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Number 17

Number 17

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Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Black & White
  • Dolby


Description:

The technical challenges of this 1932 "old dark house" mystery are largely what appealed to Alfred Hitchcock, who uses a staircase quite inventively to create a series of emotional and dramatic thresholds from which to tell a story (adapted from a play) about a policeman, a hobo, and a gang of jewel thieves. Besides the technical temptations of filming in the house, Hitch turns (as he often did in the early days) to models to create an exciting chase-climax between a train and a bus. A very minor work, indeed, but revealing of the director's early interest in transcending dull material with exercises in what he termed "pure cinema." The print of the film used in the DVD release is serviceable and probably comparable to an average 16mm classroom or museum presentation. The DVD also includes a Hitchcock filmography, trivia questions, a director biography, and scene access. --Tom Keogh
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