Region 4 Winners and Losers

    The Region 1 version of this disc is quite similar - it has all of the extras we get on the Region 4, plus two extra trailers (Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and Lost Horizon), and an audio commentary by Frank Capra Jr. The commentary would normally be a decisive factor, making the R1 the disc of choice, but this is a commentary by the director's son, not the director himself. It is interesting, but there are numerous lengthy gaps, and he does repeat himself on occasion. Many of the best anecdotes are repeated from the featurette, although there is one contradiction (in the featurette he says Ms Colbert demanded double her normal salary, whereas on the commentary he says Harry Cohn suggested offering her double).

    The big difference between the two discs is in the feature. The R1 version is fairly sharp, and this is a problem, because it means that we get constant aliasing on Claudette Colbert's blouse (amongst other things). You might think the sharper transfer would be desirable, but I hate it. I recommend getting the R4 with its softer image and smoother appearance.