new US sets from Universal in October

The DVD Times site is reporting that the long awaited Universal releases of “Psycho” and “Vertigo” will be released in October, along with “Rear Window“…

Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of new Two-Disc Special Editions of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo on 7th October 2008. Priced at $26.98 SRP each, these two-disc sets are released under the Universal Legacy Series banner and offer the following features…

Psycho

Disc 1: Main Feature

• 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English and French DD2.0 Mono
• English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
• Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”)
• Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
• The Shower Scene
• The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
• The Psycho Archives
• Posters and Psycho Ads
• Lobby Cards
• Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
• Production Photographs
• Production Notes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Re-Release Trailers

Disc 2: Extra Features

• The Making of Psycho
• In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy
• Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents “Lamb to the Slaughter”

Rear Window

Disc 1: Main Feature

• 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English and French DD2.0 Mono
• English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
• Feature Commentary with John Fawell (author of “Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Well-Made Film”)
• Production Photographs
• Production Notes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart

Disc 2: Extra Features

• Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary
• A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
• Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Master
• Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
• Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents “Mr. Blanchard’s Secret”

Vertigo

Disc 1: Main Feature

• 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English DD5.1 Surround and DD2.0 Mono
• English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
• 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
• Foreign Censorship Ending
• The Vertigo Archives
• Production Notes
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Restoration Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2: Extra Features

• Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece
• Partners in Crime: Hitchcock’s Collaborators
• Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents “The Case of Mr. Pelham”

It’s a fairly safe assumption that these sets will use the same transfers as the Universal “Masterpiece Collection” from 2005, although the sets do feature a few new extras.