Classic Hitchcock
Details by Film
Foreign Correspondent
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The 39 Steps
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The Lady Vanishes
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The Man Who Knew Too Much
Streaming Options
The Man Who Knew Too Much
An ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination. This fleet and gripping film is the first of the early thrillers the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, made during the fertile phase of his career spent at the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. Besides affirming Hitchcock’s genius, it gave the brilliant Peter Lorre his first English-speaking role, as a slithery villain. With its tension and gallows humor, it’s pure Hitchcock, and it set the tone for such films as The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes.
The 39 Steps
A heart-racing spy story by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) as he stumbles upon a conspiracy that thrusts him into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors—a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued—as well as into an unexpected romance with the cool Pamela (Madeline Carroll). Adapted from a novel by John Buchan, this classic wrong-man thriller from the Master of Suspense anticipates the director’s most famous works (especially North by Northwest), and remains one of his cleverest and most entertaining films.
The Lady Vanishes
In Alfred Hitchcock’s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood, traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster (Dame May Whitty), who then seems to disappear into thin air. The younger woman turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a complex web of mystery and high adventure. Also starring Michael Redgrave, The Lady Vanishes remains one of the great filmmaker’s purest delights.
Foreign Correspondent
In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock made his official transition from the British film industry to Hollywood. And it was quite a year: his first two American movies, Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent, were both nominated for the best picture Oscar. Though Rebecca prevailed, Foreign Correspondent is the more quintessential Hitch film. A full-throttle espionage thriller, starring Joel McCrea as a green Yank reporter sent to Europe to get the scoop on the imminent war, it’s wall-to-wall witty repartee, head-spinning plot twists, and brilliantly mounted suspense set pieces, including an ocean plane crash climax with astonishing special effects. Foreign Correspondent deserves to be mentioned alongside The 39 Steps and North by Northwest as one of the master’s greatest adventures.
Technical Specifications
Supplements
- Audio commentary featuring film historian Bruce Eder
- Crook's Tour, a 1941 feature-length film starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne as Charters and Caldicott, their beloved characters from The Lady Vanishes
- Excerpts from François Truffaut's legendary 1962 audio interview with director Alfred Hitchcock
- Mystery Train, a video essay about Hitchcock and The Lady Vanishes by Hithcock scholar Leonard Leff
- Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and promotional art
- A booklet featuring essays by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and Hithcock scholar Charles Barr
- Audio commentary by Alfred Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane
- Hitchcock: The Early Years (2000), a British documentary covering the director
- Original footage from British broadcaster Mike Scott
- Complete broadcast of the 1937 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, starring Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery
- New visual essay by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff
- Audio excerpts from François Truffaut's 1962 audio interview with Hitchcock
- Original production design drawings
- A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic David Cairns
- New audio commentary featuring film historian Philip Kemp
- New interview with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro
- The Illustrated Hitchcock, an extensive interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from 1972, conducted by journalist Pia Lindström and film historian William K. Everson
- Audio excerpts from filmmaker François Truffaut’s legendary 1962 interviews with Alfred Hitchcock
- Restoration demonstration
- A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme
- New piece on the film’s special effects by visual effects expert Craig Barron
- Hollywood Propaganda and World War II, a new interview with writer Mark Harris
- Interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from a 1972 episode of The Dick Cavett Show
- Radio adaptation of the film from 1946, starring Joseph Cotten
- “Have You Heard? The Story of Wartime Rumors,” a 1942 Life magazine “photo-drama” by Hitchcock
- Trailer
- An essay by film scholar James Naremore