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39 Steps/The Lady Vanishes, The
Other // Unrated // July 25, 2000
List Price: $19.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
In "The 39 Steps", a Canadian tourist visiting London finds himself involved with Annabella Smith, a spy on the run from a group of foreign agents. He attempts to help her, taking Annabella back to his appartment, but they are followed...soon after, Annabella is murdered. Alone, the tourist seeks to avenge Annabella's murder and prove his innocence. "The Lady Vanishes", as the title indicates, features the disappearance of an old governess. The titular character, Miss Froy, is introduced when a trans-European train is stopped due to a great storm, and its passengers are forced to stay in a small, remote hotel. After her disappearance when the trip begins again, a pair of passengers decide to hunt for her. These films, long considered favorites by Hitchcock fans, paired together makes for quite a viewing experience...
Video: Both films are presented in their original full-frame form, and as would be expected from public-domain materials, the results are less-than-stellar. Although not unwatchable, the video is very soft, somewhat grainy, and covered with dust and occassional damaged areas.
Audio: The audio is full of hiss and a bit of distortion, and it has a somewhat muddy-quality about it. This, coupled with the strong British accents of the cast, makes it very difficult to understand the dialogue.
Supplements: No supplements related to either film are included, although a Porky Pig cartoon and a newsreel from the time are included as part of the double feature. A nice booklet is included with the disc as well.
Conclusion: Both "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes" are spectacular films, and although the versions presented here are quite watchable, they're not even in the same universe as the spectacularly restored Criterion releases. It's well-worth the extra money. Although the quality this double-feature is hardly unacceptable, the $20 retail price for a packaging of unrestored public domain material just doesn't seem worth it to me. However, these are perhaps Hitchcock's best films from the '30s, and for those unwilling to pay Criterion prices, this might not be a bad purchase.
Video: Both films are presented in their original full-frame form, and as would be expected from public-domain materials, the results are less-than-stellar. Although not unwatchable, the video is very soft, somewhat grainy, and covered with dust and occassional damaged areas.
Audio: The audio is full of hiss and a bit of distortion, and it has a somewhat muddy-quality about it. This, coupled with the strong British accents of the cast, makes it very difficult to understand the dialogue.
Supplements: No supplements related to either film are included, although a Porky Pig cartoon and a newsreel from the time are included as part of the double feature. A nice booklet is included with the disc as well.
Conclusion: Both "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes" are spectacular films, and although the versions presented here are quite watchable, they're not even in the same universe as the spectacularly restored Criterion releases. It's well-worth the extra money. Although the quality this double-feature is hardly unacceptable, the $20 retail price for a packaging of unrestored public domain material just doesn't seem worth it to me. However, these are perhaps Hitchcock's best films from the '30s, and for those unwilling to pay Criterion prices, this might not be a bad purchase.
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