In a Q&A with Universal on HTF (at the beginning of this year) there was a confirmation, but no titles were announced or even speculated on. I'm really looking forward to those dazzling fims in glorious HD...

Please Universal, give us some Hitchcock before year's end!

I want Hitchcock too! I think that it is about time they started to restore his films......

'Vertigo'

'Vertigo'...which is in my top 3 movies ever made. My SD-DVD of the restored film is not even anamorphic! :(

This and any number of other Hitch titles would be worth buying a player for! :cool:

'Vertigo'

North by Northwest
Rear Window
Psycho

My top 3 Hitchcock.

This topic just came up a week or so ago but since I too like Hitchcock, here's the ones I want the most:

Psycho
Vertigo
The Birds

My wife and I have been watching Hitchcock films on AMC all week.
Even in broadcast SD, they look surprisingly good.
HD-DVD versions would be a no-brainer buy for me.

I want Hitchcock too!!!!

I'll buy them no matter what!!!!!

North by Northwest!!

I voted for that one on the Blood Diamond HD DVD online poll.

sabetuer is up there for me also after.
North by Northwest , Rear Window.
Marnie is cool too !! Ect Ect

Even though it's hardly my favorite Hitchcock film, I was disappointed that Paramount didn't issue a high-def version of To Catch a Thief alongside the DVD re-release a short while back.

I'll buy anything and everything by Hitch in high-def.

'Vertigo'


YES....................The best IMOP, Rear Window is not bad either, or Rope. Come on Universal give us the best.

For those of us who can't wait for discs, in the meantime HDNet movies is running 10 Universal Hitchcocks in 1080i during December. The first three have already been running on the HD Monsters channel for a couple of months. I've seen the Psycho print and compared to the DVD it's pretty impressive. The Birds and Frenzy look great too.


The Birds
Psycho
Frenzy
Rear Window
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Vertigo
Topaz
Family Plot
Torn Curtain
The Trouble With Harry

Schedule below, but suggest searching HDNet in case of changes.

The Birds
Rating: PG-13
Year: 1963
Cast: Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: A small coastal town finds itself being attacked and outnumbered by abnormally ravenous and vicious birds.
Run Time: 1:59
Air Dates: 9:15 PM ET / 6:15 PM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
11:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM PT - Sat, Dec 8th
Family Plot
Rating: PG
Year: 1976
Cast: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: In Hitchcock's last film, a phony psychic and her cohort are hired to find the lost heir to a family fortune, but unbeknownst to everyone, the child has been located and taken for ransom by kidnappers.
Run Time: 2:00
Air Dates: 8:15 AM ET / 5:15 AM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
5:00 AM ET / 2:00 AM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
12:15 PM ET / 9:15 AM PT - Tue, Dec 11th
Frenzy
Rating: R
Year: 1972
Cast: Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: An innocent man, suspected by the London police to be the strangler known as the Necktie Killer, is forced to go on the run to find the real killer.
Run Time: 1:55
Air Dates: 1:15 AM ET - Sun, Dec 2nd / 10:15 PM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
5:45 AM ET / 2:45 AM PT - Thu, Dec 13th
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Rating: PG
Year: 1956
Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: While on a family holiday in Morocco, a man learns of an assassination plot, and soon discovers that his son has been kidnapped and races against time to free him and stop the assassination.
Run Time: 2:00
Air Dates: 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
11:45 AM ET / 8:45 AM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 9th
2:00 AM ET - Mon, Dec 10th / 11:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 9th
Psycho
Rating: R
Year: 1960
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: Hitchcock's most notorious film, about a fugitive woman who seeks shelter in a-little-known motel where she becomes the victim of the peculiar young man who runs the inn.
Run Time: 1:48
Air Dates: 11:15 PM ET / 8:15 PM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
5:00 PM ET / 2:00 PM PT - Sat, Dec 8th
3:15 PM ET / 12:15 PM PT - Thu, Dec 13th
Rear Window
Rating: NR
Year: 1954
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: A photojournalist, forced to confinement in his apartment due to two broken legs, passes the time by "spying" on his neighbors and discovers a possible murder.
Run Time: 1:54
Air Dates: 5:00 PM ET / 2:00 PM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
1:45 PM ET / 10:45 AM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 9th
12:00 AM ET - Mon, Dec 10th / 9:00 PM PT - Sun, Dec 9th
Topaz
Rating: PG
Year: 1969
Cast: Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, Claude Jade
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: International spy thriller loosely based on real events of a group of spies belonging to the Topaz Group, who together discover a huge betrayal that uncovers Soviet plots to hide missiles in Cuba.
Run Time: 2:22
Air Dates: 10:15 AM ET / 7:15 AM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
7:00 AM ET / 4:00 AM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
3:45 PM ET / 12:45 PM PT - Wed, Dec 5th
10:35 AM ET / 7:35 AM PT - Thu, Dec 13th
Torn Curtain
Rating: PG
Year: 1966
Cast: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova
Director: Alfrd Hitchcock
Synopsis: A Cold-War espionage thriller about a physicist whose fiance accidentally joins him on a secret mission to defect to East Germany, in order to steal a scientific formula.
Run Time: 2:07
Air Dates: 12:45 PM ET / 9:45 AM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
9:30 AM ET / 6:30 AM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
1:45 PM ET / 10:45 AM PT - Thu, Dec 6th
11:45 AM ET / 8:45 AM PT - Wed, Dec 12th
The Trouble with Harry
Rating: PG
Year: 1955
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: A retired man, out for a day of rabbit-hunting, comes upon the dead body of a man named Harry. Mistakenly assuming that he is responsible for the death, he buries Henry's body and triggers a comical downpour of misunderstandings leading others in the town to believe that they are responsible for Harry's death.
Run Time: 1:39
Air Dates: 6:30 AM ET / 3:30 AM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
3:15 AM ET / 12:15 AM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
4:45 PM ET / 1:45 PM PT - Mon, Dec 10th
Vertigo
Rating: PG
Year: 1958
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis: A retired policeman's fears and obsessions get the best of him when he takes one last job and falls in love with the mysterious wife of a client.
Run Time: 2:09
Air Dates: 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT - Sat, Dec 1st
3:45 PM ET / 12:45 PM PT - Sun, Dec 2nd
9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT - Fri, Dec 7th
5:05 AM ET / 2:05 AM PT - Sat, Dec 8th

Vertigo!

Last year I randomly bumped into AMC and "Vertigo" had just started.

I knew about Hitchcock and his pioneering of the "vertigo" effect stemming from the movie with the same name.

So I watched...

The next day I bought his collection.

I'm excited about Hitchcock in hi-def. Cannot wait.

Dial M for Murder. The whole film is shot in one room, how many filmmakers can make that work anymore? I love Alfred Hitchcock movies and his series.

I Want Those Discs!!!!!!!

We NEED Hitchcock in HD. Universal, what are you thinking? There should've been a release already. Been watching Psycho on HDNetMovies, looks amazing.

Did you guys see the freaking detail in Psycho?:):)

You can see beads of sweat and pores. You can even make out individual fibers on the hat. I dont know what to say. It's astonishing.

There's grain and some specs. But, the detail is really super surprising.
That was only a broadcast HD version.

I so what this on HD-DVD.

I'm with you guys! I own a TON of Hitchcock on DVD (all the Criterions, the masterpiece collection, all the other box sets, plus quite a few individual releases), and Hitchcock is the one place where I can't WAIT to double dip, at least on my favorites!! (Vertigo, North By Northwest, Rear Window... ok, this could end up actually being a really long list.) My one qualification is that they must be genuine remasters worth the upgrade, but i know that most of his high profile films have already received some pretty deluxe restoration, as evidenced by all of the movies showing on HDNet, so I'm sure we'll be in for a treat. I can't wait to check them all out in December. Please get these classics onto HD-DVD immediately!!

Edit: I'm watching The Trouble With Harry on HDNet as we speak. WOW! This looks breathtaking, quite a good deal better than the SD version in the Masterpiece Collection box set. The level of detail is quite astounding. They're in the middle of a marathon right now and I've set the remainder of the movies to record (Man Who Knew Too Much, Torn Curtain, Rear Window, The Birds, Psycho, Vertigo, Frenzy).... Man, I can't wait to check all of these out in HD, although it will only make me yearn more for their eventual release on HD-DVD. Sooner is better than later Universal!!

Did you guys see the freaking detail in Psycho?:):)

You can see beads of sweat and pores. You can even make out individual fibers on the hat. I dont know what to say. It's astonishing.

There's grain and some specs. But, the detail is really super surprising.
That was only a broadcast HD version.

I so what this on HD-DVD.
I know! Psycho looked amazing! There's a few Hitchcock film that have been restored (Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest). Those should look great in HD. Some of the other films look like they still need a bit of restoration.

There's a few Hitchcock film that have been restored (Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest).I believe North by Northwest is still pending a proper restoration. (As great as the DVD looks, Lowry was still working in standard def back then instead of at the dizzying resolutions they use these days.) Word is that there'll be a restoration in time for its fiftieth anniversary in '09.

I believe North by Northwest is still pending a proper restoration. (As great as the DVD looks, Lowry was still working in standard def back then instead of at the dizzying resolutions they use these days.) Word is that there'll be a restoration in time for its fiftieth anniversary in '09.
:eek:

The standard DVD already looks outstanding...better than, say, The Man Who Knew Too Much or The Birds!

Certainly woudn't mind seeing The Birds (hmmmm Tippi Hendren) in HD:D

North By Northwest was on TV the other day.

Watched 15 minutes of it, looked surprisingly good:eek:

Never seen the film so i'd pick that one up given how much Universal praise it seems to get.

the great thing about older movies is that they didn't have this overstylized post processed garbage...you get the full fidelity and detail from the 35 mm film.

Unfortunately, catalog titles are dead. I still think the studios should take it on the chin and release them anyway...

the great thing about older movies is that they didn't have this overstylized post processed garbage...you get the full fidelity and detail from the 35 mm film.I wouldn't say that -- the image can still degrade pretty heavily during optical effects.

I agree, though, that the studios should put more weight behind their catalog titles. I get more excited about those than any day-and-date release.

Releasing these on HD DVD seems like such a no-brainer. I can't understand why no release dates have even been published. That floors me. Am I right to assume Universal still owns these? What in the world are they thinking by not pushing these to HD DVD?

Last night I watched "Vertigo" on HDNet Movies. PQ was stunning, making the film feel even more accessible. A small handful of degraded scenes from this otherwise miraculous restore did not detract.

I created an SD DVD burn of last night's HDNet broadcast. My predicted result was accurate: I now own a better looking DVD than the lowly studio-released non-anamorphic single-sale retail copy. (My SD burn was also non-anamorphic, yet it beats the PQ of my studio-released copy.)

Universal: please create some real buzz, please garner yourself some instant sales from pent-up demand, and release these classics to HD DVD.

Universal: please create some real buzz, please garner yourself some instant sales from pent-up demand, and release these classics to HD DVD.

Here, here! The velocity with which I would buy these would make heads spin.

There was a Hitchcock marathon on one of the HD channels yesterday (I saw a few seconds of Torn Curtain, most of the Byrds and taped Pyscho).
They looked great but I think they need some more work. There was some serious lack of detail but that could just be the way it was shot.
I would buy Vertigo in a minute though.

'Vertigo'

+1001

Certainly woudn't mind seeing The Birds (hmmmm Tippi Hendren) in HD:D

North By Northwest was on TV the other day.

Watched 15 minutes of it, looked surprisingly good:eek:

Never seen the film so i'd pick that one up given how much Universal praise it seems to get.

North By Northwest - my favourite movie.

Thanks for the heads up! My DVR has been busy today.

My DVR has been busy as well, apparently recording deranged, pixelated, frozen and broken frames from Psycho with no audio, as TW cable in Santa Monica screws up. My cable modem has been erratic all day as well, so I'm guessing this is a general cable issue, rather than an HDN movies issue.

B*st*rds!

The way Universal has handled many catalog titles doesn't fill me with hope. Spartacus on HD DVD looks worse than the Criterion DVD. Many of their Hitchcock DVDs have reference quality EE and compression artifacts, if you take my meaning.

I caught moments of each film over theweekend on HD NET movies. Universal has to really do some restoration and remastering. None of the films looked good. It may be a while until Hitchcock sees the light of day on HD DVD.

I thought Psycho was promised earlier this year?

Watched Psycho last night. While it was the best I've ever seen it, it still needs work.
Frenzy looked quite good.
I wish they had shown North By Northwest. I was in Grand Central Station when I was a kid with my Mom and sister the day they were filming that scene. Saw Grant, Hitchcock, the camera setup in front of the info booth thing in the middle of the floor.
Came *this* close to being in a movie. :D

North by Northwest
Rear Window
Psycho

My top 3 Hitchcock.

Winnar

I don't know why, but I could watch Rear Window a thousand times. really looking forward to HD releases so I can finally add some Hitchcock to my collection.

North by Northwest is an MGM film and is now controlled by Warners. They had announced it but said last winter that it needed restoration.

WRT the Universal films: Universal said this summer at one of the shows that they were not shipping Hitchcock for a while. They said the films needed remastering and would not sell well in the current market. I do not have the reference for this but I am sure it can be found.

Having seen a few of the films on HDNet Movies this weekend, I can agree that they really need some work before they are ready for HDM. Vertigo looked the best (it was the subject of an expensive 70mm restoration in 1996) but it certainly did not look like it did in 70mm at the Castro in San Francisco in '96 (where it was beautiful, well-received, and had a terrific premiere attended by Kim Novak and Patricia Hitchcock among others.)