"Actor: Tippi Hedren"

• Alfred Hitchcock - Essential Collection | DVD | (05/09/2011) from £15.98   |  Saving you £-4.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Titles Comprise:Rear Window: When professional photographer J.B. Jeff Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, he becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbours play out across the courtyard. When he suspects a salesman may have murdered his nagging wife, Jeffries enlists the help of his glamorous socialite girlfriend (Grace Kelly) to investigate the highly suspicious chain of events that lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings in all of film history.The Birds: As beautiful blonde Melanie Daniels ('Tippi' Hedren) rolls into Bodega Bay in pursuit of eligible bachelor Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), she is inexplicably attacked by a seagull. Suddenly thousands of birds areflocking into town, preying on school-children and residents in a terrifying series of attacks. Soon Mitch and Melanie are fighting for their lives against a deadly force that can't be explained and can't be stopped in one of Hollywood's most horrific films of nature gone berserk.Vertigo: Set in San Francisco, James Stewart portrays an acrophobic detective hired to trail a friend's suicidal wife (Kim Novak). After he successfully rescues her from a leap into the bay, he finds himself becoming obsessed with the beautifully troubled woman. One of cinema's most chilling romantic endeavours - this film is a must for collectors.Psycho: Anthony Perkins stars in Alfred Hitchcock's landmark masterpiece as the troubled Norman Bates whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane, the ill-fated traveller whose journey ends in the notorious shower scene. Horror and suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed after both Marion's sister and a private detective search for her.

• The Birds | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes". From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton

• Marnie | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £9.43   |  Saving you £0.56 (5.94%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Both visually and psychologically, Marnie is crass in comparison with Hitchcock's peak achievement in Vertigo--although it shares some of that film's characteristic obsessive themes. Sean Connery, fresh from From Russia with Love, is a Philadelphia playboy who begins to fall for Tippi Hedren's blonde ice goddess only when he realises that she's a professional thief (she's come to work in his upper-crust insurance office in order to embezzle mass quantities). His patient programme of investigation and surveillance has a creepy, voyeuristic quality that's pure Hitchcock, but all's lost when it emerges that the root of Marnie's problem is phobic sexual frigidity, induced by a childhood trauma. Luckily, Sean is up to the challenge, as it were. Not even DH Lawrence believed as fervently as Hitchcock in the curative properties of sexual release. --David Chute

• The Birds | Blu Ray | (10/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Spoiled socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) pursues lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) to his Bodega Bay home after they meet in a bird shop. Melanie sails across the bay to deliver the gift of a lovebird to Mitch's young sister, only to be attacked by a gull on her way back. Soon random attacks on humans are taking place all over Bodega, as birds of all varieties mass in their thousands overhead. Director Alfred Hitchcock's classic is not for those easily perturbed by our feathered friends.

• A Countess From Hong Kong | DVD | (07/03/2005) from £5.38   |  Saving you £4.61 (85.69%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Charlie Chaplin's final film is a delightful romantic comedy filled with the clever touches for which he's famous. Written directed and composed by Chaplin it revolves around Russian migr countess Natascha (Sophia Loren) forced into prostitution in Hong Kong who stows away in wealthy American Ogden's (Marlon Brando's) stateroom to blackmail her way to the States. Since Ogden has a mind of his own and can even resist Natascha's charms what follows is one of the funniest tugs o

• Hitchcock Vol. 2 | Blu Ray | (23/09/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The Volume 2 of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films including The Birds Vertigo Frenzy Topaz Marnie Torn Curtain and Family Plot. Vertigo (1958)A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the activities of an old friend's wife whilst becoming dangerously obsessed with her. Special Features: Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts Foreign Censorship Ending The Vertigo Archives Feature Commentary with Associate Producer Herbert Coleman Restoration Team Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz and Other Vertigo Participants Feature Commentary with Director William Friedkin 100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era Theatrical Trailer Restoration Theatrical Trailer The Birds (1963)A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a Northern California town that takes a bizarre turn when birds of all kinds begin to attack people in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness. Special Features: Deleted Scene Original Ending The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie - New! (Blu-ray Exclusive) All About The Birds Storyboards Tippi Hedren's Screen Test Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel) Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel) Production Photographs 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics 100 Years of Universal: The Lot Theatrical Trailer Marnie (1964)Mark marries Marnie although she is a thief and possesses serious psychological problems. Mark tries to help her confront and resolve the issues. Special Features: The Trouble with Marnie The Marnie Archives Theatrical Trailer Torn Curtain (1966)An American scientist defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin and has to figure out a plan to escape back West. Special Features: Torn Curtain Rising Scenes Scored by Bernard Herrmann Production Photographs Theatrical Trailer Topaz (1969)A French intelligence agent becomes embroiled in Cold War politics first uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and then back to France to break up a Russian spy ring. Special Features: Alternate Endings Topaz: An Appreciation by Film Historian and Critic Leonard Maltin Storyboards: The Mendozas Production Photographs Theatrical Trailer Frenzy (1972)A serial killer is murdering women in London with a necktie the police have a suspect but he isn't the correct man... Special Features: The Story of Frenzy Production Photographs Theatrical Trailer Family Plot (1976) Plotting Family Plot Storyboards: The Chase Scene Production Photographs Theatrical Trailer Family Plot (1976)Suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while following a missing heir in California.

• Psycho/The Birds | DVD | (26/12/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Pyscho: Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony perkins as the troubled Norman Bates whose ""old dark house"" and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No-one knows that better than Janet Leigh the film's ill-fated heroine who is brutally victimised in the now-notorious ""shower scene"". Vera Miles Martin Balslam John Gavin and John McIntire co-star in Hitchcock's most compelling and terrifying film. With a scintillating screenplay from Joseph Stefano and with 'that' score by Bernard Herrmann Psycho was nominated for a multitude of Oscars but failed to pick up a single gong... How wrong the academy were proven to be. The Birds: Wealthy reformed party girl Melanie Daniels enjoys a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet shop and decides to follow him to his Bodega Bay home. Bearing a gift of two lovebirds Melanie quickly strikes up a romance with Mitch while contending with his possessive mother and boarding at his ex-girlfriend's house.One day during a birthday party for Mitch's younger sister a flock of birds attacks the children in what seems to be a random incident. In fact it signals the beginning of a massive and organized avian assault on the residents of the town--a mysterious assault that no one can explain...and from which no one might come out alive.

• Sophia Loren | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A bumper box set of classic films featuring the voluptuous sex-siren Sophia Loren! Pride And The Passion (Dir. Stanley Kramer 1957): Napoleonic forces are sweeping across Europe and Spain is on the brink of falling to the mighty invasion. Standing alone against the onslaught is one brave fighter and his ragtag band of guerillas. Seizing a gigantic cannon Spanish fighter Miguel (Sinatra) plans to attack Napoleon's army by battering the walls of French-occupied Avila. But because he's untrained in complex weaponry he must rely on the expertise of Captain Trumbell (Grant) a British naval officer. Allies on the battlefield Trumbell and Miguel soon find themselves in a bitter struggle over Miguel's mistress (Loren) a sultry beauty drawn to the captain's refined ways even as they race toward the most harrowing battle of their lives... El Cid (Dir. Anthony Mann 1961): El Cid is an epic movie masterpiece a tribute to one of history's greatest legends. This dazzling spectacle with a cast of thousands fills the screen with action and romance - from knights in armour jousting on horseback to massive battles on sea and land where columns of warriors stretch across the horizon. At the centre of this powerful motion picture is Charlton Heston in the role he was born to play... the immortal El Cid. Heston is the Spanish warrior battling to drive the Moors from Spain with the vision to be just and the courage to be merciful whose love and devotion to the radiant Chimene (Sophia Loren) knows no bounds... Anthony Mann's epic was nominated for three Oscars but surprisingly returned home empty-handed. The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Dir. Anthony Mann 1964): This classic film re-enacts the spectacular collapse of perhaps the greatest dominion the world has ever known. Pestilence greed and corruption bring a once-proud empire to its knees. Now restored with stunning scenes and a cast of thousands - in battles gladiatorial and otherwise; martyrs burning at the stake; chariot races in the midst of which is the romance between two people.... White Sister (Dir. Alberto Lattuada 1972): The Key (Dir. Carol Reed 1958): In wartime England circa 1941 poorly-armed tugs are sent into U-Boat Alley to rescue damaged Allied ships. An American named David Ross arrives to captain one of these tugs. He's given a key by a fellow tugboat-man -- a key to an apartment and its pretty female resident. Should something happen to the friend Ross can use the key. Countess From Hong Kong (Dir. Charlie Chaplin 1966): Charlie Chaplin's final film is a delightful romantic comedy filled with the clever touches for which he's famous. Written directed and composed by Chaplin it revolves around Russian ''migr'' countess Natascha (Sophia Loren) forced into prostitution in Hong Kong who stows away in wealthy American Ogden's (Marlon Brando's) stateroom to blackmail her way to the States. Since Ogden has a mind of his own and can even resist Natascha's charms what follows is one of the funniest tugs of war ever devised! A wealth of talent supports these stars. There's Chaplin's son Sydney as Brando's cruise companion Tippi Hedren as his icy wife Patrick Cargill as the ultimate gentleman's gentleman and Margaret Rutherford as a dotty old dame. Chaplin himself tops it off with a cameo as the ship's steward! The gags are pure Charlie and his actors make the most of them sailing in and out of slamming doors and outrageous situations with ease!

• Teresa's Tattoo | DVD | (05/07/2005) from £7.53   |  Saving you £-3.54 (-88.70%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Mathematician Theresa just wanted to study during the College spring break. But her friends who want her to live a little drag her out to parties. The next thing she knows she has been drugged kidnapped made a redhead tattooed and wearing leather?!? Her captors seem to be the most inept crooks ever. They seem to have a plan if only she could figure out why it involves her.

• Sophia Loren | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A bumper box set of classic films featuring the voluptuous sex-siren Sophia Loren! Pride And The Passion (Dir. Stanley Kramer 1957): Napoleonic forces are sweeping across Europe and Spain is on the brink of falling to the mighty invasion. Standing alone against the onslaught is one brave fighter and his ragtag band of guerillas. Seizing a gigantic cannon Spanish fighter Miguel (Sinatra) plans to attack Napoleon's army by battering the walls of French-occupied Avila. But because he's untrained in complex weaponry he must rely on the expertise of Captain Trumbell (Grant) a British naval officer. Allies on the battlefield Trumbell and Miguel soon find themselves in a bitter struggle over Miguel's mistress (Loren) a sultry beauty drawn to the captain's refined ways even as they race toward the most harrowing battle of their lives... El Cid (Dir. Anthony Mann 1961): El Cid is an epic movie masterpiece a tribute to one of history's greatest legends. This dazzling spectacle with a cast of thousands fills the screen with action and romance - from knights in armour jousting on horseback to massive battles on sea and land where columns of warriors stretch across the horizon. At the centre of this powerful motion picture is Charlton Heston in the role he was born to play... the immortal El Cid. Heston is the Spanish warrior battling to drive the Moors from Spain with the vision to be just and the courage to be merciful whose love and devotion to the radiant Chimene (Sophia Loren) knows no bounds... Anthony Mann's epic was nominated for three Oscar's but surprisingly returned home empty-handed. The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Dir. Anthony Mann 1964): This classic film re-enacts the spectacular collapse of perhaps the greatest dominion the world has ever known. Pestilence greed and corruption bring a once-proud empire to its knees. Now restored with stunning scenes and a cast of thousands - in battles gladiatorial and otherwise; martyrs burning at the stake; chariot races in the midst of which is the romance between two people.... White Sister (Dir. Alberto Lattuada 1972) The Key (Dir. Carol Reed 1958): In wartime England circa 1941 poorly-armed tugs are sent into U-Boat Alley to rescue damaged Allied ships. An American named David Ross arrives to captain one of these tugs. He's given a key by a fellow tugboat-man -- a key to an apartment and its pretty female resident. Should something happen to the friend Ross can use the key. Countess From Hong Kong (Dir. Charlie Chaplin 1966): Charlie Chaplin's final film is a delightful romantic comedy filled with the clever touches for which he's famous. Written directed and composed by Chaplin it revolves around Russian ''migr'' countess Natascha (Sophia Loren) forced into prostitution in Hong Kong who stows away in wealthy American Ogden's (Marlon Brando's) stateroom to blackmail her way to the States. Since Ogden has a mind of his own and can even resist Natascha's charms what follows is one of the funniest tugs of war ever devised! A wealth of talent supports these stars. There's Chaplin's son Sydney as Brando's cruise companion Tippi Hedren as his icy wife Patrick Cargill as the ultimate gentleman's gentleman and Margaret Rutherford as a dotty old dame. Chaplin himself tops it off with a cameo as the ship's steward! The gags are pure Charlie and his actors make the most of them sailing in and out of slamming doors and outrageous situations with ease!

• Nora Roberts - Tribute | DVD | (15/03/2010) from £10.62   |  Saving you £4.37 (41.15%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Cilla McGowan intends to renovate her film legend grandmother's farm house but someone is trying to drive her away. With the help of her handsome neighbour Ford Sawyer she is determined to find out who is behind the threats and uncover the truth about her grandmother's death.

• Hitchcock: Volume 2 | DVD | (23/09/2013) from £24.64   |  Saving you £-4.64 (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.00

  The Volume 2 of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films including The Birds Vertigo Frenzy Topaz Marnie Torn Curtain and Family Plot.Vertigo (1958)A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the activities of an old friend's wife whilst becoming dangerously obsessed with her. The Birds (1963) A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a Northern California town that takes a bizarre turn when birds of all kinds begin to attack people in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness. Marnie (1964) Mark marries Marnie although she is a thief and possesses serious psychological problems. Mark tries to help her confront and resolve the issues. Torn Curtain (1966)An American scientist defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin and has to figure out a plan to escape back West. Topaz (1969)A French intelligence agent becomes embroiled in Cold War politics first uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and then back to France to break up a Russian spy ring. Frenzy (1972)A serial killer is murdering women in London with a necktie the police have a suspect but he isn't the correct man... Family Plot (1976)Suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while following a missing heir in California. Special Features: Disc 1 Frenzy Theatrical Trailer Featurette The Story Of Art Gallery Disc 2 Obsessed With Vertigo Feature Commentary Production Note Cast and Filmmakers Vertigo Theatrical Trailers Disc 3 All About The Birds - Making Of Tippen Hedren's Screen Test Universal News Reel Stories x 2 The Birds Theatrical Trailer Storyboard Sequence Deleted Scene Alternative Ending (Sketches and Storyboards) Production Photographs Disc 4 Documentary Scenes Scored By Bernard Herrmann Art Gallery Torn Curtain Trailer Disc 5 Documentary Alternate Endings: Duel Airport Suicide Storyboards Production Photographs Topaz Trailer Disc 6 Marnie Theatrical Trailer Documentary Production Photographs Disc 7 Documentary Storyboards Art Gallery Family Plot Theatrical Trailer 1 Family Plot Theatrical Trailer 2

• Marnie | Blu Ray | (23/09/2013) from £13.48   |  Saving you £1.51 (11.20%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A woman's complex life leads her into becoming a compulsive thief while her husband tries not only to save her from jail but salvage their marriage. Based on the novel by Winston Graham. Special Features: The Trouble with Marnie The Marnie Archives Marnie Theatrical Trailer Centennial Trailer

• Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection | Blu Ray | (12/11/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £149.99

  Rope: Two young men strangle their classmate, hide his body in their apartment and invite his closest friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the perfection of their crime.Rear Window: A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his window and becomes convinced one of them has committed a serious murder.The Trouble with Harry: The trouble with Harry is that everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body.The Man Who Knew Too Much: A family holidaying in Morocco stumble on to an assassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering.Vertigo: A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the activities of an old friend's wife, whilst becoming dangerously obsessed with her.Psycho: A young woman steals $40,000 from her client and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor who has been too long under the presence and domination of his mother.The Birds: A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a Northern California town that takes a bizarre turn when birds of all kinds begin to attack people in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.Marnie: Mark marries Marnie, although she is a thief and possesses serious psychological problems, Mark tries to help her confront and resolve the issues.Torn Curtain: An American scientist defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin and has to figure out a plan to escape back West.Topaz: A French intelligence agent becomes embroiled in Cold War politics first uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and then back to France to break up a Russian spy ring.Frenzy: A serial killer is murdering women in London with a necktie, the police have a suspect but he isn't the correct man...Family Plot: Suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while following a missing heir in California.

• The Birds - 50th Anniversary Limited Edition | Blu Ray | (13/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes". From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton

• Films That Define A Decade: '60s | Blu Ray | (22/08/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.75

  There has never been a decade quite like the ˜60s! An era of change, conflict and hope, it will be fondly remembered for its revolutionary thinking, the fight for freedom of expression and its definitive slogan to ˜Make Love Not War'. Here we celebrate the ˜60s by bringing together four of the greatest films of the decade; Alfred Hitchcock's iconic thriller The Birds; the historic epic Spartacus; literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird; and timeless Western The War Wagon starring the legendary John Wayne.

• Marnie | Blu Ray | (10/05/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Rear Window/The Birds/Vertigo | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Rear Window (1954): Alfred Hitchcock amply demonstrates why he's been called ""The Master of Suspense"" with this both witty and macabre tale of voyeurism and murder starring two of cinema's all-time favourites James Stewart and Grace Kelly. L.B. Jeffries (Stewart) a photographer with a broken leg takes up the fine art of spying on his Greenwich Village neighbours during a summer heat wave. But things really hot up when he suspects one neighbour of murdering his invalid wife and burying the body in a flower garden. The Birds (1963): Wealthy reformed party girl Melanie Daniels enjoys a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet shop and decides to follow him to his Bodega Bay home. Bearing a gift of two lovebirds Melanie quickly strikes up a romance with Mitch while contending with his possessive mother and boarding at his ex-girlfriend's house.One day during a birthday party for Mitch's younger sister a flock of birds attacks the children in what seems to be a random incident. In fact it signals the beginning of a massive and organized avian assault on the residents of the town--a mysterious assault that no one can explain...and from which no one might come out alive. Vertigo (1958): Set in San Francisco James Stewart portrays and acrophobic detective hired to trail a friend's suicidal wife (Novak). After he successfully rescues her from a leap into the bay he finds himself becoming obsessed with the beautiful and troubled woman...

• The Birds - Universal Pictures Centennial Edition | DVD | (23/04/2012) from £14.24   |  Saving you £0.75 (5.27%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes". From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton

• The Hitchcock Collection, Volume 2 | DVD | (06/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  A welcome second volume of classics from the Master of Suspense, this seven-disc Hitchcock Collection box-set consists of the following: The Birds: Based on a Daphne Du Maurier short story, The Birds (1963) is Hitchcock at his most terrifying, as the residents of a small town are attacked by thousands of apparently homicidal birds. Marnie: Tippi Hedren and newly Bonded Sean Connery star in this excellent 1964 thriller, which finds a calculating thief who robs her employers pursued by a her new boss, who is desperate to unlock her secrets Torn Curtain: This 1966 spy thriller, pairing Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, finds Newman as a world-famous physicist intent on defecting to East Berlin in order to obtain funding for his latest project. Topaz: Based on the Leon Uris novel, Hitch's 51st film, made in 1969, concerns a CIA agent who learns of Russian missiles in Cuba. With the aid of a French agent, they negotiate a plethora of corruption and murder. Frenzy: This critically acclaimed 1972 film was Hitch's first British-made film for more than 20 years. A classic Hitch story of an innocent man accused of being the "necktie murderer"--a vicious sex criminal terrorising London--he eludes the authorities and seeks the real killer. Family Plot: Hitchcock's final film, made in 1976, is a blackly funny mix of murder, theft and kidnapping as a cab-driver and a psychic team up to find a dead man--not actually dead--in exchange for a $10,000 reward. Bonus Disc--Vertigo: An irreducible masterpiece, this 1958 double-identity thriller finds Hitch serving aces, as Jimmy Stewart's detective is drawn in to a complex plot when the girl he loves apparently falls to her death. On the DVD: Like the first volume, this is an equally impressive package that will satisfy the rotund fright-master's fans. Along with the standard selection of trailers, production notes and picture galleries, each disc houses an impressive "making of" documentary, each expertly detailing Hitch's meticulous work. The Birds features Tippi Hedren's screen test and--in storyboard form--deleted scenes and the alternative ending. Topaz has no less that three alternative endings, while Torn Curtain includes scenes scored by composer Bernard Herrmann before his music was rejected by Hitch. The Vertigo disc features an excellent group commentary from producer Herbert Coleman and restoration experts Robert A Harris and James Katz, as well as a documentary, "Obsessed with Vertigo". Housed in attractive fold-out packaging, this is an excellent opportunity to obtain a rich slice of Hitchcock's dark magic.--Danny Graydon