Product: Young & Innocent [VHS] (1938)
Rating: 4.0
Great film, okay transfer
When I review these Laserlite Hitchcock DVDs, I tend to put more empphasis on the film transfers rather than the film itself, mainly because every other film review available talks the plot to death. So I write my reviews with the assumption that the reader already knows the plot of the film....As far as the film goes, this is one of my personal favorite Hitchcock films. It's a terrific re-working of The 39 Steps about a man who is accused of a murder he didn't commit and must flee from the law and find the real culprit in order to prove himself innocent. It was a formula that would become a regular part of the Hitchcock canon for years to come....As far as the DVD goes, it's just okay. Once you get past the mediocre Tony Curtis intro, you get enjoy the crackles and pops, light-to-dark contrast jumps and cut-off lines of dialouge and jump-cuts resulting from missing frames that most any other home video edition of the film will provide to you. This isn't to say it's a terrible and unwatchable transfer. This is definately no "Murder" or "Skin Game," but it's also a disappointment when compared to Laserlite transfers of "Sabotage" and "Rich and Strange." The movie never at any point becomes unbearable from the transfer, but Laserlite has done better....Still, it's probably the best copy available so far on DVD, but I would ultimately recomend Criterion's Laserdisc, if you still have a laserdisc player, until Criterion reissues this on DVD.extra features include a trailer for a later Hitchcock film and a foregettable episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that he did not direct. Laserlite cannot be bashed for this, as it is a better bonus than just nothing.4 1/2 stars to Hitchcock for an excellent film, 3 stars to Laserlight for trying hard, but not hitting the mark every time.