The Misfits (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“The Misfits” will always be known for being the most expensive black and white film to be made but also for its problems behind-the-scenes in the making of the film.  But will definitely be known for its pairing of legendary talent Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe and how this film would be their last film.  It may not be a classic, nor may it be one of John Huston’s finest but for any cinema fan who has appreciated the work of John Huston, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, it’s worth watching for this one time collaboration.

Images courtesy of © 1961 Seven Arts Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Misfits

FILM RELEASE DATE: 1961

DURATION: 125 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (widescreen 1:66:1), English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish Mono, French Mono, Subtitles: English SDH, French

RATED: NOT RATED

COMPANY: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc./Twentieth Century Fox

RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2011

Directed by John Huston

Screenplay by Arthur Miller

Producer: Frank E. Taylor

Music by Alex North

Cinematography by Russell Metty

Edited by George Tomasini

Art Direction: Stephen B. Grimes, Bill Newberry

Set Decoration by Frank R. McKelvy

Costume Design by Jean Louis

Starring:

Clark Gable as Gay Langland

Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Taber

Montgomery Clift as Perce Howland

Thelma Ritter as Isabelle Steers

Eli Wallach as Guido

A sexy divorcée falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle in early-sixties Nevada.

In 1961, it was the pairing of two of America’s biggest movie stars.  The legendary Clark Gable and the popular sexy actress Marilyn Monroe and a film directed by John Huston and a screenplay by popular writer Arthur Miller.

Just those names alone should be exciting for American cinema fans but unfortunately, “The Misfits” was a film that was marred by the trouble behind-the-scenes.

For one, the film was shot in the country and the talent and crew had to brave 108 degree heat in the northern Nevada desert.  Director John Huston had been getting himself into trouble by drinking a lot and gambling to the point where he would fall asleep during the set and the production company would have to cover his gambling losses.

As for the the writer Arthur Miller, he and wife Marilyn Monroe were having massive marital problems to the point that Marilyn Monroe (who already had a reputation of being a difficult actress to work with) was also battling alcoholism and prescription drugs and was always late to work and sometimes not showing up at all.  It was so bad that Huston had to halt production and send her to the hospital for detox.

And Clark Gable, he insisted doing his own stunts for this film and the 59-year-old would take on very physical scenes of trying to wrangle horses include being dragged on a lake bed.  Unfortunately, this may have led to his death as Gable would have a heart attack two days after the end of filming of “The Misfits” and would die days later.

Because the film would take so long to film, it also affected the other talent on the film. Actor Montgomery Clift was in no better shape as he had been battling substance abuse after having a major accident that changed the look of his face and nearly killed him.  In fact, even Marilyn Monroe has said of Clift, “The only person I know who is in worse shape than I am”.  On the set, Clift would have problems performing due to an illness and even for Thelma Ritter, she would be hospitalized as she suffered from exhaustion.

For both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, “The Misfits” would not only be a unique pairing, it would also be the last film for both celebrities as Monroe would die from a result of overdose months after she completed filming “The Misfits”.

As for the film, unfortunately “The Misfits” was not a commercial success but it did receive critical praise for its screenplay and the performance of the film’s talent.

The film cost $4 million (this was the most expensive black and white film to be made at that time) to make and it only made that much in the box office but would earn more money thanks to video sales.  And now, “The Misfits” receives its first HD treatment with a Blu-ray release in May 2011.

“The Misfits” revolves around Roslyn Tabor (played by Marilyn Monroe), a young woman who has recently gotten a divorce and lives with her aunt Isabelle Steers (played by Thelma Ritter, “All About Eve”, “Rear Window”).  On the day of her divorce, she meets Guido (played by Eli Wallach, “The Magnificent Seven”, “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly”), a guy who is looking to purchase her damaged car. When he asks why her car is damaged, her aunt Isabelle replies that it’s from all the accidental hits from guys who can’t get their eyes off Roslyn.  And when Guido sees Roslyn, immediately he knows why…she is absolutely beautiful.

As Guido gives both Roslyn and Isabelle a ride to the courthouse, Guido runs into a cowboy named Gay Langland (played by Clark Gable).

Gay is a cowboy who has been with many women but now makes his money by rounding up and catching mustangs (sold to slaughterhouses for dog/cat good).

Both Guido and Gay run into Roslyn and Isabelle and both invite them to a home in the country to get away from life in Reno, Nevada and also to help Roslyn get her mind off her divorce.

As for Roslyn, she’s a woman who is trying to piece life together.  Trying to understand herself and men, she is struck by Guido and Gay’s good nature.

While Guido has to return back home, Gay convinces Roslyn to stay with him in the country and for her to get accustomed to the country as it will be good for her.

Gay immediately is drawn by Roslyn’s beauty and falls for her but Roslyn begins to have problems of how things are done in the country.  When a rabbit steals lettuce from his yard, Gay talks about getting the rabbit and killing it.  Which causes Roslyn to be distraught.

Eventually, with now two men smitten with her, she meets Perce Howland (played by Montgomery Clift, “From Here to Eternity”, “A Place in the Sun”, “Red River”), a rodeo cowboy who helps Gay round the Mustangs and he soon, becomes smitten with Roslyn.

With each of these men falling for Roslyn, will any of them be the perfect match?  And can Roslyn ever see herself being with these misfits and living out in the country?

VIDEO:

“The Misfits” is featured in 1080p High Definition (widescreen 1:66:1).  Presented in black and white, not sure if this film has went through any remastering but it does show mild flickering at times and also white speckles.  It’s also important to note that the Huston shot Marilyn Monroe’s closeups with a soft focus, so when the camera is focused on the other talent, you can see a good amount of detail but when it’s focused on her, you can see the softness.  But that softness was intentional for Marilyn Monroe’s scenes.  I do want to add that the mustang rounding scenes was filmed quite exceptionally well by Russell Metty (“Spartacus”, “Touch of Evil”, “Bringing Up Baby”).

For the most part, the film does look good at times, with good amount of detail of the talent, there is a good amount of grain and there are times where the contrast is very good with strong blacks and good amount of white and grays.  But I do feel that the film could have underwent some form of remastering and look even better if corrected.

But for now, this Blu-ray looks much better than its older DVD counterpart.  You get more clarity and detail with this Blu-ray release of “The Misfits”.

AUDIO:

“The Misfits” is presented in English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish Mono and French Mono.  The film is center-channel driven but if you have a modern receiver, you can easily select stereo on all channels if needed.  But for the most part, dialogue was clear and understandable.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Misfits” comes with the following special feature:

• Theatrical Trailer – (3:14)  The original theatrical trailer for “The Misfits”.

As a big fan of Marilyn Monroe and also Clark Gable, “The Misfits” has always been an intriguing film for me.

Mainly because you had John Huston involved as director, Arthur Miller as the writer, Russell Metty as cinematographer and you have screen legends, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe in the film but also even a cameo by cowboy Tex Ritter.  But you have also stars like Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter and Eli Wallach… on paper, this is an impressive collaboration of talent!

Unfortunately, it was probably bad timing as there were considerable problems during the making of this film.  While Gable has had problems (especially after his wife, actress Carole Lombard was killed in an airplane accident) in his career, it’s bad enough that your director, screenwriter and talent were facing personal problems in their life.  And interesting enough, many of the talent would not survive that long after the film was completed.  Gable would die in 1960 (days after the film was completed and his work on the film was blamed for his death), Monroe would die in 1962, Montgomery Clift would die in 1966 and Thelma Ritter would die in 1969.

But if you were to eliminate all difficulties that happened behind-the-scenes,  you have to give credit to John Huston and Arthur Miller for taking on a film and completing it.  You read about films that were literally difficult, films that were held up in production and “The Misfits” is one of those films that is high up on that list of problematic films that were made.  And while the payoff would have been remarkable if it succeed commercially, unfortunately “The Misfits” didn’t.

While some fault the change in storyline as the first half would be more comedy and fun, while the second half would become more of an emotional drama as it became less of a four-way love-triangle but a film about Rosalyn being disgusted when she finds out that the three men that she did like, were involved in wrangling mustangs that would be slaughtered for the use of being dog/cat food.

For me, I go a step further in thinking of the promotion of the film and how it showcased an older Clark Gable with Marilyn Monroe.  I personally feel that many feel the Gable mystique to be around the ’30s and ’40s and to have the older actor become a romantic cowboy going for the younger Marilyn Monroe, it probably didn’t make a lot of sense to people.  And while this is nothing new to Westerns as we have seen John Wayne and other older talent being hooked up with younger actresses, in this case, Gable and Monroe are too big names that one doesn’t think of when it comes to romance.  Clark Gable and Myrna Loy or Clark Gable and other actresses during the ’30s or ’40s, they made sense and the chemistry was right.  It’s really hard to find the chemistry between both Monroe and Gable.

If anything, it’s a film about three cowboys who have a city girl with them who has some major personal issues.  She is emotional, depressed and vulnerable and perhaps the film was a bit too close to Marilyn Monroe’s real life and it makes you wonder if Arthur Miller purposely wrote that in to the film for Monroe.

But there is something off about the film that just doesn’t seem right.

Film critic Pauline Kael wrote of film, “An erratic, sometimes personal in the wrong way, and generally unlucky picture that is often affecting.”

And even in her review, she couldn’t help but talk about the problems that this film had went through.  And when you have so many problems especially with your cast, there is only so much you can do.  I often wonder how much was deviated from the original script and  how much of a different film “The Misfits” would have been without the delays, without the personal problems.

As for the Blu-ray release, it’s not the best picture quality you will see for a black and white film but it’s the best looking version of “The Misfits” to date.  Unfortunately, there are no special features but the trailer included and for a 50th Anniversary Release, you hope to get more. May it be featurettes, commentary but there are none.  So, it’s more or less a near barebones Blu-ray release.

Overall, “The Misfits” will always be known for being the most expensive black and white film to be made but also for its problems behind-the-scenes in the making of the film.  But will definitely be known for its pairing of legendary talent Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe and how this film would be their last film.  It may not be a classic, nor may it be one of John Huston’s finest but for any cinema fan who has appreciated the work of John Huston, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, it’s worth watching for this one time collaboration.

Classic Hollywood: Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald in “San Francisco” (1936)

 

Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald in the 1936 film “San Francisco”.

Definitely one of the more memorable moments in the film. I absolutely love Jeanette MacDonald and its one of the few Jeanette MacDonald photos I have in my collection. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything during her Lubitsch years though.  But still, an awesome still featuring both Gable and MacDonald.

Classic Hollywood: Clark Gable & Joan Crawford in “Chained” (1934)

San Francisco (as part of the Clark Gable: The Signature Collection DVD Box Set) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

A film about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and wonderful performance by Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy but moreso by Jeanette MacDonald who absolutely shines in this film!  The DVD also contains a wonderful documentary about Clark Gable’s life and is part of the fantastic “Clark Gable: The Signature Collection” DVD Box Set.

Images courtesy of © 1936, Supplementary Material Compilation.  © 2006 Turner Entertainment Co. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: San Francisco (as part of the Clark Gable: The Signature Collection DVD Box Set)

DURATION: 115 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Standard Version, Dolby Digital, Monaural English and French, Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish

COMPANY: Warner Bros.

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: March 30, 2010

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke

Story by Robert E. Hopkins

Written by Anita Loos

Produced by John Emerson, Bernard H. Hyman, W.S. Van Dyke

Music by Herbert Stohart, Edward Ward

Cinematography by Oliver T. Marsh

Edited by Tom Held

Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by Adrian

Starring:

Clark Gable as Blackie Norton

Jeanette MacDonald Mary Blake

Spencer Tracy as Father Mullin

Jack Holt as Jack Burley

Jessie Ralph as Mrs. Burley

Ted Healy as Mat

Shirley Ross as Trixie

Margaret Irving as Della Bailey

Harold Huber as “Babe”

Edgar Kennedy as Sheriff

Al Shean as Professor

William Ricciardi as Signor Baldini

Kenneth Harlan as Chick

Roger Imhof as Alaska

Romantic drama combines with humor, starpower combines with lavish spectacle and the walls come tumbling down! This Academy Award winning* extravanganza’s street-splitting, brick-cascading, fire-raging recreation of the cataclysmic earthquake remains “one of the greatest action sequences in the history of the cinema, rivalling the chariot race in both Ben-Hurs” (Adrian Turner, Time Out Film Guide).

Clark Gable plays rakish Barbary Coast kingpin Blackie Norton. Jeanette MacDonald portrays a singer torn by her love for Blackie and her need to succeed among the operagoing elite. Earning the first of nine career Best Actor Oscar nominations,* Spencer Tracy is a priest who supplements spiritual advice with a mean right hook. He urges Blackie to change. But if love and religion can’t reform Blackie, Mother Nature will.

In 1936, MGM would release the 1936 drama/adventure film “San Francisco” which would be based on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.  The film would be directed by W.S. Ban Dyke and would feature the first pairing of popular Lubitsch musical actress Jeanette MacDonald with the very popular Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy.

The film would be nominated for six Academy Awards and win one for “Best Sound Recording” (facing major competition with “My Man Godfrey”, “Thre Great Ziegfeld” and “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”) and would become the #1 film in the box office of 1936.  The DVD was released in 2006 and is also part of the Warner Bros. “Clark Gable: The Signature Collection” DVD Box Set (which also contains the films “Boom Town”, “China Seas”, “Dancing Lady”, “Mogambo”, “San Francisco” and “Wife vs. Secretary”).

“San Francisco” revolves around Blackie Norton (played by Clark Gable) who is the unscrupulous saloonkeeper and gambler in Barbary Coast.  The owner of the Paradise Club on Pacific Street, a woman named Mary Blake (played by Jeanette MacDonald) is searching for work as her previous job burned down.

Mary who hails from Benson, Colorado comes from a religious family, as her father was a priest and she was trained in opera music, so when she comes for work at the saloon, despite her voice not being the right setting for the location, the composer and the band take a liking to her because of her unique voice.  For Blackie, he’s willing to give her the job but because she is not the typical kind of woman that would enter his saloon let alone his life, he takes a liking towards her.

With news that Blackie is going to run for Supervisor (supported by nightclub owners in order to protect their illegal lifestyle), this has caused some major grumblings in San Francisco because of Blackie’s reputation.  In fact, when the rich from Nob Hill come to visit him and talk about his campaign for San Francisco, to their shock they hear Mary singing and immediately Jack Burley (played by Jack Holt) wants to buy her out of the contract at the saloon and give her a a chance to sing at the Tivoli Opera House.  But because she is an honorable woman and she knows she is under contract, she stays to sing at the saloon to honor her contract with Blackie.

Meanwhile, she is sent to Father Tim Mullen’s (played by Spencer Tracy) church to sing and everyone is entranced by her voice.  Father Tim who grew up with Blackie has tried to bring Blackie to the good side.  Knowing that despite all the bad and illegal things he has done in his life, there is good in him and although he doesn’t believe Mary to be in a good setting at the saloon, he feels that she would be good in helping bring Blackie out of his shady ways and becoming a good man.

As Blackie tries to show Mary that he loves her and will do anything for her (including dropping the contract for her to work at the Tivoli Opera House), she is torn between following her dream to sing at the opera house and staying for Blackie because she has also started to fall for him.

But for everyone in San Francisco, life will change on April 18, 1906 when a major earthquake hits the city.  Lives will be lost, the city destroyed…

VIDEO:

“San Francisco” is presented in black and white in standard definition.  Picture quality ranges from very good to very grainy at some scenes.  It is evident that the original print source has had some degradation considering the film is nearly 75-years-old.  But compared to many classics that I have seen, the film still holds up well and is very watchable.  I didn’t see an enormous amount of speckles, dust or scratches nor did I see major compression artifacting.  Blacks are nice and deep and for the most part, unless there is major restoration for Blu-ray, this is probably the best version of “San Francisco” we are going to see of the film for now.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“San Francisco” is a center channel driven film. Presented in Dolby Digital monaural (English and French), I preferred to have my home theater receiver set on stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundscape.  Dialogue is clear and understandable but for many, “San Francisco” is known for its music.

If a film was going to have a leading lady singing plenty of songs, especially for the character of Mary Blake, Jeanette MacDonald is a perfect choice.  Having enjoyed her Lubitsch musicals and hearing her sing, she was a natural playing the part of a woman who sings opera.  From singing the San Francisco song to songs from “La Traviata”, MacDonald’s singing vocals comes out quite clearly on this DVD.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“San Francisco” comes with the following special features:

• Alternate Ending Sequence – (:46) The original ending featured the film overlooking San Francisco via Market Street and the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.  But because the film was re-released in 1948, the studio felt the ending was dated and thus chose to feature a shot of the business district instead.  Thus this alternate ending sequence is the original ending shown in theaters back in 1936.
• Clark Gable: Tall, Dark & Handsome Documentary – (46:28) A TNT documentary hosted by Liam Neeson.  From Clark Gable’s earlier years,  entering Hollywood for the first time, his career and his painful life losing his love Carole Lombard, remarrying several times and his death.
• Cavalcade of San Francisco – (8:53) MGMs “Traveltalks – The Voice of the Globe” featuring James A. Fitzpatrick talking about San Francisco during the early ’40s in Technicolor
• Night Descends on Treasure Island - (8:06) MGMs “Traveltalks – The Voice of the Globe” featuring James A. Fitzpatrick talking about Treasure Island during the early ’40s in Technicolor.
• Bottles – A Happy Harmonies 1936 animated cartoon titled “Bottles” in which an older scientist’s inventions turns on him while he is sleeping and shrinks him.
• Theatrical Trailer – (2:09) The original theatrical trailer for “San Francisco”

“San Francisco” was definitely an ambitious film with special effects that manage to capture the 1906 earthquake 30-years after the tragedy had literally destroyed the entire city but yet capture the human spirit of willing to rebuild  the city and start over.

Clark Gable did a wonderful job playing Blackie Norton, but I have to admit that the role was reminiscent of his Blackie Gallagher character in the 1934 film “Manhattan Melodrama” which was also directed by W.S. Van Dyke.  The character of a man on the wrong side but yet has good in his heart and in some way, the film can be seen as spiritual as Spencer Tracy’s character as Father Tim Mullen prays for Blackie to be a God believing man someday.  And as Gable and Tracy are known for their work on the big screen, Jeanette Macdonald steals the show.

Although, the actress was not nominated for an Academy Award, it was great to see how she would grow from her Ernst Lubitsch musical roots and instead of being the woman known for comedies and musicals, she gets paired with Clark Gable for the first time instead of an actor/singer like Maurice Chevalier or Nelson Eddy and I felt the chemistry between the two worked quite well onscreen.  And even today, the song is still a big part of San Francisco as it’s played at the sports stadiums and the song for the film will always be connected to the city.

Outside of the acting and the music, I have to admit that I as a little skeptical of how the studio can capture a major tragedy on the lot of a major earthquake in San Francisco.  And lo and behold, Slavko Vorkapich who created the earthquake sequences and his crew did a wonderful job.  There are parts that look authentic and most importantly, there are situations that happened in real life that were featured in the film and that is the destruction of the city due to the detonation of dynamite by inexperienced firefighters.  What was planned to create firebreaks by demolishing building ended up causing more fires and more destruction to buildings that could have survived the earthquake.  Also, capturing the displaced victims living in tents and also showing how aftershocks affected the city.  I was very impressed of how much was captured in this film during the earthquake sequence.  Interesting to note that unlike the 1927 film “Old San Francisco” that portrays the Chinese in the community as evil, “San Francisco” features a more multicultural friendliness as everyone of all races are affected by the earthquake.

Although, “San Francisco” was no “Gone with the Wind”, “It Happened One Night” or “Mutiny on the Bounty” (both films shot earlier), it’s a shame that this film that did extremely well in the box office but yet did not recognize Gable and MacDonald’s performance for a nomination of an Academy Award.

But “San Francisco” in my opinion is a classic film that is worth watching.  A DVD release that not only contains the film but several features including a wonderful documentary on Gable’s troubled life and if you want even more Clark Gable, definitely give the Warner “Clark Gable: The Signature Collection” DVD Box Set a chance!

Definitely recommended!

classic hollywood: Greta Garbo and Clark Gable in “Susan Lennox -Her Fall and Rise-” (1931)

Another classic image I found in my collection and one of my friends (who has since passed on) was able to determine the photo as Greta Garbo and Clark Gable in the film “Susan Lennox -Her Fall and Rise-” from 1931.   The film is from MGM and was produced and directed by Robert Z. Leonard and features a screenplay by Leon Gordon, Zelda Sears and Edith Fitzgerald and was adapted by Wanda Tuchock from the original novel by David Graham.

classic hollywood: Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in “Boom Town” (1940)

The following still I purchased nearly 20 years ago is of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert from the 1940 film “Boom Town”.  The film started Clark Gable (“Big John” Masters) and Spencer Tracy (“Square John” Sand) as two wildcatters (those who try to drill oil wells in areas not in oil fields) down on their luck.   Years later, Big John meets Betsy (Colbert) and marries her (not knowing that she was the girlfriend of “Square John”) and thus the two become rivals in their wildcatting business.  One of the few films that showcased the actual violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

I absolutely loved Gable and Colbert in the 1934 film “It Happened One Night” and it was great to see the two reunite for “Boom Town”.  The film happens to also be the final film that would star both Gable and Spencer Tracy.

Clark Gable (1938) – Test Pilot

Among the photos I own of Clark Gable, my favorite is this 1938 photo (I’m guessing a publicity shot) for his 1938 film “TEST PILOT” starring him, Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy.  I just like the overall shot.

Clark Gable (1950′s?)

Ahhh….Clark Gable aka “The King of Hollywood”.  I own few photos of Clark Gable but the following is a photo I have of Clark Gable in Western garb.  I’m not too sure if it’s from his 1952 film “Lone Star” but  if anyone happens to know which film this is from or any details of the photo.  Please let me know.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: Columbia Pictures
CAST:  Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert
DIRECTED BY: Frank Capra
PRODUCED BY: Frank Capra
RATING: NOT RATED
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0025316
TYPE OF MOVIE: Romance, Comedy
DURATION: 105 minutes

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert team up for laughs as mismatched lovers in this 1934 screwball comedy classic.  Spoiled Ellie Andrews (Colbert) escapes from her millionaire father (Walter Connolly), who wants to stop her from marrying a worthless playboy.  En route to New York, Ellie gets involved with an out-of-work newsman, Peter Warne (Gable).  When their bus breaks down, the bickering couple set off on a madcap hitchhiking expedition.  Peter hopes to parlay the inside story of their misadventures, into a job.  But complications fly when the runaway heiress and brash reporter fall in love.  Directed by Frank Capra, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was the first movie to be honored with all five major Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Black & White, Closed-captioned
• Commentary by the director’s son, Frank Capra, Jr.
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Vintage Advertising Materials
• Original Live Radio Broadcast

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of

DVD REVIEW:

This is one of my favorite all time movies and to see it on DVD makes it much more special in the next viewing and another viewing later on with commentary from Frank Capra, Jr.

The movie deserves every Academy Award it has won and also to be recognized as one of the top 100 movies of all time by the American Film Institute.

The movie’s video and audio has been digitally remastered and the special features was very nice to see.  Especially the “Frank Capra Jr. Remembers” segment, the trailers, vintage advertising and the original live radio broadcast is an even added bonus.  As well as the commentary by Frank Capra’s son.

The only downer but yet interesting is to learn the behavior by our two main thespians behind-the-scenes especially with Claudette Colbert.

Otherwise it’s a great movie classic  that people must see!

THE MOVIE: A+
THE DVD EXTRAS: A+
THE DVD OVERALL:  A+