Home video
- At least a handful of different transfers available, including new 4k restoration
- Hitchcocked: Shoddy bootlegs outnumber official releases, so choose carefully
- Was set to join six films director owned but theatrical failure led to repossession
- Gimmicky: Sensationalised 1960s re-release tried to draw in slasher horror fans
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.
Under Capricorn: Writing on a Classic, Pt 2: More writing; Collectors Guide, Pt 2: Home video
German Alive/Filmjuwelen Blu-ray with composite sleeve of original French and US 1963 re-release posters
Contents
Preserved transfers
US Image DVD: the best of the preserved releases
Under Capricorn may not universally enjoy the highest reputation among the the Master’s canon but it’s still a Hitchcock, albeit one that’s also an only child. It has, along with Lifeboat but to a greater degree, suffered most from being one of only a few of his American films whose rights are split between different territories or owned by companies with no other of the Master’s movies. This means they are the least often anthologised, whether in TV and cinema packages or home video box sets. Also Capricorn, unlike Lifeboat, has not escaped the vicissitudes of regional censorship and very poor quality releases, so its critical standing is even lower than it should be. Adding to its woes are that official releases are surprisingly few; nonetheless, here are all of them:
- US: Image DVD and VHS (2003), LD (1990) LDDb – no subtitles
- Germany: Kinowelt DVD (2006) – edited
- Kinowelt DVD in 2-DVD and 5-DVD Bergman sets, and 6-DVD/9-film AH: Master of Suspense (2006)
- France: Universal DVD/alt (2006, reissued 2007 x2, 2013), also in these box sets – forced French subs
First off, at least one of the German Kinowelt DVDs can be disregarded: though the label’s usually noted for consistently high quality, this occasion is a rare anomaly. The initial standalone release has a blurry, severely zoomed-in transfer of an edited German theatrical print that’s missing four whole minutes. Its optional German dub (alt) was only recorded for the shortened version, so the original English soundtrack was also edited to fit. This is wholly inexcusable and was indeed corrected for the box set disc which, using the same base transfer, interpolates the missing footage from an even lower quality source.
- Spain: RBA DVD (2004)
- Portugal: Costa do Castelo DVD (2008), also in 4-DVD AH box set
- Sweden: Studio S DVD (2020) info
- Brazil: USA Discos DVD/alt (2004)
AH/IB 48 | francais, Entrée libre | TCM intros | Peter Bogdanovich (use subs)
As occurred on the German DVD’s second pass, the norm in such cases is to use a full length transfer and revert to original audio with subtitles for the missing dub portions. This happened on more recent German TV screenings of Capricorn and with the superlative French Waltzes from Vienna DVDs. But in Capricorn’s case, the much-reissued French Universal DVD is also compromised: still slightly cropped all around, the image is better than Kinowelt’s but leaves much room for improvement. Worst of all, and a deal breaker for most, like many French discs it has optional subtitles on its default 1950 dub but they’re forced on the English audio track.
Also be wary of the thankfully rare Spanish DVD which, according to its sleeve, has ersatz “pseudo stereo” remixes of its originally-mono audio tracks; likewise with the Brazilian. If true, they join a veritable rogues’ gallery of Hitchcocks with altered sound, most notably including To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho.
All’s not lost though: the US image DVD has very strong A/V and is region 0, so will play anywhere.
Apart from the French and US DVDs, all official releases of this film have optional subs in their respective domestic languages. Regarding extras, the US, Spanish and Swedish DVDs are barebones while the German and French share a half-hour “Chabrol on Hitchcock” featurette; the German standalone also has an attractive 8-page booklet. The Brazilian includes the theatrical trailer, a gallery and text notes. The difference between the original unrestored trailer and the new one below is striking.
Restored transfer
US Kino Lorber Blu-ray with reversible sleeve
- Prime Video HD | YouTube Movies HD
- US: Kino BD and DVD (2018)
- Germany: Filmjuwelen BD and DVD (2024)
Saving the best for last, the latest discs from Europe and America feature a 4k digital restoration from 2018, based on BFI Archive materials. While not perfect, with the three-strip matrices not quite as precisely aligned as Universal’s 4k restoration for Rope, it is quite beautiful and almost certainly as good as we’re ever going to get for this Technicolor feast. The US Kinos repeat the aforementioned “Hitchcock par Chabrol” featurette alongside an audio commentary, a 12-minute Hitchcock/Truffaut interview excerpt and the original trailer above.
- France: L’atelier d’images BD and DVD (2019)
- Sweden: Studio S DVD (2020)
- Brazil: Versátil 3-DVD/7-film O Cinema de H, Vol. 2/alt (2019) info
The latter two items are also on the restored French and German discs, which add two French-language featurettes of five and nine minutes. The German additionally includes a substituted German commentary, original German opening/closing credits and trailer, and a 20-page booklet. Rounding up, the Swedish DVD is barebones while the Brazilian set has 145 minutes’ worth of documentaries and featurettes relating to its films.
Screenshots
French L’atelier BD; Cotten
- Title: Kinowelt DVD, Universal DVD, Image DVD, L’atelier BD
- Invite: Kinowelt DVD, Universal DVD, Image DVD, Kino BD
- Henrietta: Kinowelt DVD, [Uni DVD] Image DVD, Kino BD
More at DVDClassik and Digital Ciné.
Bootlegs
Atormentada (Tormented): this Spanish pirate BD-R from Resen appropriates the same original US one sheet poster artwork as the official US BD.
Tormented, indeed: as it’s a Hitchcock there are expectedly numerous bootlegs of Under Capricorn which, as with his British films, actually outnumber the official releases and include:
- US: Starry Night
- UK: Orbit
- Italy: Suevia Crin Ediciones, DNA, Sinister Film 2011, 2017, 2019
- Germany: Mediacs/Colours of Entertainment BD/DVD Digibooks: A/B/C/D, FNM, Schröder Media, WME/Delta box/#2/#3 – German audio only
These ropy releases all have varying degrees of blurry, zoomed-in, edited and muffled transfers. The Italian DNA DVD is even helpfully cropped to “widescreen” for those who dislike seeing the top and bottom edges of Hitch’s carefully composed films. Most atypically, kosher Australian labels Via Vision and Madman Entertainment jointly released a DVD in 2013 but as they unwittingly managed to ‘license’ the transfer from notorious French pirates Films sans Frontières it’s technically a bootleg, albeit it unintentionally.
- Spain: LaCasaDelCineParaTodos/Memory Screen, Layons, Sogemedia/box, Suevia/reissue/box/Crin Ediciones/El Mundo, Resen BD-R, unknown
- Brazil: Classicline, Ocean Pictures, Silver Screen
- Chile: Cinematekka
- Korea: Cine Korea, Cleo Entertainment, ICD
- China: Bo ying
In fact, it actually has default but optional Korean subtitles, so it looks as though FSF simply sent Madman a copy ripped directly from a Korean bootleg! However it came about, it was quickly deleted and there’s little evidence of it online. I strongly suspect this was due to licensing issues; perhaps Madman found themselves the undeserving recipients of a cease and desist letter from actual owners CBS?
The US 1963 re-release and its attendant publicity materials came in the wake of Hitch’s huge success with Psycho and The Birds. They’re clearly designed to draw comparison with ad campaigns for those and the new wave of low budget but highly profitable horrors ushered in by the likes of Roger Corman and William Castle. Note the tagline “Murder Will Out!” is bigger than the title and lives down to its original NY Times description as a “penny dreadful”. I’m sure they must have lured in a few sorely disappointed punters!
US 1963 re-release half sheet poster; one sheet, lobby cards
Under Capricorn: Writing on a Classic, Pt 2: More writing; Collectors Guide, Pt 2: Home video
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
