^ i wonder why no region 1 NTSC copies from studio canal on these. seems like it would sell better in america than any 0ther place on earth.,

This is a very good question, Cameron. When TCM showed all those Hitchcocks a couple of months ago, they used pretty decent prints for several of them: Blackmail (which I distinctly remember had the StudioCanal label at the start), Sabotage, and the '34 Man Who Knew Too Much.

I guess it boils down to who owns the distribution rights for DVD. So if, say, Criterion owns the rights to Blackmail (as they did for laserdisc), it may just be a matter of time before they clear their plate enough to get to it. Or it could be that some distributors are worried about possible competition from all those inferior prints floating around from when these were still PD.

well I know some time ago, both Criterion and Kino said they had plans for more early Hitchcock, but well after a year and nothing has even been rumored since then. I know both have worked with studio canal in the past, and Lions Gate also seems to have a good working relationship with them from across the pond. Hopefully there just loading them up with new featurettes, commentaries, radio dramas, etc. but I do hope we see them in 2006.

My guess is that Criterion may pick and choose from the early sound films (eventually), but won't touch the silents (they seem allergic to silent films in general).

Criterion has done some good silent films, but i think that Kino has that down better than anyone at this point.

getting closer to complete. I just added the OOP Paradine Case to my Hitchcock shelf. And I steal at $54 on Amazon marketplace. Just recieved it and it seems to be 100% authentic.

I'm slowly getting there. I have all the Warner and Universal releases and the bulk of the British public domain releases. I also have all the Criterions and Paradine Case from Anchor Bay.

I just signed up for Columbia House again and made To Catch a Thief one of my selections and I'm going to use one of my gift cards to pick up Life Boat today.

Still have a handful I'm missing and will try to grab those over the next couple of months. Under Capricorn and the original Man Who Knew Too Much are probably next on my list.

I have a question: what company has the best R1 releases of Hitchcock's early British films? I'm trying to replace my public domain sets with better versions of the films.

I hate to crap on your idea, but there are no good R1 releases....the French Studio Canal releases are SO much better than the useless crap on PD releases here, it's not worth the effort. Perhaps Criterion may do some of them, but until then, you're simply pissing away cash to buy what's out there. See the previous posts for more info.