This remake of Hitchcock's unremarkable 1934 version is substantially better. As he said in his own words, "Let's say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional."Naturally there are some events that may be commonplace in the mid 1950's that you would never do today with your child. Specifically, hand him off to a stranger you had just met. In this version the child is a boy of about 9, where the original featured a girl of about 13. I guess it doesn't matter, but I wonder why that character was changed.
This movie also features Doris Day in a rare dramatic role, although she plays a former professional singer and does get to exercise her voice in the movie. At least a plot point supports her doing so. The climatic scene at Albert Hall is retained very close to the original and is equally well done. The film is a good one, although it doesn't reach the heights of "Rear Window," "Psycho," "North by Northwest," "The 39 Steps," and other Hitchcock classics.
The Blu ray version is currently available as part of the "Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection" and will be available individually in the near future. The film is transferred with a 1080p resolution and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Frankly, the quality isn't quite as good as other films in the collection. My biggest issue is with the color. It looks washed out much of the time and I noticed some damaged sections of film. It doesn't appear much correction of the original print was attempted. Don't get me wrong, the movie is an improvement over the DVD, especially some of the detail but it could have been better. The audio is DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (over 2 channels) and is very good. It is clean and focused. The extras include a 35 minute reflection with Pat Hitchcock O'Connell, associate producer Herbert Coleman, screenwriter John Michael Hayes, production designer Henry Bumstead and others. Included also is a trailer and some production photos.
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