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CRITERION: 39 Steps, Gold Rush - Standard & Blu in June
Criterion has announced June release dates for standard and Blu-Ray versions of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) and Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925).
As typical with Criterion, bonus features abound (see below).
The 39 Steps is a heart-racing spy story by Alfred Hitchcock, following Richard Hannay (Oscar winner Robert Donat), who stumbles into 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 expected romance with the cool Pamela (Madeline Carroll).w
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.
BONUS FEATURES:
The first feature-length comedy by Charlie Chaplin—which charts a hapless prospector’s search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character.
Shot partly on location in the Sierra Nevadas and featuring such timeless gags as Chaplin’s dance of the dinner rolls and meal of boiled shoe leather, The Gold Rush is an indelible work of nonstop hilarity.
This special edition features both Chaplin’s definitive 1942 version, for which the director added new music and narration, and a new restoration of the original silent 1925 film.
As typical with Criterion, bonus features abound (see below).
The 39 Steps is a heart-racing spy story by Alfred Hitchcock, following Richard Hannay (Oscar winner Robert Donat), who stumbles into 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 expected romance with the cool Pamela (Madeline Carroll).w
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.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Audio essay by Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane
- Hitchcock: The Early Years (2000), a British documentary covering Hitchcock’s prewar career
- Original footage from British broadcaster Mike Scott’s 1966 television interview with Hitchcock
- The Complete 1937 broadcast of the Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, performed by Robert Montgomery and Ida Lupino
- Visual essay by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff
- Excerpts from Francois Truffaut’s 1962 audio interview with Hitchcock
- Original production design drawings
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Cairns
The first feature-length comedy by Charlie Chaplin—which charts a hapless prospector’s search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character.
Shot partly on location in the Sierra Nevadas and featuring such timeless gags as Chaplin’s dance of the dinner rolls and meal of boiled shoe leather, The Gold Rush is an indelible work of nonstop hilarity.
This special edition features both Chaplin’s definitive 1942 version, for which the director added new music and narration, and a new restoration of the original silent 1925 film.
BONUS FEATURES:
- New audio commentary for the 1925 version by Chaplin biographer and archivist Jeffrey Vance
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Three new programs:
- Presenting “The Gold Rush,” which traces the film’s history from original release to rerelease to 2003 reconstruction and features film historian Kevin Brownlow and Jeffrey Vance
- Music by Charles Chaplin, featuring conductor and composer Timothy Brock
- Visual Effects in “The Gold Rush,” featuring effects specialist Craig Barron and Chaplin cinematographer Roland Totheroh
- Chaplin Today: “The Gold Rush” (2002), a short documentary featuring filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo
- Four theatrical trailers
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Luc Sante and James Agee’s review of the 1942 version