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- Robert Harris
As Frank Capra directed enough feature films between 1928 and 1939 to fill a number of boxed sets, the fact that Sony has titled their initial offering as The "Premiere" Frank Capra Collection sends out a great message.
Of the five films offered in the inital collection, four have been in the home video line-up in one form or another for a long time. Initially on VHS and laserdisc, the films were mastered from whatever film elements happened to be found in the vaults. In short, they weren't given a great deal of respect.
I've been waiting to see how the new (David Bishop) regime might deal with the studio's classic library after years of neglect and disinterest, and one of the intital results is finally available.
To be both brief and honest, most of the elements surviving on these films would be categorized as fair to moderate. Little of really high quality has survived decades of over-printing, mishandling and the famous Columbia vault flood.
I've been following the restoration work being performed on these films for quite a while. Let's take a look at each and see what has changed (and what has not).
As an overview, except for You Can't... these are all new transfers, with generally more appropriate density and contrast, and are also substantially cleaned-up over previous releases.
There are still scratches here and there, still bad dupes here and there, still some nitrate decomposition (especially in Deeds), but finally -- FINALLY, the set stands apart from anything like this that Sony has put out before.
That said, it must be understood that these films CAN NEVER BE PERFECT. The elements simply do no allow it. But each and every title has been substantially upgraded.
All of the audio is newly restored and none from previous releases.
Let's look at them title by title:
Mr. Smith: The transfer was produced from two elements - The restored Fine Grain Master from the original and other elements, but which had damage printed in from earlier damaged source elements, bad dupes, etc., and from a new dupe neg made from the recently discovered nitrate print, the best of the Capra nitrate prints and the only one made from the original negative.
The newly discovered print of Mr. Smith was slightly grainer, but had none (not one) of the scratches in the original. It was pristine, just a bit grainier. The FGM and new dupe negative (from Mr. Capra's personal print) were mixed and matched -- inserting shots or sequences from the dupe in over thirty sections throughout. The work performed is virtually transparent. The poor dupe sections in the original negative have all been replaced. The audio is new and sourced from the nitrate print as it proved to be better than anything that had ever turned up. The film begins with a LOC restoration credit, which has now been updated to reflect the studio's new involvement, as well as that of additional labs.
Mr. Smith is a revelation.
American Madness was transfered from newly-restored FGM. Sources were original negative, an old dupe and a nitrate print borrowed from UCLA. The print (an old LA Parks and Recreation screener) was used to replace sections that no longer exist, and is dupier looking, which is unavoidable. I've seen a numer of these prints over the years, and most contain insect parts. There are still a few scratches here and there, but nothing problematic. The densities and contrast are beautiful of the era. Interestingly, the worst looking sections of the film are actually dupes cut into the original back when it was new. Those are NOT the new replaced sections, as everything has those printed in.
It Happened One Night -- Transfer from restored FGM, made from the original neg. The original has several sections (though not many) where dupes were cut in shortly after the film was released (most notably in the scene where they pretend to be a bickering couple in the one-room cabin they share), probably because of printing damage at the time.
There are no extant elements that do not have these dupes printed in, but the newest incarnation looks far better than in the past in making them match better to original.
You Can't Take it with You -- This is the only film in the set that did not go back to the foundation, and was cleaned up with some new sections scanned in from a grainer, but cleaner nitrate element.
It could take another year or more to bring You Can't Take up to a higher level, but this will do for the time being.
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town -- This was transfered from a restored FGM, mainly from original. The main problem that has plagued this film for decades is the nitrate decomp in the original elements. There were attempts to reduce the look of decomp, but this is something extremely difficult to cover, even with digital technology.
All in all, and even with the cleaned up, but not re-mastered You Can't Take it with You, this set is a winner from all aspects.
Sony has finally given these films the respect that they deserve, and the final results can be viewed in this wonderful set.
The Premiere Frank Capra Collection comes Highly Recommended, especially at a street price of just over $40 for the set. While I hate to bring up bad old times, many will recall the original releases under the old regime at $30 per title for transfers that were way below acceptability.
As a final note, the sheer amount of restoration blood and angst that has gone into upgrading these film cannot be imagined by anyone who has not been there. The entire staff of the Columbia asset protection program are to be congratuated, and should be thanked by all.
RAH
Of the five films offered in the inital collection, four have been in the home video line-up in one form or another for a long time. Initially on VHS and laserdisc, the films were mastered from whatever film elements happened to be found in the vaults. In short, they weren't given a great deal of respect.
I've been waiting to see how the new (David Bishop) regime might deal with the studio's classic library after years of neglect and disinterest, and one of the intital results is finally available.
To be both brief and honest, most of the elements surviving on these films would be categorized as fair to moderate. Little of really high quality has survived decades of over-printing, mishandling and the famous Columbia vault flood.
I've been following the restoration work being performed on these films for quite a while. Let's take a look at each and see what has changed (and what has not).
As an overview, except for You Can't... these are all new transfers, with generally more appropriate density and contrast, and are also substantially cleaned-up over previous releases.
There are still scratches here and there, still bad dupes here and there, still some nitrate decomposition (especially in Deeds), but finally -- FINALLY, the set stands apart from anything like this that Sony has put out before.
That said, it must be understood that these films CAN NEVER BE PERFECT. The elements simply do no allow it. But each and every title has been substantially upgraded.
All of the audio is newly restored and none from previous releases.
Let's look at them title by title:
Mr. Smith: The transfer was produced from two elements - The restored Fine Grain Master from the original and other elements, but which had damage printed in from earlier damaged source elements, bad dupes, etc., and from a new dupe neg made from the recently discovered nitrate print, the best of the Capra nitrate prints and the only one made from the original negative.
The newly discovered print of Mr. Smith was slightly grainer, but had none (not one) of the scratches in the original. It was pristine, just a bit grainier. The FGM and new dupe negative (from Mr. Capra's personal print) were mixed and matched -- inserting shots or sequences from the dupe in over thirty sections throughout. The work performed is virtually transparent. The poor dupe sections in the original negative have all been replaced. The audio is new and sourced from the nitrate print as it proved to be better than anything that had ever turned up. The film begins with a LOC restoration credit, which has now been updated to reflect the studio's new involvement, as well as that of additional labs.
Mr. Smith is a revelation.
American Madness was transfered from newly-restored FGM. Sources were original negative, an old dupe and a nitrate print borrowed from UCLA. The print (an old LA Parks and Recreation screener) was used to replace sections that no longer exist, and is dupier looking, which is unavoidable. I've seen a numer of these prints over the years, and most contain insect parts. There are still a few scratches here and there, but nothing problematic. The densities and contrast are beautiful of the era. Interestingly, the worst looking sections of the film are actually dupes cut into the original back when it was new. Those are NOT the new replaced sections, as everything has those printed in.
It Happened One Night -- Transfer from restored FGM, made from the original neg. The original has several sections (though not many) where dupes were cut in shortly after the film was released (most notably in the scene where they pretend to be a bickering couple in the one-room cabin they share), probably because of printing damage at the time.
There are no extant elements that do not have these dupes printed in, but the newest incarnation looks far better than in the past in making them match better to original.
You Can't Take it with You -- This is the only film in the set that did not go back to the foundation, and was cleaned up with some new sections scanned in from a grainer, but cleaner nitrate element.
It could take another year or more to bring You Can't Take up to a higher level, but this will do for the time being.
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town -- This was transfered from a restored FGM, mainly from original. The main problem that has plagued this film for decades is the nitrate decomp in the original elements. There were attempts to reduce the look of decomp, but this is something extremely difficult to cover, even with digital technology.
All in all, and even with the cleaned up, but not re-mastered You Can't Take it with You, this set is a winner from all aspects.
Sony has finally given these films the respect that they deserve, and the final results can be viewed in this wonderful set.
The Premiere Frank Capra Collection comes Highly Recommended, especially at a street price of just over $40 for the set. While I hate to bring up bad old times, many will recall the original releases under the old regime at $30 per title for transfers that were way below acceptability.
As a final note, the sheer amount of restoration blood and angst that has gone into upgrading these film cannot be imagined by anyone who has not been there. The entire staff of the Columbia asset protection program are to be congratuated, and should be thanked by all.
RAH
