More Capra on the way! (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

According to DVDFile, Columbia will release Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You on 2/18/03.
No specs as yet.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Excellent News!!

Hopefully, they give this movie the same treatment as previous Capra discs. Amazingly, I have never seen this movie, and now I will wait for the DVD release.

Bring on "Meet John Doe"

 

[Thomas T]

Actually, Eric, Meet John Doe which is a public domain title has been released in a very decent transfer from Image Entertainment with original cover art. The catalog number is #HRS 9449.

 

[Peter D]

That is good news - Columbia did a nice job on both Mr.Smith Goes to Washington and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.

On another Capra note, does anyone know who has the rights to Meet John Doe and State of the Union?

 

[Eric Peterson]

Thomas,

Thanks for the thumbs up on "Meet John Doe". I remember seeing this in the store, but I didn't realize it was an Image title. I thought that it was a Madacy or something and was very hesitant about buying it. Has this been released by more than one company?

 

[Richard Carnahan]

STATE OF THE UNION is owned by Universal.

 

[Peter D]

There are probably multiple versions (I have the dreadful Madacy myself).

 

[Mitty]

Woo Hoo!!!

Hopefully, some of the other Columbia Capra's will follow.

 

[SteveGon]

So what other Capra titles does Columbia have? I'd still like to have Broadway Bill and The Bitter Tea of General Yen.

Hopefully, Universal will release State of the Union.

Those are the three remaining Capra titles I'm interested in and don't have.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I'm pretty sure that Columbia has the rights to the both American Madness (1932) and The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933).

 

[Walt Riarson]

This is great news!

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Paramount currently controls the home video rights to Capra's BROADWAY BILL (1934, made at Columbia Pictures), dating back to when Capra remade the picture for Paramount, as the Bing Crosby vehicle RIDING HIGH (1950). Paramount released BROADWAY BILL on laserdisc in the mid-1990s (I own a copy), as well as RIDING HIGH.
Some Columbia-controlled Capra flicks not yet on Region 1 DVD:
THE YOUNGER GENERATION (1929)
FLIGHT (1929)
LADIES OF LEISURE (1930)
RAIN OR SHINE (1930)
PLATINUM BLONDE (1931)
THE MIRACLE WOMAN (1931, an interesting antecedent to ELMER GANTRY (1960))
DIRIGIBLE (1931)
FORBIDDEN (1932)
AMERICAN MADNESS (1932)
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1933)

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Actually, Eric, Meet John Doe which is a public domain title has been released in a very decent transfer from Image Entertainment with original cover art. The catalog number is #HRS 9449.

Actually, the best version of Meet John Doe is from Sanctuary Entertainment. You can screen comparisons here. The Image version looks blurry in comparison to the Sanctuary disc. Although, it's a UK release, it is NTSC, Region 0, so it will play on all North American players with no problem.
Plus, it's loaded with the following extras:
-English (captions), Deutsch, Español, Français (the Image version has none)
-Audio commentary by film historian Ken Barnes (includes archive comments by Frank Capra)
-3 featurettes:
Meet Mr. Cooper (16:37 min)
Meet Miss Stanwyck (14:46 min)
Meet Mr. Capra (18:20 min)
-Supporting Cast & Crew
-Digital restoration of Meet John Doe (a before and after comparison) (01:51 min)
-Vintage Radio Promotion: (A) Sorry Wrong Number starring Barbara Stanwyck & Burt Lancaster, (B) For Whom The Bell Tolls starring Gary Cooper & Ingrid Bergman
-Production background
It's available here for $18.02 with free shipping to the states!
Jeff

 

[Rodney]

Jeff, Thanks for the great information. I just went over and ordered it. I can't wait!