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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? (1 Viewer)

Mark*Will

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Caught this classic on cable early Saturday morning and am now seriously considering picking up this DVD. I see that a restored version was issued in early 2000 as part of the Columbia Classics collection. Considering that it's almost 3 years old, I'm wondering if anyone has heard if this will be re-released (and perhaps updated) in the near future.

If not, anyone w/ the current release have a recommendation as to whether it's a solid offering?

Thanks.
 

Lew Crippen

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I recently watched both this and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, another release in the same series. Both have commentaries by the director’s son, Frank Capra Jr., which is sometimes interesting, though a bit repetitive if you listen to both in quick succession.

The picture quality is generally quite good. The sound is about what you would expect from a 30s mono track. Certainly serviceable enough.
 

SteveGon

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I agree - both discs are worth a purchase. You might as well pick up the soon-to-be-released You Can't Take It With You as well. :)
 

Matt Goddard

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I'd just echo everybody's comments on Mr. Smith. Obviously it's an old movie, but I thought the picture and sound were fine.
 

JasenP

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Pick it up without hesitation.

"Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so as he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!"
 

Mark*Will

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Thanks for the advice. I decided to go ahead and pick up a copy, but have run into a snag. Having both Best Buy & Circuit City gift cards at my disposal, I checked both local outlets. No luck. Yesterday, I found it at circuitcity.com & placed an order, but today... the dreaded backorder notice. :frowning:

I'd go to bestbuy.com but they don't take gift cards online. Anyone have any experience w/ CC's online backordering process? They tell me the order will last for 30 days, and if no stock comes in it'll be cancelled.
 

Piers C

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Can anyone refer me to a full list of the "Columbia Classics" DVD titles that are currently available?

-thanks!
 

Patrick McCart

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Columbia Classics:

It Happened One Night (superb a/v)
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
His Girl Friday
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (LoC restoration)
Lost Horizon (UCLA restoration)
Bell Book and Candle
All The King's Men
Anatomy of a Murder (unmatted)
The Caine Mutiny

I think there are others.
 

Jean Paul Villeneuve

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More Columbia Classics:

Taming of the Shrew, The
Gilda
Born Yesterday
Guess Who Coming to Dinner
Picnic
Suddenly, Last Summer
To Sir, with Love
Damn the Defiant!
End of the Affair, The (1955)
Lady from Shanghai, The
Last Hurrah, The
Loves of Carmen, The
Only Angels Have Wings
Pal Joey
Queen Bee
Raisin in the Sun, A
 

Mike Frezon

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Well...I'm resurrecting this old thread because I've got a new question on this very subject.

I've recently seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington AND It Happened One Night on store shelves and would have pulled the trigger on both...except each was priced in the $25.99 - $27.99 range.

My question: Is that the price I am to expect wherever I find these discs...not that I see them too often. Is the Columbia Classics line always that highly-priced?

I'm certainly not debating the value of the films or the DVDs...I'm just trying to figure out a common price point for these discs. For that matter, I see very few "Columbia Classics" titles available these days.
 

Jeff Swearingen

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I paid about that range for Mr. Smith. I also picked up Lost Horizon (my personal Frank Capra favorite) and Mr. Deeds - haven't gotten around to getting It Happened One Night but watched a copy of that DVD last year and loved it.

I believe I got Mr. Smith the day it came out, so I don't know if there's been an official price drop since then. I can tell you I don't regret spending that amount on any of the above titles. As for considering them high priced, it depends on if you're comparing them to the Fox Studio Classics line or Criterion.
 

Robert Crawford

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The earlier Columbia titles are high priced compared to most other studios like Paramount, Fox, Universal, MGM and Warner. A couple of other Capra films from Columbia like Mr. Deeds and It Happened One Night are $5-8 less than Mr. Smith.
 

Robert Crawford

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Colin,
Maybe, I should have rephrase my comments more clearly as I was comparing Columbia's high pricing of dvds then to what the other studios are pricing today. Paramount has dropped their pricing significantly since 2003. They have basically cut their MSRP in half from $29.99 to $14.99 over the last 3 years. Even, previously released Paramount titles had price drops, example being "Shane" which sells today at $14.99 or less, compared to $24.99 when it came out five years ago. While Columbia just started to drop their catalogue pricing about a year ago. Furthermore, it looks like Columbia has followed Paramount in dropping their prices in two phases. From $24.99 to $19.99 last year to lowering prices this year from $19.99 to $14.99. However, I haven't noticed a significant price drop on titles they have previously released like Paramount has done.

I've heard retailer buyers balked at carrying too much of Columbia's catalogue titles because retail shoppers weren't buying Columbia catalogue dvds due to high MSRP while MGM, Paramount, Universal, Fox and Warner were selling a lot of their catalogue titles due to lower MSRPs. I guess such a situation has forced Columbia into lowering their pricing which is great for us the consumers. It will be interesting to see how the Sony merger with MGM affects both labels pricing in the future.





Crawdaddy
 

Herb Kane

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However, I haven't noticed a significant price drop on titles they have previously released like Paramount has done.
Which is a shame too since there's still 7 or 8 Columbia titles I want to pick up but not at the $30 price tag that still sits on most of them. If they were sitting down at the $15 mark like the rest of the classics, I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

EDIT: Like this one.
 

John Hodson

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I finally bit the bullit and bagged The Last Hurrah (and Fail-Safe SE, Only Angels Have Wings and The Long Gray Line) during DVD Soon's 25% off sale at Christmas.

Having said that quite a few Columbia Classic titles have been released at bargain prices in the UK recently (including Only Angels Have Wings, Platinum Blonde, Mr Deeds Goes to Town and several more)
 

Mike Frezon

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Furthermore, it looks like Columbia has followed Paramount in dropping their prices in two phases. From $24.99 to $19.99 last year to lowering prices this year from $19.99 to $14.99. However, I haven't noticed a significant price drop on titles they have previously released like Paramount has done.
Robert: Since you seem so well-informed on the subject...have you heard anything to give you pause that Columbia may start to drop prices on their catalog titles?

The news that John Hodson posts about prices in the UK might forbode good things. I was thinking that maybe just the reappearance of some of these titles on US store shelves (at least to my trained eyes) might also be good news.
 

Robert Crawford

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Mike,
I haven't heard or read a thing about Columbia reducing prices on catalogue titles already released.






Crawdaddy
 

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