Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Frank Capra at Columbia (1928-2024)

Contents: So This is Love (1928), Submarine (1928), That Certain Thing (1928), The Way of the Strong (1928), Flight (1929), The Younger Generation (1929), Ladies of Leisure (1930), Rain or Shine (1930) [domestic and international versions], Dirigible (1931), The Miracle Woman (1931), Platinum Blonde (1931), American Madness (1932), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932), Forbidden (1932), Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), You Can’t Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and Frank Capra: Mr. America (2024).

This 28-disc boxset collection ignores these Capra Columbia silent era releases that have survived: The Matinee Idol (1928), The Power of the Press (1928) and The Donovan Affair (1929). Say It with Sables (1928) is presumed lost.

In addition to Blu-ray Disc editions, these titles are also included in UltraHD 4K editions: Submarine (1928), The Younger Generation (1929), Dirigible (1931), Platinum Blonde (1931), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).

This UltraHD / Blu-ray Disc collection has been mastered from the best surviving archival materials.

The silent era films are accompanied by music scores and their original synchronized soundtracks.

Supplemental material includes audio commentary for So This is Love and The Way of the Strong by Stan Taffel and Bryan Cooper; audio commentary for Ladies of Leisure by Jeremy Arnold; audio commentary for American Madness and for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town by historian Steven C. Smith with author Victoria Riskin, and by Frank Capra Jr. with Catherine Kellison; audio commentary on The Bitter Tea of General Yen by historian Kimberly Truhler; audio commentary for Forbidden by author Jeanine Basinger; audio commentary for It Happened One Night and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington by historian Julie Kirgo and by Frank Capra Jr.; audio commentary for Lost Horizon by critic Charles Champlin and archivist Robert Gitt; audio commentary for You Can’t Take It with You by Frank Capra Jr. with Catherine Kellison; theatrical trailers for Flight, Dirigible, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, You Can’t Take It with You and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; reminiscences by Frank Capra Jr. on his father’s career and on American Madness, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can’t Take It with You and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; a featurette on The Miracle Woman with director Ron Howard; a featurette on the restoration of Lost Horizon with before-and-after and opening credits comparisons and an alternate ending; the featurette Defining Capra’s Early Style with directors Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard; the featurette Frank Capra Finds a Place in the Sun with Michel Gondry; a featurette on Screwball Comedy; a old-time radio broadcast of It Happened One Night; image galleries; and the full-length documentaries, Frank Capra’s American Dream (1997) by Kenneth Bowser, and Frank Capra: Mr. America (2023) by Matthew Wells.

For our comparative reviews of the silent era films in this boxset, see our Flight on home video, So This is Love on home video, Submarine on home video, That Certain Thing on home video, The Way of the Strong on home video and The Younger Generation on home video pages.

This is our recommended home video edition of these films.

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