Home video
- Complex case: at least two different versions and four transfers on home video
- Another is on the way, in the shape of 2025’s brand new, 4k digital restoration
- Releases range from good to positively angelic, many with a plethora of extras
- No solid legal defence for the many criminally inadequate, barebones bootlegs
Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.
The Paradine Case: Making of a Masterpiece; Collectors Guide, Part 2: Home video, 3: Soundtrack
US 1956 re-release insert poster
Contents
- 1956 re-release version
- 1999 restoration
- 2008 remaster
- 2025 restoration
- Screenshots
- Related articles
1956 re-release version
Trailers: US VHS, Spanish TV
Hitch’s initial rough cut of The Paradine Case ran to nearly three hours before habitually interfering producer David O. Selznick cut it by nearly an hour and ordered various retakes. It was 132 minutes by the time of its LA première on December 29, 1947, but following lukewarm reviews Selznick chopped it further to 114 minutes for general release. This is the version we have today, although the film has suffered more indignities in the interim. For instance, it was cut by a further 20 minutes when first shown on US TV and there are reports of edits as short as 80 minutes – less than half of Hitch’s original! Thankfully, none of those have ever seen the light of day on home video.
Some snippets of outtakes can be glimpsed in the 1956 re-release trailer above, which only differs from the original in the replaced end title. In the late 1990s, some deleted scenes and alternate takes were discovered but they’re all silent so were only preserved and have never been released. That’s a real pity: if the film was more popular, the unseen stash could be made available as a fascinating extra. A lip reader could easily be employed to facilitate subtitling, and music added from the isolated score, along with explanatory cards preceding each section to explain where it would have appeared in the film. Alternatively, and even more simply, an audio commentary could be provided to give full context, as has happened in similar cases. We would also have a clearer indication of how Ethel Barrymore managed to bag an Oscar nomination for her role, despite only having three minutes of screen time in the general release version.
The four Selznick-related films directed by Hitch – Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious and The Paradine Case – are often packaged together due to their current shared ownership. Pre-DVD, this was the only one of the four not to get a LaserDisc release stateside, while the others received two apiece. One was planned by Fox Video in 1990 but ultimately cancelled, although it was released on the format by Pioneer in the UK and Japan; those and all but the final VHS tapes feature a copy of Selznick’s 1956 re-release print with altered distributor credits.
1999 restoration
Along with the other three Hitch-Selznicks, Paradine had a photochemical restoration in 1999 which saw a limited theatrical run before being issued on home video. Due to slightly differing distribution rights, this was the only one of the four restorations to be released on home video worldwide, rather than just in the US.
- US: Anchor Bay DVD (1999)
- UK: PT Video 4-DVD Hitchcock (2001)
- Prism Leisure DVD (2004), also in 4-DVD AH Box Set
- Fremantle DVD (2007), also in 4-DVD H Collection and newspaper giveaway
The A/V on these is generally on a par but the French DVD is slightly squashed and blurry, and may even be taken from a different, possibly non-restored source, while the German is easily strongest overall. The credits are transferred fullscreen on the US disc, while all others have them slightly windowboxed and the remainder of the film slightly cropped all around. Most of my notes for Rebecca’s preserved releases also apply to this bunch.
- Italy: 01Distribution DVD (2005), also in 4-DVD AH Collection
- Germany: EuroVideo DVD (2002), also in 3-DVD, 3-DVD and 5-DVD H Collection
- France: Aventi DVD (2005), also in 2-DVD w/Rebecca and 4-DVD AH Édition Collector
UK DVD extras replicate those on Rebecca and the other Hitch-Selznicks, while Spain has a 25-mnute English-language Gregory Peck featurette. Apart from a few other featurettes in their respective languages, most of the rest are barebones. The French, German, Spanish and Italian discs have optional dubs dating from the film’s belated post-war releases.
- Spain: Filmax DVD/pic (2000)
- Netherlands: A-F/WWC/DFW DVD/alt (2003), also in 4-DVD H Collection
- Japan: JVC DVD (2000, reissued 2002)
2008 remaster

US MGM DVD artwork; one of the best releases on the format
In 2008, the Hitch-Selznick restorations were digitally remastered in HD and in, ahem, Paradine’s case this results in a more richly detailed, damage-free image replete with natural grain and slightly more information on all sides. The effect is quite transformative and the few releases with this transfer are definitely the best ones to get:
- US: MGM DVD (2008), also in 8-DVD AH Premiere Collection/warning
- France: Carlotta Films BD and DVD (2018), also in 4-BD/1-DVD and 5-DVD AH: Les Années Selznick
- Sweden: Studio S DVD (2020) info
- Brazil: Versátil 3-DVD/7-film O Cinema de H, Vol. 2/alt (2019) info
MGM’s superb DVD features a veritable cornucopia of extras, including an audio commentary by film historians Stephen Rebello, author of Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (1990), and Hitchcock biographer Bill Krohn; they both also provided a commentary for Young and Innocent. Perhaps most significantly though, there’s a full length, isolated music and effects track, making it essential for keen soundtrack collectors. To those it adds the 1949 radio play, an interview with Hitch’s friend and fellow filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (16min), a perfunctory restoration comparison (1½min) and the theatrical trailer. The Kino discs carry everything over and add a couple of interviews with Hitchcock/Truffaut (13min) and Peck’s children (8½min).

French BD, the best A/V option available anywhere
The French discs have a French-language “Reminiscing The Paradine Case” featurette (16min), 24 minutes of Hitchcock/Truffaut interview excerpts and the English trailer. Both formats are also available in a numbered, limited edition box set of 3,000 copies each that includes a fifth disc with a few hours of extras more peripherally related to the film and a beautiful, 300-page hardback book. The Brazilian set also includes almost 2½ hours of extras relating to its various films, while the Swedish is barebones.
Note that an apparent encoding error on the Kino releases has led to numerous complaints of a sheen of digital noise akin to a fine snowstorm over the entire feature following the opening credits. I own both BDs and MGM’s DVD, and the problem, while present but not ruinous, is entirely absent on the other discs. To minimise the issue, turn off any picture-altering settings such as sharpening and motion smoothing. You’re generally much better off without them anyway.
As usual with the perennially popular Hitch, there are many bootlegs, eg those from:
- Chile: Cinematekka/box/box
- Cine Korea
- Italy: Ermitage/CH reissue, Golem/reissue
- Germany: Mediacs/Colours of Entertainment BD/DVD, Digibooks: A/B/C/D; FNM; Great Movies aka WME and many others
- Spain: Creative, Regia, Resen BD-R, Suevia Crin Ediciones
- Brazil: Classicline, Continental/box
Basically, if it isn’t listed here as kosher, don’t buy it.
2025 restoration
There’s a brand new, fully-digital, 4k restoration of the 114-minute version, based on the original camera negative and supervised by owners Walt Disney Studios with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. It makes its theatrical bow at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and is now available for theatrical bookings internationally, courtesy of Park Circus. I predict US licensees Kino are a dead cert to release it on home video, as their previous discs are long-deleted and quite pricey these days. There’s also a strong chance of the UK seeing a very belated upgrade of the sole, ageing DVD to date. Who knows, perhaps we’ll finally get to see those surviving outtakes mentioned above as an extra… Watch this space!
Screenshots
There are many useful comparisons courtesy of the invaluable Hitchcock Zone, in DVDClassik’s excellent review and below.
Anchor Bay, UK PT Video (+2) | Kino Lorber BD

French Carlotta BD
The Paradine Case: Making of a Masterpiece; Collectors Guide, Part 2: Home video, 3: Soundtrack
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.