Home video and soundtrack releases
- One of the Master’s best British films is available on many official editions
- But it’s been heavily bootlegged for years on far more substandard versions
- The first time ever: Every official worldwide issue is detailed and compared
- Unusually for British Hitchcocks, composer Louis Levy’s score is extracted
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.
Young and Innocent, Part 1: Production
Japanese poster from its first theatrical release there on 15 January 1977. The title, 第3逃亡者, translates as The Third Fugitive.
Contents
Home video releases
This beautiful hand-painted British poster artwork sold for £4,400 on 28 February 2020. Note the misspelling and misleadingly glamorous, femme fatale-ish Nova.
As you’d expect, being one of Hitch’s later successful British films with an unbroken chain of title, Young and Innocent has been well looked after and the original negative, along with various other nitrate copies, is safely tucked away in the BFI National Archive. Therefore, all licensed VHS, LaserDisc and early DVD editions feature a transfer of a fine condition pre-print element. But a new, digitally remastered transfer of the same element first appeared in 2008 and on various releases since. For detail, grain and stability, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the old transfer, though as is often the case the first reel or so is still a little rough, having an abundance of minor surface scratches and fine vertical lines. But once it settles down, it looks absolutely lovely. Either will more than suffice but if you have a larger screen or even projector, the latter is definitely the one to get.
Incidentally, a full inventory of those vault elements doesn’t appear to have been carried out, so there’s a slim chance the film’s original ending still exists. It consists of an additional scene in which Erica’s closing invitation for Robert to come to tea is actually realised, as he takes his place at the Burgoynes’ table.
Another item currently MIA that would make the perfect extra is Round the Film Studios “No. 1: Pinewood, Part 9“, one of a BBC TV series of film set reports, this one featuring Young and Innocent.
Preserved transfer
UK VCI DVD
- US: Criterion LaserDisc (1987) sleeve essay
- UK: VCI DVD (2001)
- Network DVD (2008), also in 10-DVD/11-film H: The British Years
- ITV DVD (2008) – The Times newspaper giveaway; only UK DVD w/English subtitles
- Germany: Concorde 6-DVD/7-film AH: The Early Years (2003, reissued 2011)
The first barebones UK DVD, from VCI, should be avoided as it’s taken from a weaker master than all the others, being slightly cropped on the sides and squeezed, making characters look unnaturally thin. Its image is also green-tinged throughout, like the first US releases of Jamaica Inn. Perhaps most notable among the other older transfer DVDs is the UK Network with a Charles Barr intro (3½min), the omnipresent “Early Years” doc (24min), an extensive image gallery and, along with the barebones German Concorde, the strongest image overall.
- France: TF1 Vidéo DVD (2007, reissued 2008), also in 5-DVD H: Le maître du suspens (2005, reissued 2010, 2016) – beware: forced French subs
- Spain: Filmax DVD (2000)
- Divisa DVD (2003, reissued 2012), also in 4-DVD AH box set
Most of the rest are also pretty much barebones, apart from the French TF1 with two non-subbed French-language featurettes by Claude Chabrol and Dominik Möll (23 and 27 min). But it does have forced French subs on its “Early Years” doc and the feature itself, though not on the French dub option which, incidentally, is only present in an anachronistic 5.1 surround remix. The Swedish and Finnish Hitchcock Classic Collections, with four sets of subtitles, are identical bar translated packaging. The latter initially came in a slipcased foldout Digipak but was reissued in 2008 in a thick Amaray keep case. The same discs were also released individually in Norway (Star Media Entertainment) and in a Danish 4-disc set (On Air Video).
- Benelux: Video/Film Express DVD (2004), also in 5-DVD H Collection: The Classics, Volume 2 and 10-DVD/11-film Classic H Collection/alt
- Hungary: Cinetel DVD (2005), also in 5-DVD H box set
- Sweden: Atlantic Film 8-DVD/9-film H Classic Collection (2006) info
- Finland: Future Film 8-DVD/9-film H Classic Collection (2006) info
Remastered transfer
UK Network Blu-ray: equal first place for A/V
- US: MGM DVD (2009), also in 8-DVD AH Premiere Collection/warning; w/English subs
- Criterion Prime Video HD |
MGM Prime Video
- Criterion Prime Video HD |
- UK: Network BD (2015) – English subs
The US’s HD options are presently limited to streaming services (go multi-region!) but happily, region B buyers have three great choices. Network’s UK BD ports over the extras from their earlier DVD while the German Pidax discs have Hitch’s 1966 German talk show appearance (45min), previously included on domestic releases of Jamaica Inn. That’s joined by the aforementioned “Early Years” doc, a gallery, three unrelated trailers and, in the DVD only, a reprint of the 1984 Wiedleroither Filmprogramm. Note that for the first time, Pidax have supplied the film’s two German dubs, from 1975 and 1984 (info), neither of which were present on the previous Concorde DVD.
- Germany: Pidax BD and DVD (2021)
- France: Filmedia DVD (2015), also in 4-DVD AH box set
- ESC Editions BD (2020), also in 3 Films de AH
Unusually, though both discs were released on the same day, each has different artwork. The BD, with translated font, is based on the striking 1978 French re-release poster which, like many publicity materials from the mid-50s onwards, gives greater prominence to the director than the film or its stars. This is due to the popularity of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and his other frequent TV appearances making him at least as famous as his cinematic works from that point onwards. Meanwhile, the Pidax DVD, with ported font, uses the unique poster above.
- Poland: Studio Printel Digipak DVD (2009), also in 7-DVD H: Wczesne filmy mistrza and 6-DVD set
- Denmark: Soul Media DVD (2021), also in 13-DVD AH Movie Collection
- Australia: Madman DVD/alt (2011) – English subs
- Brazil: Versátil 2-DVD/4-film A Arte de AH/alt (2016) info
US MGM DVD: the best a wrong man (or girl) can get
Lastly, the French BD’s only extra is a short introduction by documentarian Christophe Champclaux but, like the UK BD, it does have lossless audio, which is lacking on the single-layer German BD. All three releases also have optional subtitles in their respective languages. As is sadly usual for British Hitches, crappy looking VHS and DVD bootlegs of this title are legion, and there are at least two illicit BD-Rs, courtesy of Spanish and Italian crooks Feel Films and Quadrifoglio respectively.
First remastered DVD choice is the superb US disc which is packed with extras, several of which are exclusive: an audio commentary by Hitch biographers Stephen Rebello and Bill Krohn, isolated music and effects track, Hitchcock/Truffaut interview excerpts, restoration comparison, image gallery and a 6-page booklet. This is still easily the best DVD available. The Oz disc has a 1990 audio interview with Ms Pilbeam and an essay booklet, but good luck finding a copy: it’s long deleted and as rare as hen’s teeth but you can always try eBay. The French Filmedia disc is even lighter on extras with just a very short, indirectly related French-language featurette.
Screenshots
French ESC Editions BD
- Curzon: French Concorde DVD, UK VCI DVD, UK Network BD
- Konstam/Simpson: French Concorde DVD, UK VCI DVD, UK Network BD
- Gulls: French Concorde DVD, UK VCI DVD, UK Network BD
- Trio: French Concorde DVD, UK VCI DVD, UK Network BD
- Cameo: French Concorde DVD, UK VCI DVD, UK Network BD
- Duo: French Concorde DVD, UK VCI DVD, UK Network BD
There are also many bootleg and official release comparisons at the invaluable Hitchcock Zone, screenshots of the Filmedia DVD and ESC BD at DVDClassik, and a few more here: Bootlegs Galore: The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rip-off.
Soundtrack releases
Modern promo artwork, based on a US lobby card
Staying on the subject of bootlegs… there are many official re-recordings of part and full scores from Hitch’s American films, but sadly not so for his British works. So far, there are only re-recorded excerpts from The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. Nonetheless, there are various Hitchcock film music compilations featuring selections from those and several other British talkies. But they’re almost all bootlegs too, mostly lifted directly from the film soundtracks themselves. The sole fully-licensed exception is:
- Museum Music CD AH: Music from His Films (1999) bootleg
It includes two cues from Young and Innocent composed by the film’s musical director Louis Levy: “Erica at the Mill” and “No One Can Like the Drummer Man”, along with passages from Blackmail, Steps and Sabotage. But the isolated music and effects track on the unequalled US MGM DVD detailed above remains easily the most significant soundtrack release for Young and Innocent. It’s the only one of Hitch’s British films so accorded, alongside a handful of American films with similar tracks or full isolated scores on particular releases: Rebecca, Notorious, The Paradine Case, North by Northwest and Psycho.
Young and Innocent, Part 1: Production
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
