To Catch A Thief – Centennial Collection (Paramount DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: B     Film: B

 

 

Paramount has reissued Alfred Hitchcock’s influential 1955 hit To Catch A Thief in a new DVD set for their Centennial Collection series.  Here is the link to our coverage of that release plus a Hitchcock box set from Lionsgate:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5515/Alfred+Hitchcock+3-Disc+Collector

 

 

The film had its transfer upgraded for that DVD and this newer anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image looks like the same transfer, but a little better since there is more room on the first disc instead of how it was squeezed with al the extras into a single DVD like last time.  I still question the color fidelity and accuracy in some shots that looked a bit better in the older DVD.  Recapping from the last review, the film was not only shot in VistaVision, whose larger frame has a larger color vocabulary, but 35mm prints were in three-strip dye-transfer Technicolor.  It won the Oscar for Best Cinematography by Robert Burks, A.S.C., a master cameraman and Director of Photography who was one of Hitchcock’s best collaborators.  The look influenced many later films, including the 1981 James Bond film (reviewed elsewhere on this site) For Your Eyes Only.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also carried over from the previous disc and is virtually the same soundtrack.

 

Extras not only include most of the previous goodies from the last DVD like the original theatrical trailer, a stills section and four featurettes on Thief including Edith Head – The Paramount Years, Writing & Casting To Catch A Thief, The Making Of To Catch A Thief and Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch A Thief: An Appreciation.  They have added an audio commentary by Dr. Drew Casper in place of one the older disc had by Peter Bogdanovich and Laurent Bouzereau.  That is an odd switch, so don’t get rid of the last edition.  You also get an interactive travelogue that tells you more about the locations used and two more featurettes:  A Night With The Hitchcocks and Unacceptable Under The Code: Film Censorship In America.  When Paramount does a Blu-ray, all extras from both versions should be included.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo