail, Manny employs the services of lawyer Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle) in his defence, but the strain proves too much for Manny's wife, Rose (Vera Miles), who begins to crack up. Hitchcock follows police procedure rigidly in his account of Manny's arrest, interrogation and imprisonment, based on actual events.

In 'North by Northwest' (1959), a masterful mix of comedy and suspense, advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is lunching in a restaurant with his mother when he mistakenly answers a page for one George Kaplan. He soon finds himself on the run across the country, being pursued by enemies of the government who are convinced that he is a secret agent. He finds a friend in Eve Kendall (Eve Marie Saint), who helps conceal him during a perilous train journey - but soon discovers that she is not all she seems.