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Blu-ray Review: Hitchcock Classics ‘Strangers on a Train,’ ‘Dial M For Murder’
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CHICAGO – Two of Alfred Hitchcock’s most respected thrillers were recently released on Blu-ray as something of a warning shot to the gigantic box set of 15 films being released by Universal next week. Warner Bros. still owns “Dial M For Murder” and “Strangers on a Train,” and so they are the latest classic films inducted into the HD catalog.
How do they hold up against other Hitch BD releases? Not so great. The fact is that we’ve been a little spoiled. Those of us who love the work of arguably the best director of all time have been lucky enough to experience his work on Criterion (“The Lady Vanishes”) or with lavish special editions (“Psycho,” “North by Northwest”). Neither of the transfers here compare to what we’re used to lately with “Strangers” particularly looking sub-par compared to recent WB releases. “Strangers” has some decent special features but “Dial M” is woefully light on them unless you have a 3D TV as the main draw for film historians may be just seeing the film in 3D.
Luckily, the films themselves are stellar enough to recommend these purchases even if the Blu-ray releases are a bit sub-par for WB. “Strangers” is the better of the two although “Dial M” has its stellar moments as well. Watching both films, one is reminded of the darker side of Hitch and how much even films that don’t get the attention as his more popular fare have influenced the industry on countless levels.
Dial M For Murder was released on Blu-ray on October 9, 2012
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
“Dial M For Murder”
![]() Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
Synopsis:
Originally shot in 3D and newly remastered and restored for Blu-ray 3D, Alfred Hitchcock’s screen version of Frederick Knott’s stage hit Dial M for Murder is a tasty blend of elegance and suspense casting Grace Kelly, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings as the points of a romantic triangle. Kelly won the New York Film Critics and National Board of Review Best Actress Awards for this and two other acclaimed 1954 performances (Hitchcock’s Read Window and her Oscar-honored work in The Country Girl). She loves Cummings; her husband Milland plots her murder. But when he dials a Mayfair exchange to set the plot in motion, his right number gets the wrong answer- and gleaming scissors become a deadly weapon. Dial “M” for the Master of Suspense at his most stylish.
Special Features:
o Documentary Hitchcock and Dial M
o Theatrical Trailer
Strangers on a Train was released on Blu-ray on October 9, 2012
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
“Strangers on a Train”
![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
Synopsis:
Before anyone thought of “throwing Momma from the train,” the idea of a double “crisscross” murder had already been hatched. Or “hitched,” as in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train. Tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) half-jokingly muses about killing his wife with a stranger he meets on a train, unhinged playboy Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), who’d prefer his father be deceased. In theory, each could murder the other’s victim. Crisscross. No motive. No clues. No problem… except: Bruno takes the idea seriously, with deadly consequences. Whether you’re a fan of Hitchcock or just brilliant filmmaking, this diabolical tale of twisting suspense and macabre humor, costarring Ruth Roman and Hitchcock stalwarts Leo G. Caroll and the director’s daughter, Patricia Hitchcock, is your ideal carnival ride.
Special Features:
o Final Release Version With Commentary
o Preview Version
o Making Of Documentary Strangers On A Train: A Hitchcock Classic
o 3 Featurettes
![]() | By BRIAN TALLERICO |