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SONY

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Frank Capra
Cast:
Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly
Writing Credits:
Robert Riskin

Synopsis:
A renegade reporter trailing a young runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York, and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops.


Rated NR.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Dolby Vision
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA Monaural
French DTS-HD MA Monaural
German DTS-HD MA Monaural
Italian DTS-HD MA Monaural
Portuguese Dolby Monaural
Spanish Dolby Monaural
Subtitles:
English
Arabic
Bulgarian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Italian
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese
Castillian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
French
Spanish
Italian
German

Runtime: 105 min.
Price: $164.99
Release Date: 10/25/2022
Available Only As Part of 6-Film “Columbia Classics Collection Volume 3”

Bonus:
You Can’t Run Away From It 1956 Feature Film
• Audio Commentary with Frank Capra Jr.
• “Frank Capra Jr. Remembers” Featurette
• “Screwball Comedy?” Featurette
• Original Live Radio Broadcast
• “Vintage Advertising” Still Collection
• Trailer
• Blu-ray Copy


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RELATED REVIEWS


It Happened One Night [4K UHD] (1934)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (January 30, 2023)

Call it reverse deja vu - that's what I experienced with 1934’s It Happened One Night. When I first viewed it years ago, I felt as though I'd already seen the film, even though that wasn't the case.

However, this pioneering effort has been imitated so many times over the decades that what was an original picture seems derivative. See 1999's Runaway Bride as one modern hit incarnation of the film's plot.

Against the wishes of her wealthy father (Walter Connolly), heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) elopes with thrill-seeker King Westley (Jameson Thomas). After Mr. Andrews tries to restrict Ellie, the young woman jumps off their yacht and escapes.

This sends her on the road on the path back to NYC to reunite with her husband – with the media hot on the newsworthy heiress’s trail. Along the way, Ellie meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable), a newspaper reporter who may or may not want to pursue the story. The pair clash initially but eventually develop a relationship, one with multiple complications due to Ellie’s marriage and Peter’s career.

Of course, I can't call Night derivative because it apparently wasn't. I wasn't around back then to know - heck, my Dad wasn’t even born yet! - but all accounts indicate that it was a fresh and original piece of work in 1934.

Just because a movie broke new ground doesn't mean it will still stand up over time, though. Plenty of seminal works look poor in later years, but that doesn't seem to be the case with Night. Though it shows its age - particularly in the handling of women and various semi-political issues - the movie appears pleasant and entertaining.

Despite its status as a classic, I can't say that I really love Night. I like the movie and I recognize that it was well-done, but it doesn't really win my affection. Still, it's a very neatly planned and well-executed piece, in any case.

The acting seems uniformly strong, as one would expect from a film for which both lead actors - Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable - won Academy Awards. I find Colbert's work to appear especially good, as she shows a wide - but appropriate - range of emotions and displays believable growth in her character.

Gable also is very good, but he doesn't seem quite as strong as Colbert. Much of that may be due to the constrictions of the part, since I doubt they would allow a "tough guy" character to demonstrate similar emotional range. In any case, both actors are winning and effective in their roles.

Night suffers from some significant plot holes but still seems charming and amusing. I don't know if it really deserves its status as a classic, but it remains a solid film after all these years.


The Disc Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B/ Bonus B+

It Happened One Night appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Given the age of the film, I found this to become an impressive Dolby Vision transfer.

Sharpness usually looked good. Some softness seemed to result from the style of photography; Capra appeared especially fond of spotlighting Colbert with some mild "glamour shot" lighting.

Otherwise, the movie mostly boasted good clarity and definition. I noticed no issues with shimmering or jagged edges, and neither edge haloes nor digital noise reduction impacted this natural presentation.

Source flaws caused no problems. Grain remained appropriate, and I noticed no obvious distractions from specks, marks or other defects.

Black levels seemed dark and tight, and shadows displayed nice smoothness and clarity. HDR added range and impact to whites and contrast. Fans will feel delighted with this excellent presentation.

Another pleasant surprise came from the DTS-HD MA monaural audio of It Happened One Night. The film came out during the relative infancy of sound movies and I expected it to sound harsh and scratchy.

However, it's actually a clean and accurate soundtrack. Distortion - which plagued more old mixes than anything else - was virtually nonexistent, even when characters shouted.

Dialogue lacked warmth but seemed clear and intelligible. The lines sounded natural for such an old movie. Effects and music - of which we heard little - sounded fine.

Many old soundtracks suffered from much tape hiss and popping, but background noise was refreshingly absent. This was about as good as a track from 1934 could sound.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the of the 2014 Criterion Blu-ray? I thought the 4K’s DTS-HD MA track sounded very similar to the Blu-ray’s LPCM mix.

As for the Dolby Vision image, it showed stronger blacks and contrast. Sharpness got a minor uptick, though the 4K’s higher resolution meant the picture’s softer spots became more apparent. All of this made the 4K a modest upgrade over the Blu-ray, but don’t expect a major step up in quality.

One extra appears on the 4K disc itself: a 1956 feature film called You Can’t Run Away From It. It runs one hour, 34 minutes, 42 seconds and provides a remake of Night with Jack Lemmon and June Allyson as the leads.

Directed by Dick Powell, it offers a largely literal retelling of the 1934 movie, with some changes to reflect then-modern technology and standards. It does turn the tale into a musical, though, which becomes its only reason for existence.

Because why remake a classic - and one that wasn’t all that old at the time – if there’s no clear twist? The musical elements give Run a twist from the original that theoretically justify its reason for being.

That said, I can’t find much to recommend here. Talented though they were, Allyson and Lemmon don’t sub for Colbert and Gable well, mainly because they demonstrate zero chemistry.

Given how much of the story revolves around the tension between the leads, this becomes a major drawback. The leads just grate rather than endear themselves to the audience.

None of the production numbers seem particularly memorable, and the pace tends to drag. Chalk up Run as a forgettable remake.

At least the movie looks reasonably good on the 4K – though not great. More than a little softness appears, and colors can seem dull at times.

Both usually work fine, however, and I suspect the source elements become the main concern here. With only minor print flaws, obviously some work went into its transfer here, but I doubt anyone exerted tons of effort to really bring the image up to snuff.

Still, given the movie’s inclusion as a bonus feature, I can’t complain about the largely satisfying visuals, and the monaural audio holds up fine. I won’t likely want to ever watch Run again but I appreciate its inclusion here.

More extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, as we start with an audio commentary from Frank Capra Jr., the director’s son. In this running, screen-specific chat, he covers the project’s genesis and development, cast, characters and performances, and various production elements.

The commentary begins well as Capra goes over the movie’s origins and related issues. However, he soon peters out and offers only sporadic notes throughout most of the film. Occasionally he’ll toss out decent remarks about his father’s use of rain in his flicks or the movie’s reception.

However, much of the time he either remains silent or simply describes the action on screen. This is a pretty dull commentary without much to keep us going through its 105 minutes.

We hear more from Capra in an 11-minute, 15-second piece called Frank Capra Jr. Remembers...It Happened One Night. This program intercuts interview shots of Capra with scenes from the film and other photos as he discusses the project’s origins and development, cast, characters and performances, sets, the tight schedule and related challenges, and the flick’s success.

Some of the information from the commentary also appears here. Really, the show is how they should have presented the commentary: simply make it into a documentary like this, since it would have compacted Capra’s narration into a much more listenable package. "Remembers" isn't a great program, but if provides some useful information.

Screwball Comedy? brings us a 2014 piece with film critics Molly Haskell and Phillip Lopate. It goes for 38 minutes, 35 seconds and includes their thoughts about the “screwball comedy” genre as well as aspects of Night and its creators. I’d like a stronger connection between Night and the genre but this still becomes a pretty insightful chat.

From March 1939, we get a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast of Night. It offers a 59-minute, 37-second live broadcast that features both Colbert and Gable in their original roles.

It's very entertaining, and I find especially fascinating to note the differences in the story. For one, the characters seem much more mild mannered and their mutual antagonism is almost invisible.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we encounter a Vintage Advertising section that offers a mixture of 16 stills and posters for the film. It offers minor pleasures.

Note that the Blu-ray included here remains exclusive to this 4K package as of January 2023. It differs from the Criterion Blu-ray and may someday see a solo release from Sony, but that’s just a guess.

Although I don’t find It Happened One Night to offer peak level Capra, it gives us an enjoyable romantic comedy. With delightful performances from its leads and a crisp script, the movie amuses and charms us. The 4K UHD comes with excellent picture as well as good audio and a nice roster of bonus materials. Fans of classic cinema will find themselves delighted by this terrific release.

Note that as of January 2023, the 4K UHD disc of It Happened One Night can be purchased only as part of a six-movie “Columbia Classics Collection Volume 3”. This set also includes 4K UHD versions of From Here to Eternity, To Sir, with Love, The Last Picture Show, Annie and As Good As It Gets.

To rate this film, visit the prior Review of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main